Cork Senior Football Final – Ballincollig 1-13 Carbery Rangers 1-10

Ballincollig defeated Carbery Rangers by 1-13 to 1-10 in the Cork Senior Football Final on Sunday October 19th at Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

The first is the Toughest @BallincolligGAA win @OfficialCorkGAA County final #TheToughest it will be getting now pic.twitter.com/r8SXwNVjEl

— Sportsfile (@sportsfile) October 19, 2014

Epic turnaround gives Ballincollig their first title

Ballincollig 1-13 Carbery Rangers 1-10 (Cork SFC Final)

Report from the Irish Independent newspaper

An excellent second-half fightback saw Ballincollig claim the Cork senior football title for the first time at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Having trailed by seven points at one stage in the first half, six points in a row meant they only trailed by the minimum at half-time. A 32nd-minute goal from Carbery Rangers’ Séamus Hayes looked to have settled them again, but Ballincollig would concede just one more point for the remainder of the match.

John Kelly’s goal in the 40th minute drew Michael O’Brien’s side level and from there they finished strongly. Playing with the stiff wind in the first half, Carbery Rangers scored six points in the opening 11 minutes of the game as Ballincollig struggled to find any kind of a rhythm. While a pair of frees from Cian Dorgan got them off the mark, it looked to only be a brief interruption to their opponents’ dominance.

A close-range John Hayes free, a good point from his brother Séamus and a ’45 from full-back Brian Shanahan made it 0-9 to 0-2 for Carbery Rangers and they were cruising. In the eight minutes between then and half-time, though, they conceded six points in a row as Ballincollig effected a near-total transformation.

Dorgan, with a point from play, kick-started the fightback and he scored two more with Seán Kiely, Niall Allen and Luke Prendergast also on target. Within two minutes of the restart Carbery Rangers found a goal. Pádraig Hodnett was allowed to maraud forward and though his crashing shot came back off the bar, Seámus Hayes was able to fist home.

Ballincollig heads didn’t drop, though. John Paul Murphy set up Ciarán O’Sullivan for a point and then Cork star Patrick Kelly’s quick free allowed George Durrant to find Kelly’s brother John and his finish was brilliant, low across Paul Shanahan to level at 1-9 apiece.

Carbery sub Seán O’Neill put his side ahead again on 43 but they wouldn’t score again. In contrast, Ballincollig kept their composure and points from sub Ian Coughlan (two), Cian Dorgan and Cian Kelly had them three points ahead going into injury time. There was a late penalty shout for Carbery Rangers but a ’45 was the decision and Ballincollig held out.

Scorers – Ballincollig: C Dorgan 0-6 (4f), J Kelly 1-0, I Coughlan (2f), C Kiely 0-2 each, L Prendergast, S Kiely, N Allen, C O’Sullivan 0-1 each.

Carbery Rangers: S Hayes 1-2, J Hayes 0-3 (2f), B Shanahan 0-2 (’45s), J O’Rourke, S O’Neill, S Murray 0-1 each.

BALLINCOLLIG – D Lordan; L Prendergast, L Jennings, N Galvin; JP Murphy, S O’Donoghue, C Kiely; S Kiely, C O’Sullivan; N Allen, P Kelly, G Durrant; J Kelly, C Dorgan, J Miskella. Subs: A Donovan for S Kiely (42, inj), I Coughlan for J Kelly (47), S Kiely for Allen (50), R Noonan for C Kiely (60, BC).

CARBERY RANGERS – P Shanahan; S Murray, B Shanahan, M Kelly; P Hodnett, T O’Rourke, J O’Riordan; K MacMahon, J Fitzpatrick; A Jennings, B Hodnett, J O’Rourke; J Hayes, S Hayes, D Hayes. Subs: M Mennis for B Hodnett (h-t), S O’Neill for Fitzpatrick (42, inj), A Roche for T O’Rourke, T O’Donoghue for S Hayes (both 57).

Ref – J Bermingham (Bride Rovers)