Castlehaven 1-13 O’Donovan Rossa 0-13
Castlehaven earned bragging rights in west Cork after edging O’Donovan Rossa in a hectic finish to book a place in the county football final.
A goal four minutes from the end by Conor McCarthy ensured a rousing climax but 14-man Castlehaven held on following the 45th minute dismissal of wing-back Roland Whelton.
The Haven could even afford the luxury of Brian Hurley missing a 39th minute penalty, when Ryan Price pulled off a fine save in the Rossa goal.
The Haven made a blistering start to the first-half, scorching 1-6 to 0-1 in front inside nine minutes to take a firm grip of proceedings.
Brian Hurley was tormentor-in-chief in that dynamic spell, scoring 1-2, the goal coming after six minutes following a weak kick-out by Price.
Hurley’s other brothers, Michael and Stephen, also got in on the act as did midfielder Sean Dineen with O’Donovan Rossa looking like they would be over-run.
They eventually settled and were the dominant side during the second quarter as Donal og Hodnett began winning possession around the middle, helping his side claim three points on the spin.
The Haven only scored twice more in the remainder of the half through centre-back Damien Cahalane and Brian Hurley again to lead by 1-8 to 0-6 at the interval.
They continued to look the more likely side in the second-half with a Mark Collins point nudging them 1-11 to 0-8 clear after 40 minutes before that exciting finish.
Castlehaven: P Hurley (0-2, one free, one '45); J O'Regan, D Limrick, captain, T O'Leary; R Whelton, Damien Cahalane (0-1), C Hayes; M Collins (0-1), S Dineen (0-1); S Collins, Stephen Hurley (0-1), S Cahalane; S Nolan (0-1), B Hurley (1-5, two frees), M Hurley (0-1). Subs: Darragh Cahalane for S Hurley 44 mins, D Hegarty for Nolan 52 mins, Shane Hurley for Hayes 56 mins, D Hurley for S Cahalane, black card 59 mins.
O'Donovan Rossa: R Price; J O'Sullivan, E Nealon, P Nealon; M Collins, C McCarthy (1-1), D Hazel (0-1); S Carmody, captain, D og Hodnett (0-6, three frees); P Crowley (0-1), K Davis (0-1), S O'Brien; T Hegarty, D Shannon, R Long. Subs: S Fitzgerald for Long 24 mins, D Hourihane for Davis injured half-time, C Crowley for O'Brien 40 mins, R Hodnett for Carmody 47 mins, Long for R Hodnett, black card 48 mins, O Collins for M Collins black card 53 mins.
Referee: K Murphy (Cork).
Nemo Rangers 1-11 Carbery Rangers 0-13
Nemo Rangers survived a second-half rally from last year’s beaten finalists Carbery Rangers to reach another Cork county football decider at Pairc Ui Rinn.
The Rosscarberry side trailed by seven points at the interval, but improved considerably on the resumption only to run out of time at the end.
Nemo got the ideal start with a goal inside two minutes, captain Paul Kerrigan finishing expertly from a Luke Connolly pass. Kerrigan and Alan O’Donovan added quick points to surge 1-2 ahead.
John O’Rourke eventually opened Carbery Rangers’ account after 11 minutes, but they suffered from playing just one forward close to goal as Nemo coped comfortably.
John Hayes pointed a free following a foul by former Kerry great Tomas O Se, who received a yellow card, to make it 1-4 to 0-3 after 17 minutes, but Nemo dominated the rest of the half.
O Se made amends by brilliantly dispossessing Kevin McMahon to set in motion a flowing move, which resulted in a fine Connolly point. A poor restart allowed James Masters land a soft score before a Connolly free made it 1-7 to 0-3 at the interval.
Carbery Rangers set about eating into that deficit by becoming a more attack-minded side on the resumption and while Masters added another super point it was only a temporary reprieve.
