Rob Downey goal crucial as St Nicks beat Kinsale to return to Premier Junior semi-final

St Nicks 2-14 (2-3-8) Kinsale 1-13 (1-1-11) 

Two goals either side of halftime helped St Nick’s overcome Kinsale in the McCarthy Group Insurance Premier Junior A Football quarter-final at Shanbally on Saturday.

Now set to lock horns with Cobh in the semi-final for the second consecutive year, they had Rob Downey and Danny Morris to thank for their victory, with a goal apiece. Yet Kinsale will look back at this game and wonder what if?

Nick’s opened with two Jack O’Sullivan frees. Kinsale’s response came from Gearoid Finn after six minutes. It was advantage Kinsale on 10 minutes as Michael Murphy was brought down in the square, and Finn made no mistake, as Eoghan Varian saw black for the incident.

Kinsale added three scores, including a two-point free from Brian Coughlan, to a single Conor McCarthy point as the seasiders led by 1-5 to 0-3 on 17 minutes. An interlude in play saw Lee Quillogan and Jack O’Sullivan receive yellow cards.

Kinsale seemed to benefit from the stoppage as they hit three unanswered points, including two from Murphy. A breach by Kinsale gave O’Sullivan his third point from a free.

Another O’Sullivan free proved crucial as he found Rob Downey, who crashed the ball to the Kinsale net to leave the score at the break 1-8 to 1-4.

Early in the second half, Kinsale hit two points, but the city team took control to the tune of 1-5 to 0-1. The all-important score in that sequence was a speculative shot from Danny Morris, deceiving the Kinsale defence and ending in the back of the net.

Down by six, Kinsale battled gamely but could only trim the gap by two as Nicks return to the semi-final.

Scorers for St Nicks: R Downey 1-1, Jack O’Sullivan (0-3 f, 0-1 45), C McCarthy (1 2pt) 0-4 each, D Morris 1-0, E Downey (2pt), D Brosnan (2pt) 0-2 each, Z Lynch 0-1.

Kinsale: G Finn 1-1 (1-0 pen), M Murphy 0-4 (0-1 f), B Coughlan 0-3 (1 2pt f), J Murphy, G Kearney 0-2 each, Rory O’Brien 0-1.

ST NICKS: R Cronin; D Dunlea, O O’Connell, C Horgan; F O’Driscoll, E Varian, Z Lynch; R Downey, E Downey; R Dunne, J Morrissey, L Quilligan; J O’Sullivan, K Kelleher, C McCarthy. 

Subs: D Morris for K Kelleher (34), S Horgan for J Morrissey (38), D Brosnan for R Dunne (40), S Kennefick for L Quilligan (45), B Heffernan for C McCarthy (58).

KINSALE: S O’Neill; D O’Leary, K O’Callaghan, C Fitzpatrick; B O’Neill, N McCarthy, J Byrne; J Murphy, Gearoid Kearney; J O’Brien, G Finn, C Fitzpatrick; Noah Ryan, B Coughlan, M Murphy. 

Subs: D Looney for B Coughlan, L Kirwin for J Byrne (46), R O’Brien for J O’Brien, B Coughlan for M Murphy (58 inj).

Referee: Alan Hourihan (Aghinagh).