Coláiste Muire 4 - 1 Skibbereen Community School
Match Report by Sean Spenser
With poor weather and a poor pitch it was certainly going to be a game where you did not want to go behind first. Unfortunately for Skibbereen they did. Shortly after kick off number 11 easily knocked the ball past the Skibbereen defence to whip a dangerous ball into the corridor of uncertainty. The number 9 was first to the ball, took one touch and saw the goal keeper was slow to go down to the ball and slotted it through his legs. For the rest of the first half Skibbereen were massively under the cosh with Cobh utilizing the flanks heavily. Most of the chances were coming through their left side. Barry Collins had a big first half making some fantastic saves to keep his team in the game.
Mid-way through the second half number 11 for Cólaiste Muire ran down the left wing and had an early shot which caught goalkeeper Barry Collins off guard and hit the back of the net. Soon after, Cobh decided to end the game with a quickfire double as a long hopeful ball was headed to the ever-so reliable Jack Collins with what seemed to be a lot of space. However his chest down was far too heavy and fell to the Cobh player who struck it first time on the half volley into the bottom corner, an unstoppable strike. Late on in the game Barry Collins came outfield and Daniel McCarthy went in goal. Chris Connolly and Muirios Waugh came onto the pitch and at this point the game changed. Whether it was all three new outfielders or just one of them, something clicked. I'm sure they will all argue their point. Barry Collins played a beautifully weighted pass to Chris Connolly who stopped the ball on the edge of the box by the byline. He shimmied and executed a great cutback to Dermot Hegarty on the edge of the box. He took one touch onto his left foot and hit it near post. It dribbled in past the keeper who hadn't been tested all game and couldn't deal with the first test.
Any hope Skibb might have had was soon put to bed as one long ball along the ground set number 11 free whose first time left footed shot left goalkeeper Daniel McCarthy standing, as the ball drilled in near post. The last highlight of the match was when Muirios and Dermot pulled off a sweet one-two allowing Dermot to chest it down and strike it on the volley with his left foot from distance, but was in dismay as he saw the ball swerve at the last second and strike the post.
Man of the Match: Patrick Bergin - The right back playing at left back had the best performance for the Skibbereen side. He stopped almost all the attacks down his side and was solid on the ball. Unfortunate to get injured halfway through the second half.
Starting 11
Barry Collins, Andrew Whelton, Patrick Bergin, Jack Collins, Conor Hourihane, Michael Meaney, Dermot Hegarty, Eoghan O'Neill , Aaron O' Sullivan, Alan Leonard, Jason Murray.
Used Substitutes
Ciaran O'Dwyer, Mark Keohane, Chris Connolly, Muirios Waugh, Daniel McCarthy.
Unused Substitutes
David Petrikauskas, Seán Finn Gallagher Spenser
