KILDORRERY 1-12
AGHABULLOGUE 0-15  

FOLLOWING a remarkable county intermediate football championship encounter in which fortunes fluctuated dramatically, it was most fitting that the honours were shared by Aghabullogue and Kildorrey in Mourneabbey last Saturday evening.

The Mid-Cork side came closest to winning it in the end, with Kildorrery forced to rely on two points in stoppage time to earn a reprieve. But Aghabullogue would have been happy to settle for a draw after Kildorrery dominated the exchanges for most of the second half, transforming a six-point deficit into a two-point lead in the process.

With Eamonn O'Connor and Andrew O'Brien kicking a couple of wides in quick succession, however, Kildorrery failed to tighten the screw, leaving the door open for Aghabullogue to rally in the dying minutes. Ironically, O'Connor and O'Brien both played leading roles as Kildorrery recovered from a potentially disastrous first half in which Aghabullogue looked by far the better team.

Disciplined and assured in defence where Dan Twomey, Mark O'Brien and Peter Kelleher were especially resolute, Aghabullogue kept Kildorrery scoreless during the opening 22 minutes while putting eight points on the board at the other end, with Pa Finnegan, John Kelleher and the excellent John Hogan inflicting the bulk of the damage.

Niall Buckley was also to the fore at midfield, and, in truth, Aghabullogue, with Finnegan offtarget with a couple of early chances from frees, weren't flattered by their healthy advantage before Peter O'Brien goaled to break Kildorrery's duck in the 23rd minute.

That opportunity came about following a rare mistake by Aghabullogue corner-back Brian Buckley, who failed to hold a high ball from Kildorrery's Andrew O'Brien, allowing substitute Jeremiah Ahern to pick up possession and combine with Tom Monaghan to send Peter O'Brien through.

Ahern had been introduced in attack after corner back Steve Kent was forced to retire injured early on, and Kildorrery, in a bid to come to terms with their widespread problems, made several other alterations to their formation over the course of the first half. But the benefits were minimal, although Micheal Walsh did make an impact on moving from corner back to the right wing on Pa Finnegan.

Aghabulloghue replied to Peter O'Brien's goal with a massive point by John Hogan from a free about 50 metres out near the right touchline, and Hogan converted another free to push them seven clear before John Howard popped over a couple of similar chances for Kildorrery which made 0-10 to 1-2 at half-time.

There was little to indicate that Aghabullogue would relinquish the initiative after Niall Buckley pointed within three minutes of the turnover. But they failed to add to their tally until Pa Finnegan converted a free in the final minute of normal time.

In the interim, Kildorrery gained a pronounced territorial edge, thanks in the main to the efforts of midfielders Mike Monaghan and Andrew O'Brien, and centre-back Eamonn O'Connor, who thundered into the picture after being kept fully occupied by Aghabullogue's Barry Kiely in the first half. Michael Walsh continued to impress at wing-back while Peter O'Brien emerged as a major thorn in the Aghabullogue defence, triggering off Kildorrery's comeback with a brace of points, and playing a central role in several of his side's fruitful raids after that.

It was following a pass from O'Brien that Eamonn O'Connor inched Kildorrery ahead for the first time at the three-quarter stage, and it was hard to visualise them being knocked off course after David White extended the lead in the 52nd minute. But Aghabullogue dug deep to arrest their slide, with Barry Kiely moving to wing-back on Peter O'Brien to good effect, and Peter Kelleher also making his presence felt following his switch to the '40.

Pa Finnegan's point from a free was quickly followed by an equaliser from the lion-hearted Niall Buckley.before substitutes Donal Twomey and Ken Hogan shared a brace of points in stoppage time to bring Aghabullogue within sight of victory.

Kildorrery pulled the game out of the fire in a thrilling conclusion, however, courtesy of unerring free-taker John Howard and Peter O'Brien, who showed his class to land a superb leveling score virtually on the stroke of full-time.

Scorers Kildorrery P. O'Brien 1-3, J. Howard 05. 0-4 frees, J. Coughlan, free, A. O'Brien, free, E. O'Connor and D. White 0-1 each

Aghabullogue P. Finnegan 0-4, 0-2 frees, N. Buckley 0-3. J. Hogan 0-3, 0-2 frees, J. Kelleher 0-2, E. Kennedy, Donal Twomey and K. Hogan 0-1 each

Teams:

Kildorrery

B Hannon, S Kent, TP Murphy, M Walsh, G McCarthy, E O'Connor, T McEniry, S Fitzgerald, M Monaghan, J Howard, D White, S Coughlan, T Monaghan, A O'Brien, P O'Brien. Sub: J Ahern for Kent (inj)

Aghabullogue

I. O'Sullivan, B. Buckley, M. O'Brien, D. Murphy, E. Kennedy, Dan Twomey, P. Kelleher, N. Buckley, M. Twomey, E. Twomey, B. Kiely, P. Finnegan, J. Hogan, J. Kelleher, P. O'Rourke. , Donal Twomey for E. Twomey, K. Hogan for J. Kelleher

Referee: C Lane (Banteer)