Ross kicked a succession of points as John Hayes kicked three, Seamus Hayes and O’Rourke another with Brian Shanahan landing a ‘45 to make it a two-point game, 1-8 to 0-9, after 41 minutes.
Connolly’s influence on the tie grew as he accounted for the rest of Nemo’s points before Ross’s fight-back just came up short.
Nemo Rangers: M Martin; A Cronin, A O'Reilly, C O'Shea; K Fulignati,T O Se, J Donovan; D Niblock, A O'Donovan (0-1); C O'Brien, B O'Driscoll, L Connolly (0-6, two frees, one '45), J Masters (0-3, one free), P Kerrigan (1-1), captain, C Dalton. Subs: M Dorgan for Dalton 40 mins, C Horgan for Masters 49 mins, P Morgan for O'Brien 51 mins, O'Brien for O'Donovan 55 mins.
Carbery Rangers: P Shanahan; R Kiely, B Shanahan (0-2 '45s), A Roche; T O'Rourke, P Hodnett, S Murray; M Mennis, J Fitzpatrick; A Jennings, D Hayes, K McMahon (0-1); J O'Rourke (0-2), J Hayes (0-5, three frees), S Hayes (0-3). Subs: G O'Brien for Roche and M Kelly for T O'Rourke, half-time, K Fitzpatrick for Mennis 36 mins, S O'Neill for J O'Rourke injured 59 mins.
Referee: C Lane (Cork).
Slaughtneil 1-7 Coleraine 0-9
Slaughtneil created another piece of history by adding the Derry football title to their senior hurling and camogie titles with a narrowly deserved win over Coleraine.
The reigning holders went in at the end of a very defensive first half with a 0-4 to 0-3 lead. Mickey Moran’s side had the half’s one real goal chance when Francis McEldowney found himself in, but his effort crashed back of the angle of crossbar and post.
There was little in the way of excitement in that period and nothing changed until Sé McGuigan rose to fist home a dropping Paul Bradley free on 40 minutes and give Slaughtneil a 1-5 to 0-3 lead.
Bradley’s effort from beyond the 45’ hung short and McGuigan powered across the edge of the six-yard box to flick past Ryan McGeough, who looked at his hesitant defence for answers.
Having protected leads superbly all year it appeared that they would push on, but instead Coleraine came out of their shell and almost snatched something out of it.
Ciaran Lenehan had their best chance but could only fire over under pressure from Barry McGuigan, and despite scoring five of the game’s last six points, the Eoghan Rua men fell short of their dream of a second county title.
With a minute to play Barry McGoldrick sliced a 40-metre free wide and it was to prove vital as, when Conor Carey pointed from 15 yards, the gap had been cut to the minimum.
In the end, though, they were too late in cutting loose and Slaughtneil held on to back up last year’s success.
Slaughtneil: A McMullan; Francis McEldowney, B Rogers, K McKaigue; P McNeill, C McKaigue, B McGuigan; Patsy Bradley, P Cassidy; P Kelly (0-1f), Paul Bradley (0-4, 0-3f), R Bradley (0-1); C Bradley (0-1), Sé McGuigan (1-0), C O'Doherty. Subs: Shane McGuigan for O'Doherty (45), M McGrath for P Kelly (52).
Coleraine: R McGeough; C Mullan, L McGoldrick, C Lagan; R Mooney, SL McGoldrick (0-1), R Carey; N Holly, B McGoldrick; C Lenehan (0-1), D Mullan, S Coyles (0-1); Ciaran McGoldrick, Colm McGoldrick (0-3, 0-2f), G McWilliams (0-1). Subs: C Carey (0-1) for Ciaran McGoldrick (39), J Diamond for Lagan (black card, 56), S Heneghan for S Coyles (59).
St Patrick’s 1-14 Sean O’Mahony’s 0-9
Reigning champions St Patrick’s launched the turbo in the second-half to burn off a dogged challenge from first-time finalists Sean O’Mahony’s and land their seventh Louth title in 13 seasons.
