Cobh overcome Midleton to reach Championship semi final
Cobh took on Midleton
last Saturday evening in the East Cork Oil JAHC Quarter final in sunny
Caherlag. Both sides saw their way through to this quarter final encounter with
early championship victories and with a place in the flagship competitions last
four up for grabs, the tension was evident to see in the early exchanges.
The wind was firmly at the backs of the islanders in the opening half, but it
proved to be of very little benefit to them in a first half which was mainly
forgettable.
Cobh took the lead from the stick of the excellent Lee Murphy from a placed
ball, but minutes later a good score from play, from Darren Quirke of Midleton
had the side’s level.
Cobh did suffer a setback on the 11th minute when wing back Liam Greaney had to
leave the field with an ankle injury, however it had little impact on the game
as the replacement Jamie Moynihan had a fantastic game.
Cormac Walsh sent over two frees for Midleton playing into the wind on the 18th
and 30th minute in a very low scoring first half, but there was a flurry of
scores in the first half injury time, Darragh O’Keeffe and Murphy for Cobh and
yet another Walsh free to leave Midleton lead by the bare minimum at the short
whistle, the scoreboard showing Cobh 0-04 to Midleton’s 0-05.
Few would have given Cobh a realistic chance following the first half
performance with the elements and a high count of nine wide’s, but Derek
Barrett’s men showed some great heart and determination in the second half. An
early score from Jer Meaney after some fine play by Cian Spriggs to get near
the Midleton goal and then a Spriggs gave Cobh the lead and they went more or
less point for point, with scores from Murphy, Adam McCarthy and Darragh Kelleher
until the 50th minute when Spriggs made the most of a defensive error to slam
the game’s opening goal to give Cobh a four point lead.
Midleton weren’t going away and following a point on the 54th minute Aenghus
Cotter found the net for the ‘Magpies’ to level the match.
Cobh didn’t panic and closed this one out with three unanswered points and a
place in the semi-final.
Scorers for Cobh: Lee Murphy 0-5 (3f) Cian Spriggs 1-2, Adam McCarthy 0-2 (1f), Darragh Kelleher 0-2, Darragh O’Keeffe & Jer Meaney 0-1.
Cobh team: Eddy Walsh, Martin O’Connor, Seamus Ryan, Rory O’Connell, Liam
Greaney, Allen Walley(Cpt), Kieran Histon, Conor McLoughlin, Lee Murphy, Brian
Aherne, Darragh O’Keeffe, Darragh Kelleher, Jer Meaney, Cian Spriggs, Adam
McCarthy.
Subs: Jamie Moynihan for L Greaney (11th minute Injury), Tomas
McGrath for J Meaney (46th minute)
Referee: Patrick O Driscoll (Bride Rovers)
