AIB Munster Club Intermediate Football Championship Semi-Final – Gneeveguilla (Kerry) 0-12 Newcestown (Cork) 1-8

Gneeveguilla (Kerry) defeated Newcestown (Cork) by 0-12 to 1-8 in the AIB Munster Club Intermediate Football Championship Semi-Final on Sunday in Gneeveguilla.

O’Connor on fire for Gneeveguilla

Gneeveguilla 0-12 Newcestown 1-8

By Fintan O’Toole for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Monday, November 15, 2010

FOURTEEN-man Gneeveguilla booked their spot in the Munster Club IFC final when they edged out Newcestown in a pulsating semi-final at their club grounds yesterday. In a tough and uncompromising encounter that saw referee Brian Tyrell brandish 10 yellow cards, the dismissal of corner-forward Ronan McAuliffe in the 25th minute after an off-the-ball incident looked set to derail the hosts prospects of victory. The East Kerry men were still in a strong position at the interval when they led 0-8 to 0-2 and were forced to survive a storming second-half revival from the Cork champions.

Gneeveguilla’s victory owed much to a brilliant free-scoring display by corner-forward DJ O’Connor who finished with six points. The dominant platform established by midfielders Don Murphy and John Paul Brosnan was also integral to Gneeveguilla’s success and paved the way for a 0-6 to 0-1 lead by the 20th minute. But their shooting was wasteful in the first-half as they racked up eight wides which meant Newcestown still held hope at half-time.

In the second-half the visitors started to maximise their extra man well and pumped long deliveries towards Barry Horgan and Tadhg Twomey. They both started to find the target and a pair of excellent frees by Horgan left Newcestown only 0-9 to 0-6 adrift by the 40th. Gneeveguilla made a crucial rally courtesy of O’Connor and he pushed them 0-11 to 0-6 in front by the 47th minute. Newcestown kept charging forward and were rewarded when Sean Ryan thumped a fierce drive to the net 60 seconds later. A fine point by Mark Kelly shaved the deficit to one with eight minutes remaining but Gneeveguilla clung on for victory.

Scorers for Gneeveguilla: DJ O’Connor 0-6; L Murphy 0-3 (three frees); MS Murphy, R McAuliffe (one free), F McAuliffe 0-1 each.

Scorers for Newcestown: B Horgan 0-5 (four frees); S Ryan 1-0; T Twomey 0-2 (one free); M Kelly 0-1.

GNEEVEGUILLA: P O’Riordan; B Sheahan, E Lawlor, MB Murphy; Danny O’Connor, P O’Connor, J Sheahan; JP Brosnan, D Murphy; MS Murphy, F McAuliffe, R McAuliffe; DJ O’Connor, L Murphy, Donie O’Connor.

Subs: B O’Leary for Donie O’Connor (54), G Moynihan for F McAuliffe (61).

NEWCESTOWN: P White; Jason Crowley, John Crowley, K Long; G O’Rourke, N O’Sullivan, B Moloney; M Kelly, F Keane; H Curran, B Horgan, G O’Driscoll; T Twomey, C Keane, D Twomey.

Subs: E Kelly for Jason Crowley (20), S Ryan for O’Rourke (inj) (half-time), T Ryan for O’Driscoll (41), O Keane for Moloney (44), D Heffernan for D Twomey (49).

Referee: Brian Tyrell (Tipperary)