Avondhu crash out of championship following defeat by Muskerry
A comfortable preliminary round victory for Muskerry in the Cork SFC (Colleges/Divisions section) at Páirc Uí Rinn tonight.
There will be no time to rest on their laurels though as they are due to be back in action again on Thursday in round 1 when they will come up against Sigerson Cup champions UCC.
Avondhu – who are now out of the championship - had no answer to Muskerry who were ahead by 1-9 to 0-2 at the half-way stage.
The north cork side struggled for scores not opening their account until the 23rd minute through a James Sheehan point.
At this juncture, the mid-Cork men had kicked an unanswered 1-5.
A brace of points from Mark Healy got Muskerry up and running. Brian Cronin and Fintan Goold then contributed one each in quick succession, and at the end of the first quarter they were 0-4 to nil ahead.
Healy sent over his third point before James Moynihan grabbed a goal seven minutes from the short whistle – Aidan Murphy heavily involved in the build-up.
Murphy, Conor Cotter, David Horgan and Healy added points, while Avondhu didn’t find the target again until the 30th minute from a John Browne free.
Trailing by 10 points, they had it all to do in the second-half.
Healy restarted the Muskerry scoring two minutes inside the restart.
However, Avondhu staged a revival between the 36th and 40th minute when they registered 1-3 without reply.
The goal, finished by Jessie Walsh, was set up by the hard-working Cathal O’Mahony. This came amidst a string of points from Shane O’Neill, Liam Cronin and O’Mahony.
These scores put a better complexion on the scoreboard, 1-5 to 1-10.
But, Muskerry fought back and extended their lead once more. They went on to outscore Avondhu five points to one during a prominent 13-minute spell.
Some exceptional point-taking involving Healy and Goold stretched their advantage to eight points with 12 minutes left on the clock.
A Sheehan free reduced the margin, but it wasn’t long before Muskerry put their stamp on proceedings once again.
While the contest petered out to its expected conclusion, Avondhu closed out the scoring, landing points from Ryan Fowley and Sheehan.
An injury time black card to Muskerry’s Danny O’Connell did little to impede their progress to the next round.
M Healy (0-7, 0-5 frees), J Moynihan (1-0), F Goold (0-3, 0-1 free), A Murphy (0-2), B Cronin, C Cotter and D Horgan (0-1 each).
J Walsh (1-0), J Sheehan (0-3, 0-1 free), J Browne (free), S O’Neill, L Cronin, C O’Mahony and R Fowley (0-1 each).
J Creedon (Uibh Laoire); B Casey (Aghabullogue), J Mullins (Éire Óg), C Cotter (Kilmichael); D O’Connell (Cill na Martra), P Ring (Aghabullogue), A O’Raw (Inniscarra); F Goold (Macroom), A Murphy (Canovee); D Horgan (Macroom), B Cronin (Uibh Laoire), D Ambrose (Aghinagh); J Moynihan (Canovee), M Healy (Canovee), E O’Sullivan (Aghabullogue).
L Kelleher (Canovee) for A O’Raw (40), A O’Raw for E O’Sullivan (56), E O’Sullivan for D O’Connell (BC 61).
K McMahon (Kilshannig); G Carroll (Mitchelstown), E O’Donoghue (Glanworth), J Browne (Abbey Rovers); W Fouhy (Kildorrery), B Guerin (Kilshanning), S O’Sullivan (Mitchelstown); S O’Regan (Killavullen), D Dineen (Mitchelstown); J Walsh (Glanworth), S O’Neill (Kildorrery), R Fowley (Buttevant); C O’Mahony (Mitchelstown), T Healy (Ballyclough), J Sheehan (Mitchelstown).
L Cronin (Killavullen) for T Healy (half-time), J Kearney (Kilshannig) for J Walsh (44), D Roche (Grange) for W Fouhy (46), D O’Connor (Abbey Rovers) for S O’Regan (59), P Angland (Killavullen) for J Browne (60).
Cathal Ó Murchú (Brian Dillons).
