East Cork GAA

Senior Football 1984. Imokilly 2-14 St. Finbarrs 2-7

1st Round Imokilly 3-9 Bishopstown 1-2

THE odds against outsiders Imokilly taking county senior football, championship honours this season must have shortened considerably following the demolition of Bishopstown and the East Cork men’s progress to the second round on the well-prepared Mayfield pitch on Saturday evening last. A scintillating first half performance from the winners decided this match and Bishopstown became engulfed by Imokilly’s persistent pressure in this park.the city men found themselves a massive fifteen points behind at the break. By NOEL HORGAN Southern Star

Imokilly’s snappy, enterprising and cohesive movements viewed against Bishopstown’s generally disjointed efforts made it difficult to credit that Imokilly are not a club team. They showed great understanding from the start which illustrated again how immensely beneficial the early season blitz competition is to the divisional squads. Two years ago. Imokilly ran the eventual winners St. Finbarr’s to two points in the championship but they fell disappointingly to U.C.C. last season. They appear to have got their act together again and on this form they will trouble the best in the future. With Glanmire’s Teddy McCarthy showing good form at midfield before he retired injured in the second quarter, Imokilly’s for­wards were well supplied from the start and they used their possession most enterprisingly.

GOALED

An accurate Teddy McCarthy delivery was cutely flicked by Kevin Hennessy into the path of Ger Gavin who surged forward strongly from the right before parting to Tadhg Murphy who goaled from the edge of the square to make it 1-2 to nil to Imokilly after eight minutes. Bishops town’s rearguard was in tatters at this stage with Cork panelist Barry Coffey, carrying an injury, completely out of touch in the pivotal post against Brian Lotty. Coffey moved to full-back for the second quarter but found Tadhg Murphy just as difficult to handle and the Bishopstown man retired shortly before half-time. By then, of course,

Bishopstown’s confidence was completely shattered

And they were unable to stem the Imokilly tide. Lotty and Murphy spearheaded most of Imokilly’s at­tacks in the first half but the men on the flanks were in top form also and Bishopstown defenders had no answer to the skilled and crafty Imokilly movements.

TO GRAB

Cobh’s John Hegarty punched on a Brian Lotty delivery to grab Imokilly’s second goal in the 15th minute, making it 2-4 to nil then, while Tadhg Murphy expertly fisted home a lob from Youghal’s Matt McCarthy to make it 3-6 to 0-1 after 22 minutes. A point from John Hegarty closed the first half scoring, giving Imokilly an insurmountable five-goal advantage at the break.

Not surprisingly, Imokilly relaxed considerably on the restart, allowing Bishopstown to improve their territorial fortunes but Imokilly’s defence was well-equipped also, with Denis Mulcahy, Sean Bowes, and Conor Counihan particularly prominent, and the losers made little worthwhile progress.

With the score at 3.9 to 0-2 after fifty minutes, Bishopstown did manage to breach Imokilly’s defensive screen when Anthony O’Sullivan grabbed a consolation goal to close the scoring.

Scorers: Imokilly — T. Murphy (2-2), J. Hegarty (1-1), T. McCarthy (free) and B. Aherne (0-2 each), Ger Glavin and B. Lotty (0-1 each).

Imokilly: M. Lewis (Cloyne),

D. Mulcahy (Midleton), S. Bowes (Castlemartyr), M. Walsh (Youghal),

K. Murphy (Castlemartyr), C. Counihan (Aghada), M. McCarthy (Youghal),

T. McCarthy (Glanmire), P. Ronan (Cobh),

G. Glavin (Midleton), B. Lotty (Glanmire), B. Aherne (Aghada),

K. Hennessy (Midleton), T. Murphy (Glanmire), J. Hegarty (Cobh).

Sub., A. Devoy (Aghada) for T. McCarthy.

2^nd round Imokilly 3-8 Naomh Aban 1-6

Quarter final Imokilly 0-8 U C C 1-5

Replay Imokilly 2-8 U C C 1-8

Semi final Imokilly 2-9 Duhallow 2-7

Mick Lewis (Cloyne),

Alan Devoy (Aghada), Denis Mulcahy (Midleton), Mick Walsh (Youghal),

Kieran Murphy (Castlemartyr), Conor Counihan (Capt) (Aghada), Martin McCarthy (Youghal),

Fergus Quill (Youghal), Teddy McCarthy (Glanmire),

Gerry Glavin (Midleton), Brian Lotty (Glanmire), P O’Callaghan (Glenville)

John Hegarty (Cobh), Billy Aherne (Aghada),Tadhg Murphy (Glanmire).

