Defiant Doolan’s deny gallant Healy’s! Cork Business League Weekly Round-Up
Jackie O’ Driscoll Premier Division Cup – Quarter-Finals
Doolan’s Cow 4 – 2 Healy O’Connor Solicitors
HOLDERS Doolan’s Cow denied Healy’s a shock win when the teams met in a repeat of last year’s decider in the last eight of this season’s Jackie O’Driscoll Cup competition at Mayfield Community School last Sunday morning, writes Finbarr Buckley.
The visitors rocked the home side with two goals inside the opening twenty-five minutes, the first a header from Bryan Casey and the second a shot from the edge of the area by Shane Healy. James Cotter dribbled past two defenders to coolly finish to half the deficit in the 38th minute. Despite being on top for last large portions of the second-half, Doolan’s finally broke Healy’s staunch resistance when Cotter equalized with ten minutes remaining before completing his hat-trick two minutes later. Graeme Buckley added a fourth for the three –time winners in the 89th minute to maintain Doolan’s’ league and cup double aspirations. Darren Geraghty, Roy McCarthy and Liam Horgan impressed for the hosts.
Marlboro Trust 1 – 2 Quinlan’s Bar
Trust went a long way towards erasing the memory of their two heavy league losses by keeping in the contest right to the end. Kyle Hosford and Kenneth Crinnion netted for Quinlan’s who remain the only team left to compete on three fronts, the Premier League, the Mooney Cup and the O’Driscoll Cup. Tom Frawley scored for Trust from a free-kick in the 75th minute.
Frank Linehan First Division Cup – First Round
OBS 1 – 0 Planet (Cork)
OBS kept their season ticking along nicely by continuing to be in contention on two fronts following last Saturday afternoon’s one-nil win over Planet in a feisty encounter at Mayfield Pk. After OBS’s keeper Keith Daly had to be at his best early on , Mick Brown was bundled over in the area on the half- hour for Lee Maher to tuck away the resultant penalty. In a frantic second-half, played in blustery conditions, Planet’s attempts to get back into the tie were hampered by two sending-offs after which OBS held on to progress to the last eight. Daly, Maher, Shane Hickey and returning Geordie Sean Moore shone for the winners.
Dalton’s Pharmacy 3 – 1 VoxPro
Last season’s beaten finalists Dalton’s progressed to the latter stages courtesy of goals from man-of-the-match Anto Long (2) and Pierce Purcell. Dalton’s’ keeper Eric Healy made three outstanding saves to keep the visitors at bay but could to nothing to prevent Ross Daly replying for the visitors.
Frank Linehan First Division Cup – Quarter-Finals
Cork Eagles PFC 2 – 2 SCS Crookstown United (Crookstown won 4-2 on pens.)
Title contenders Crookstown left it until seven minutes from time to come from two down to take the tie to extra-time and then to penalties before advancing to the last four. Grzegorz Sienicki had earlier given the Eagles a one-nil half-time lead with Rafal Andrzejewski doubling the advantage for the hosts who elected to play the tie on their opponent’s ground. Liam O’Sullivan got on the end of a cross to give a below par Crookstown eleven a lifeline and when centre-back Charles Kenneally leveled, as manager Tim Irwin threw caution to the wind and committed players forward, the pendulum swung in Crookstown’s favour despite Irwin having to make two crucial saves in the second-half of extra-time. Irwin again performed heroics in the shoot-out by saving the Eagles’ first kick providing the launch pad for Michael Quinlan, Michael Deasy, Liam O’Sullivan and Liam Wall to seal the win for the West Cork outfit in the resultant shoot-out.
Sports Gear Direct First Division
20/20 Glazing 2 – 2 Abtran
Rob Twomey’s Abtran must have been left wondering how the visitors hadn’t come away with all three points after scoring twice to lead for most of the game and hitting the post on three occasions as well as missing some gilt edged opportunities along the way. Dale Dalton’s double strike set the tone early on but Abtran’s frustrations in front of goal were penalized late on by anAdam Kenneally penalty and a Mark Dalton free-kick.
Mid-week Round-up
Premier Division champions UCC United relinquished their hold on the title following a one-nil loss to Satellite Taxis at the Mardyke on the Tuesday. Shane Hennessy popped up in the second-half with the decisive goal to keep the visitors in the hunt for a first championship success. The following evening at Garryduff, Marlboro Trust took a big step towards safety in the relegation dog-fight with Cork International. After Alberto Pirone opened the scoring for International, goals from Kevin McMahon and Kevin O’Sullivan handed the initiative to Trust. Alvaro Colturi looked to have salvaged a point for the visitors with an equalizer only for O’Sullivan to steal the points with a minute remaining for the former four-time winners. In the first division, SCS Crookstown Utd. went back on top after accounting for struggling Cork Hospitals. Michael Quinlan fired the hosts in front in the 35th minute with Martin O’Sullivan glancing in Kevin Barrett’s cross five minutes before the break. Despite Jamie Twomey reducing the deficit for Hospitals, Crookstown added two more in the second-45 to secure a 12th win out of sixteen. Also, in the same division, Dell EMC had little difficulty in inflicting another defeat on VoxPro, winning four-nil at the G.AG.A. Grds., Glanmire. Mark Foley’s 40th minute strike separated the teams at half-time with top scorer Sean Holmes doubling the lead twenty minutes into the second 45. Foley hit his second and his team’s third with fifteen minutes remaining before Karl O’Reilly ran in a fourth from the halfway line to seal an impressive win for the visitors. Kevin O’Connor, JP Serres and the long serving Kieran Murphy starred for the winners who could well have a big part to play in the destination of the championship as both contenders Crookstown United and Co. Council must face the former league and cup winners in the run-in in the coming weeks.
FOOT-NOTE : Former Postal Workers’ stalwarts Tom Archer and John Reid are wished a speedy recovery following recent spells in hospital.