Kilshannig have no interest in resting on their laurels
Aghabullogue Senior Mccarthy Group In Insurance Premier The Ifc After Players Kilshannig Eddie Pic: Ticket: Final O'hare Celebrate Defeating Replay
County finals are tales of two parishes, but when all is said and done, it will only be one of them who experiences the best of times.
On Sunday in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh it was Kilshannig who got over the line as they had four points to spare over Aghabullogue in the replay of the Cork Premier IFC final.
The game did not quite scale the heights of last week’s drawn encounter, but it was enthralling in its own way as in the end, Kilshannig had that bit more nous, that bit more balance and that bit more football than an Aghabullogue side that have taken to this grade like the proverbial duck to water.
It was very much a tale of two halves for Kilshannig. They played electric, attacking football in the opening period to give themselves a 2-7 to 1-4 halftime lead, Éanna O’Hanlon and Diarmuid O’Sullivan with the goals, while in the second half, inspired by their captain Colm O’Shea, their defensive unit and refusal to wilt saw them over the line.
Aghabullogue had reduced to deficit to four points after the interval with points from Matthew Bradley and Aaron O’Sullivan, and when Kilshannig’s Bill Curtin then saw black for dragging down the excellent John Corkery, the balance seemed to tilt further in their favour.
It was not to be, however, as Kilshannig manager, Denis Reen, explained.
“We actually played brilliant in that patch. That was the winning of the game. You could see the men stepping up. A lot of teams would have crumbled. But if you look at the last day, we were down two, if you look at the Uibh Laoire game, we were down four with five minutes to go.
"It’s so lovely to be on the line because I know that we’re going to get everything out of it. And if a better team beats us on the day, I know the best team won on the day. We won’t be at fault for nerves, or we won’t be at fault for bottling it or anything. The boys will just step up. And everyone stepped up today.”
They all did step up, but none stood taller than O’Shea and Darragh O’Sullivan. They kicked a point each while they were reduced to fourteen men, and that was enough to cancel out a Bradley free and a Luke Casey point for Aghabullogue.
When Curtin returned, there were six minutes remaining. David Thompson brought it back to a goal with a free, but there was only to be one more score as Kilshannig played brilliant championship football.
Fittingly, it was O’Sullivan who kicked it, a super free from a tight angle to make it a two-score game in injury time.
2-2 in two minutes put Kilshannig in the driving seat in an opening half that saw them dominate the Aghabullogue kickout, something that they had worked on, according to Reen.
“We worked on that. I’ve two brilliant lads with me, Colm O’Dea and Patrick O’Connell, our homework is done. I’ve Johnny Lenihan there who does our video analysis, he’s worked with inter-county teams and everything. You ask the boys, and this is an inter-county set-up, we’ve always wanted to achieve more and more and more.”
A Luke Casey goal did bring Aghabullogue back to within four on the quarter hour but three points from O’Sullivan and an O’Hanlon point out did scores from Corkery and Aaron O’Sullivan to give them a significant halftime lead. They weren’t to be beaten from there.
Kilshannig aren’t finished, either. They will play Rathkeale in Glantane in the Munster championship next week, and Reen and Co won’t be resting on their laurels for too long.
“We can’t wait, and that’s why we play football. I remember with Kiskeam, when we won in 2016, we never really gave Munster a shot. We were very, very tired. There was a different age profile there and we lost to Adare in Mallow. But now, I can promise you, we will be representing Cork, and we will be going for it.”
E O’Hanlon (1-2, 0-1 Mark), Darragh O’Sullivan (0-5, 0-3 frees, 0-1 Mark), Diarmuid O’Sullivan (1-0), C O’Shea (0-2), A O’Connell (0-1).
L Casey (1-1), M Bradley (0-3, 0-2 frees), A O’Sullivan (0-2, 0-1 free), J Corkery, D Thompson (free) and A Murphy (0-1 each).
G Creedon; S O’Connell, E Burke, B Curtin; E Healy, C O’Shea (c), C Murphy; T Cunningham, C O’Sullivan; C O’Connell, K O’Hanlon, A O’Connell; É O’Hanlon, Darragh O’Sullivan, Diarmuid O’Sullivan.
K Twomey for Diarmuid O’Sullivan (42), S Murphy for C O’Connell, C McMahon for A O’Connell (58), M Twomey for Healy (60), J O’Hanlon for McMahon (blood, 62-63).
I O’Sullivan; C Smith, M Dennehy, P Dilworth; B O’Sullivan, T Long, A Murphy; C Gillispie, D Merrick; P O’Sullivan, J Corkery (c), A O’Sullivan; M Bradley, E O’Sullivan, L Casey.
S Tarrant for Dilworth (28), D Thompson for P O’Sullivan (47), J Lane for Gillespie (58) C O’Sullivan for Evan O’Sullivan (58).
Alan O’Connor (Ballygarvan).