Uibh Laoire overcome gritty Rockchapel in Cork Premier IFC

Jack Sweeney (Iveleary) and Maurice O'Keeffe (Rockchapel) contest the ball during the MIG Co. Premier IFC at Banteeer. Pic: John Tarrant.

Uibh Laoire 2-17 (2-2-13) Rockchapel 0-9 (0-2-5)

UIBH Laoire passed another test of their Cork Premier IFC potential to remain unbeaten after holding the style and guile to overcome a gritty Rockchapel at Banteer on Saturday.

Putting together a well organised and efficient performance, the Inchigeela side laid the groundwork in the opening stages to jump eight points clear. In fairness to Rockchapel, they produced a commendable comeback to narrow the arrears to a goal at the break.

However Uibh Laoire regained the initiative on the restart, simply Rockchapel didn’t possess the threat up front compared to the attacking intent of the Jones brothers and Cathal Vaughan for the victors.

Understandably, Uibh Laoire manager John McNulty expressed delight in progressing directly to a semi final having bagged seven goals in their previous two assignments.

“It's been a positive Group for us, happy with this performance, Rockchapel possesses a big physical side, at times, they tested us, certainly, there are aspects that we need to improve on. We were delighted with the fantastic start, that contrasted to the Bantry Blues game, today, we put a stamp on the game early on to shoot 1-5 without reply”, said McNulty.

“Rockchapel got into gear, working the scoreboard with great scores. Half time allowed us the opportunity to address the situation, the most satisfying feature was the workrate and attitude, some of our hidden work was excellent”.

Having failed to handle the power and efficiency of Uibh Laoire, some consolation for Rockchapel, the loudest cheer at the famous Sports Ground all afternoon surfaced minutes after the full time whistle from Rock’ supporters when Bantry Blues grabbed a late winning goal to deny Glanmire, that outcome allows Rockchapel progress to a quarter final against Naomh Abán, gladly accepted by manager Liam Collins.

“We utilized a lot of energy in attempting to get back into the contest during the opening half, Uibh Laoire are an excellent side, possessing a massive threat upfront. This is a tough defeat, it will take a few days to recover, we have the experience of Naomh Abán previously, they have bettered us in recent meetings, it's another big game, we need to rally the troops”, said Collins.

Enjoying their third win in the campaign, Uibh Laoire utilized the principles of ball winning, slick movement and crafty finishing from the outset, three attacks, three points before full forward Ian Jones was ideally placed to net a goal.

Benefited from the influence of Ciarán Galvin, Daniel O’Donovan and Ciarán O’Riordan in defence, Timmy Roberts and Conor O’Leary dominated the middle third with Jones brothers and Vaughan quick and inventive upfront, Uibh Laoire mounted a series of telling raids.

Trailing 1-5 to 0-0, Rockchapel discovered a spark once Ciarán Curtin opened their account in the 19th min with a two pointer free. A follow up orange flag from John Walsh helped to make further inroads before a snap shot from Chris Óg Jones came off the butt of the Rockchapel upright, Uibh Laoire leading 1-7 to 0-7 at half time.

On the restart, the trend of the game took a definite swing to Uibh Laoire, a repeat pattern to the early stages highlighted by a goal from Jack Sweeney. A disappointing Rochchapel added just two points to their interval from Michael McAuliffe and Curtin. Indeed the gradient of the losers task became much steeper, excellent points from Chris Óg Jones matched by a pair of two pointers from Vaughan.

The outcome sees Uibh Laoire advance to a semi final where they are scheduled to meet the winners of Macroom and Ballinora. As it stands, Iveleary are a side clearly on a mission to atone for last season’s narrow county final defeat by Aghabullogue, yet team managerMcNulty is adopting a cautious approach.

“All the remaining teams are proven, holding great experience of playing in knockout competitions. The outcome to those fixtures is very much dependent on form on the day”.

Scorers for Uibh Laoire: C Óg Jones 0-6, C Vaughan 0-6 (1 tpf, 1tp, 1f), J Sweeney 1-1, I Jones `1-1, T Roberts, K Manning, S O’Leary 0-1 each.

Scorers for Rockchapel: C Curtin 0-4 (1tpf, 1f), J Walsh 0-3 (1tp), S Hickey, M McAuliffe 0-1 each.

UIBH LAOIRE: J Creedon; C Galvin, D O’Donovan, D O’Riordan; K Manning, C O’Riordan, S O’Leary; T Roberts, C O’Leary; J Sweeney, C Vaughan, S Pickering; B O’Riordan, I Jones, C Óg Jones.

Subs: B Cronin for B O’Riordan (46), B Murphy for K Manning (48), A O’Brien for C Galvin (51).

ROCKCHAPEL: C Casey; B Carroll, E O'Callaghan, P Curtin; D Carroll, S Curtin, M O'Keeffe; E Murphy, Ciarán Curtin; John Walsh, S Hickey, J O’Callaghan; M McAuliffe, A Carroll, D Lenihan.

Subs: J McAuliffe for A Carroll (ht), Cormac Curtin for D Carroll (ht), F Murphy for D Lenihan (39), S McCarthy for P Curtin.

Referee: Conor Lane (Banteer).