Shamrocks 1-14, Ballinhassig 1-14 (Sun Aug 27th)
The first game ended in a draw in Ballygarvan after Ballinhassig made a strong finish to bring the game to a replay. Shamrocks led 0-6 to 0-1 after 10 minutes after playing some great football but Ballinhassig got right back into it with a goal. Shamrocks then scored a goal at the other end after a great move, finished by Cannice Caffrey. Ballinhassig finished the half stronger and that left the HT score at 1-8 to 1-5 for Shamrocks.
Shamrocks retreated into their own 45 in the second half, inviting Ballinhassig onto them and trying to cathch them on the break. The gap was at 4 points for most of the second half and with 10 minutes to go it was 1-13 to 1-9 for Shamrocks. However, Ballinhassig hit a purple patch and kicked over 4 points in a row from play to draw the game. Shamrocks went ahead late on from a Darragh O’Sullivan free but Ballinhassig didn’t give in a equalisied with the last kick of the game, which could easily have been a goal. It was too dark to play extra time so onto Ballygarvan again the following Tuesday night………
Shamrocks 2-13, Ballinhassig 0-11 (Tue Aug 29th)
Shamrocks rebounded better in the replay than Ballinhassig. Again, the pattern of the game was similar to the drawn game with Shamrocks racing ahead early on by 0-6 to 0-2 after some fine points from the forwards. The half back line were solid all through the game as well. The rest of the half saw the teams trade points. Just before HT, the real turning point arrived as the Ballinhassig centre back received a straight red card and it was advantage Shamrocks on the field and on the scoreboard, 0-10 to 0-7.
Again Shamrocks retreated into their own 45 and invited Ballinhassig onto them, causing a few uncomfortable moments as Ballinhassig brought the margin down to 2 points on 2 occasions. However, the goal Ballinhassig badly needed never materialised and it was Shamrocks who put the game beyond Ballinhassig with 10 minutes to go with Darragh O’Sullivans goal, 1-13 to 0-10. It really was game over at this stage and O’Sullivan added to his goal with another one 5 minutes from the end.
Players used over the 2 games: F. O’Neill. R. Harrington, S. Hurley, D. Barry, J. Browne, S. Kidney, C. Kidney, B. Mulqueen, A. O’Grady, D. Andrews, P. Brady, C. Caffrey, J. Shanahan, D. O’Sullivan, R. Twomey, M. Hitchmough, S. O’Neill, A. McCarthy, S. Collins, M. Jordan, N. Hayes.