Bidding for their third two-in-row in that time, Jim Holland’s men had to slug it out toe-to-toe with the Leinster Intermediate champions in the opening half, and just about had their noses in front at the interval, 0-5 to 0-4.
However, after the break they pressed their opponents higher and started to dominate the midfield battle, and extended their slender advantage to a more comfortable three points by the 40th minute.
Former Everton rookie Ben McLaughlin kept O’Mahony’s in touch by closing the deficit to 0-9 to 0-7, but the champs put the issue to bed with 1-3 without reply.
The goal arrived on 49 minutes when Man-of-the-Match Aidan McCann popped up on the end of a flowing move to flick a cheeky finish over the head of Kevin Brennan.
Further points from Eoin O’Connor and Ross Murphy extended their advantage to eight and with a wealth of experience in their ranks, there was never any doubt they would seal the deal from there.
The victory extended Pat’s remarkable undefeated run in domestic league and championship stretching back to late 2013, and they will be setting their sights on a provincial run this autumn despite a daunting opener against the eventual Dublin champions.
St Patrick's: S Connor; K Toner, D O'Hanlon, P Kirk; R Finnegan (0-1), D Finnegan, O Zamboglou; P Keenan (0-4, 3f), E Breen (0-1); A McCann (1-2), K White (0-1f), E Lafferty; D O'Connor (0-1), E O'Connor (0-2), C Grogan. Subs: R Murphy (0-1) for Kirk (21 BC), D Lafferty (0-1) for Grogan (h-t), P Mallon for White (63), S Cumiskey for McCann (60+5).
Sean O'Mahony's: K Brennan; K Murphy, R Byrne, M Clarke; G Mulligan, J O'Brien, K McLaughlin; C Martin, S Brennan; C Finnegan (0-4, 3f), P Nixon, B McLaughlin (0-2, 1f); S Fisher, C Crawley, S Kilcoyne (0-2f). Subs: D Dowling (0-1) for Fisher (51), J Connolly for Kilcoyne (56), B O'Brien for Mulligan (60).
Referee: S Murphy.
Dr Crokes 1-11 Austin Stacks 1-10
Colm Cooper inspired Dr Crokes to single-point victory over the Kieran Donaghy-led reigning champions Austin Stacks in the battle of Kerry’s two biggest teams.
Crokes won by 1-11 to 1-10 in a thriller in round three of the county championship at Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney yesterday.
All four semi-finalists from 2014 – Stacks, Mid Kerry, Shannon Rangers and Dingle – were beaten, while a Tommy Walsh-led Kerins O’Rahillys were the most impressive winners, beating East Kerry on a 4-19 to 2-8 scoreline.
Cooper scored a goal for Crokes from the throw-in and the Killarney team looked in control as they led 1-6 to 0-5 at the interval. Donaghy had got little change out of Eoin Brosnan on the edge of the square in the opening half, but once he resumed at midfield for the second half, he lifted his side and scored a vital third-quarter goal.
Kiely and Cooper kept Crokes in front but a Donaghy point and a Darragh Long free, levelled the contest in the 51st minute.
Mikey Collins then put Stacks in front for the first time, but Alan O’Sullivan levelled.
Then, in the 60th minute, veteran Brosnan kicked the winner for the Crokes. Rathmore required a late equaliser from Paul Murphy, to force extra time with Shannon Rangers, before winning 4-15 to 3-14.
Killarney Legion had to rely on a big second-half performance from James O’Donoghue, who scored a goal and created another, as they saw off Feale Rangers 2-10 to 1-11. West Kerry, with Marc Ó Sé to the fore, beat Mid Kerry 1-18 to 1-13. Kilcummin beat St Kieran’s 1-14 to 1-10.
South Kerry beat Dingle 1-14 to 0-14, while Kenmare District walloped Laune Rangers 3-15 to 0-8.
