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O’Callaghan guides impressive Éire Óg into decider with Mallow 

Second-half goals from Dylan Foley and man of the match O’Callaghan put Éire Óg into final

O’Callaghan guides impressive Éire Óg into decider with Mallow 

Eire Óg's John Cooper gets to grips with Donal Óg Hodnett for Rossa. Picture Denis Boyle

SUN, 04 OCT, 2020 - 16:00

GER MCCARTHY CLONAKILTY

Cork SAFC semi-final: Éire Óg 2-10 O’Donovan Rossa 1-8 

Éire Óg will face Mallow in this year’s Cork SAFC county final following a hard-fought victory over O’Donovan Rossa in Clonakilty.

Second-half goals from Dylan Foley and man of the match Colm O’Callaghan earned the winners a county final berth in a game blighted by blustery conditions.

Leading 0-7 to 0-4 at the interval, Éire Óg performed admirably in the second period despite their opponents playing with a strengthening wind at their backs.

“We are over the moon and have come a long way since 2014 when we won an intermediate title,” winning manager Harry O’Reilly commented.

“We are just so happy to be up at this level and to be competitive. To reach a final is just brilliant for everyone involved. We always play very well against the wind because of our style of football. The lads put it through the hands in the second half and made it difficult for them.” 

Éire Óg struggled to make use of the elements during the opening exchanges. Donal Óg Hodnett opened the scoring prior to another O’Donovan Rossa move ending with goalkeeper Chris Kelly acrobatically denying Thomás Hegarty a goal.

A Kevin Davis free doubled the Skibbereen side’s advantage before their opponents finally gained a foothold. Colm O’Callaghan began to make his presence felt as Éire Óg drew level courtesy of Daniel Goulding (free) and Eoin O’Shea efforts.

David Shannon replied with a fisted effort yet it was Éire Óg who continued to look the more threatening. Two O’Callaghan scores and a Goulding point made it 0-5 to 0-3 at the first water break.

A fractious second quarter produced three points even though Chris Kelly once again came to his side’s rescue. Goulding and O’Callaghan white flags sandwiched a Donal Óg Hodnett score to leave Éire Óg 0-7 to 0-4 ahead at the interval.

O’Donovan Rossa enjoyed the brighter restart with Dylan Hourihane floating over a point prior to Donal Óg Hodnett bursting through for a superb goal. That made it 1-5 to 0-7 in the Skibbereen club’s favour but disallowed goals at either end preceded an Éire Óg renaissance.

Goulding landed a free and substitute Dylan Foley found the net to leave the eventual winners 1-9 to 1-6 ahead at the final water break. Two Dylan Hourihane frees reduced the deficit until Daniel Goulding scored his fifth point.

It was fitting that Colm O’Callaghan was the player to race through and net his side’s winning goal on an afternoon Éire Óg underlined their title credentials ahead of a mouth-watering clash with Mallow.

Scorers for Éire Óg: C O’Callaghan (1-3), D Goulding (0-5, 0-2 frees), D Foley (1-0), E O’Shea and K Hallissey (0-1 each).