Gallant display from Limerick champions Askeaton-Ballysteen-Kilcornan in Munster club semi-final

A LATE flurry of scores saw a gallant Askeaton-Ballysteen-Kilcornan Desmonds defeated by Aghabullogue of Cork in the Munster club IFC semi-final this Sunday afternoon.

In SuperValu Pairc Ui Chaoimh, the Leeside champions emerged 0-14 to 0-10 winners over the Limerick side.

Four points down and playing against the wind with 20 minutes to go, the Limerick IFC champions remarkably levelled the game to set up a nervy finish.

However, the Cork Premier IFC and IHC champions were able to keep their winning run across codes going with a strong finish.

READ MORE: Mungret St Paul's bow out of Munster senior football club championship at the hands of Dingle

“We weren’t coming down for the craic, we were coming down here to win the game,” said ABK manager Declan Ryan after the game. “We really believed we had a good chance of getting a victory here today. We’ve built a great team this year and we’ve a lot worked on, a lot of sessions done and we felt we were in a good place coming here.”

Matthew Bradley scored two points in the first 90 seconds to get the Coachford side off to a flying start.

Slow to settle, ABK got off the mark in the seventh minute through Danny Neville to settle the nerves. The west Limerick men had already kicked two wides in the early stages.

However, within seconds, Bradley kicked his third and Aghabullogue’s fifth as the Cork men asserted their early dominance.

Manager Ryan felt this slow start was crucial in his side’s narrow defeat.

“We were 0-6 to 0-1 down after about 15 minutes and we spent the rest of the game chasing that then really. We got it back to level but we were against the breeze. We probably just ran out of time, ran out of legs a bit towards the end,” he said.

“The lads were probably a bit jittery. Something we’ve been trying not to do this year was take those shots that aren’t on. We probably hit a few too many of them. Look, another day those go over and you think that’s a great thing to do, so it’s hard to be too critical of fellas.”

This accuracy and shot selection was an issue in the first quarter before the west Limerick men settled in the second quarter. They kicked seven first half wides, three of which were two-point attempts, with another shot from outside the arc dropping short.

They ended the period with a flourish however. A Joey Rushe free and a Neville effort from play ensured just a two-point deficit at the break, 0-7 to 0-5.

ABK flew out of the blocks in the second half, launching an attack into the wind. It resulted in another Rushe free to reduce the deficit to one.

However, this served as a wake-up call for Aghabullogue. They took control of the game from here. They added three points on the spin, and created a number of half chances for the opening goal.

The Limerick side kept battling however. Padraic Murphy kicked a fine point from an acute angle to stay within touching distance.

Aghabullogue remained on top but inherited ABK’s wastefulness while playing with the wind. They kicked nine wides in the second period, keeping the Limerick side in contention.

ABK then had their best period of play. A pair of Rushe frees reduced the deficit before Neville remarkably levelled the game with 12 minutes left to play. This was to be their last score however.

Bradley kicked a two-point free to restore the Cork men’s lead before points from David Thompson and Colm Gillespie secured the Cork side’s place in the final.

Defeat for AKB Desmonds, but not one to overshadow a year where they achieved their main goal – a return to senior football.

“Overall, we look back, it’s been a great year. We did what we set out to do which was win the intermediate championship. We would have liked to have gone that one step further, I felt we were capable of making the final, but it didn’t happen for us on the day,” Ryan said.

SCORERS: Aghabullogue: Matthew Bradley 0-9 (1free, 1 2ptf, 1’45) John Corkery, Evan O’Sullivan, Luke Casey, David Thompson (f), Colm Gillespie 0-1 each.

Askeaton-Ballysteen-Kilcornan Desmonds: Joey Rushe 0-5 (5frees); Danny Neville 0-3; Jamie Dolan (’45), Padraic Murphy 0-1 each.

AGHABULLOGUE: John Buckley; Conor Smyth, Dhani Merrick, Paul Dilworth; Paul Ring, Shane Tarrant, Brendan O’Sullivan; Colm Gillespie, Adam Murphy; Aaron O’Sullivan, John Corkery, Padraig O’Sullivan; Matthew Bradley, Evan O’Sullivan, Luke Casey. Subs: Cialan O’Sullivan for Padraig O’Sullivan (46mins); David Thompson for Evan O’Sullivan (50mins); Oisin O’Connell for Aaron O’Sullivan (58mins).

ASKEATON-BALLYSTEEN-KILCORNAN DESMONDS: Jamie Dolan; John Fitzsimons, Bill Casey, Niall Barry; Luke Gammell, Patrick Moran, Sam Colgan; Shane Gallagher, Alan McGrath; Padhraic McMahon, Danny Neville, James O’Meara; Joey Rushe, Paul O’Shaughnessy, Padraic Murphy. Subs: Sean Whelan for Shane Gallagher (50mins); Colm O’Flaherty for Paul O’Shaughnessy (57mins); Jamie O’Sullivan for Padraic McMahon (58mins); Shane Halligan for John Fitzsimons (58mins).

REFEREE: Niall Quinn (Clare).