Subs used Joe Hartnett (Aghada), Kevin Hennessy (Midleton), Denis Walsh (St. Catherine’s)

Shock In County Football Final Imokilly 2-14 St. Finbarrs 2-7

As Imokilly Take First Title Against ‘The Barrs’

The general view before the County Senior Football final between newcomers Imokilly and S Finbarr’s was that it would be a keenly contested and highly interesting affair, but on paper the Blue looked a far more skilful and experienced fifteen, and were entitled to be favourites.

But what a shock was in store for the celebrated club. Throughout the match Imokilly, with no weak link of any description, looked a team of seasoned and highly tuned experts and, after leading marginally at half time, demolished the Barrs dream of winning the ‘double’ on a 1-14 to 2-7 scoreline. Midway through the second half, the East Cork side had raced into a 0-12 to 0-6 lead with a succession of scintillating points, mainly from Billy Aherne and Brian Lofty.

Then came a typical opportunist goal that silenced the Barrs once and for all. A high lobbing shot from Tadhg Murphy, who, along with Colm O’Neill, were members of the Cork panel beaten by Kerry in the Munster final, was fumbled in the goalmouth, and John Hegarty took the gifted opportunity to place Gerry Glavin for a marvelous goal. In fact, despite two late Barrs goals, Imokilly were always anxious to extend their lead and at one stage, led by 1-13 to 0-6.

It was, perhaps, one of the biggest upsets in a final for a long time, but what a memorable triumph it was for Conor Counihan’s team, who earlier got little or no chance of winning against a side that had only lost two championship games over the previous six years.

B Aherne 0-7, G Glavin 1-3, T McCarthy 0-2, F Quill and B Lotty 0-1 each were the scorers for Imokilly who lined out as follows:

Mick Lewis (Cloyne),

Denis Mulcahy (Midleton), Sean Bowes (Castlemartyr), Mick Walsh (Youghal),

Kieran Murphy (Castlemartyr), Conor Counihan (Capt) (Aghada), Martin McCarthy (Youghal),

Fergus Quill (Youghal), Teddy McCarthy (Glanmire),

Gerry Glavin (Midleton), Brian Lotty (Glanmire), Billy Aherne (Aghada),

John Hegarty (Cobh), Kevin Hennessy (Midleton), Tadhg Murphy (Glanmire).

Denis Walsh (St Catherine’s) and Bertie Óg Murphy (Glanmire) came on as sub­stitutes. Other members of the panel wereJim McCarthy (Youghal), Joe Hartnett (Aghada), Alan Devoy (Aghada), Kevin O'Connell (Aghada), Aidan Berry (Aghada), Pat O'Callaghan (Glenville), Frank Morrissey (Carrigtwohill), Tom Whelehan (Russell Rovers), Christy O'Sullivan (Russell Rovers), David Swayne (Youghal)

Scores all year

Tadgh Murphy 5-5 , Kevin Hennessy 2-5, Billy Ahern 1-14, Brian Lotty 1-6, Ger Glavin 1-9, Teddie McCarthy 0-8 Liam Hennessy 0-1, Fergus Quill 0-1

Tadgh,Bertie senior, Bertie Óg, Murphys all

Imokilly chief top manager

THE Talbot “manager of the month” for October is David Loughman, trainer coach to the Imokilly team which shocked St. Finbarr’s in the Cork County Senior Football final. Underdogs Imokilly defeated their more illustrious opponents 1-14 to 2-7. He also masterminded Youghal’s, victory in the East Cork Junior Football Championship. The scale of this achievement is reflected in the fact that St. Finbarr’s and Nemo Rangers traditionally dominate the Cork championship, having shared the ad title between them for over ten years. It was only Imokilly’s first final appearance.

Imokilly began collective training only five weeks before the final. While St. Finbarr’s included a number of county footballers as well as those on the fringes of county honours, Imokilly had no recognized stars. Although David Loughman admitted, “we did play two county hurlers. ”Commenting on his award, Loughman paid tribute to the players and the two other backroom men, Anthony Cashman (Aghada) and 76 years young Bertie Murphy.(Glanmire)