Sun June 23 - Intermediate Football: Cork v Christopher's

Cork 0- 17 Christopher’s 1-8

Cork delivered a defeat to Christopher’s in their second Intermediate championship game and never looked in danger.  Christopher’s did look at times capable of causing problems for Cork, but never realized that promise.  Cork’s forward line looked very strong, and their defence were able to deal with most of what Christopher’s threw at them for the 60 minutes.  There were no goals from Cork, and with the lead as it was, there was no real need to try such was the lead in the points column.  Each additional point was another demoralizing blow to their opponents, and a win for Cork gets them off the mark in their challenge for the newly reformed Intermediate Championship.

William Finnegan launches another shot.

Cork opened a sizeable lead in the first half with scores coming from all angles and quarters.  Driven by Mayo man, Darragh Murphy, the Cork forwards were hard to stop and played some nice football to put nine over the bar before Christopher’s got off the mark.  Corner forwards Ian Caffrey and Mark Dalton had seven between them, with the balance coming from Murphy and William Finnegan.  Despite the best efforts from Mark Coppinger and his cohorts manning the Christopher’s defences, Cork were not for stopping.

Christopher’s eventually got on the scoreboard with a point from Bryan Herlihey.  The busy corner forward tried to work off the presence of Dan Kenneally playing in the edge of the box, but Paddy Clarke did a great job keeping the ball out of the Christopher’s veteran’s hands.  Christopher’s managed some good spells of play coming into the latter stages of the half, and were rewarded with points from Ken O’Reilly and Herlihey, but at the break it was a 0-12 to 0-3 Cork advantage and a big turnaround would be required for Christopher’s to have a chance of getting something from the game.

Paudie Kenneally with a burst forward.

Christopher’s tried to change it up a bit in the second half with Herlihey playing farther out the field, but with Patrick Bohane doing Trojan work in the Cork half back line it was difficult to find the openings.  Jerry Kenneally and Mark Delaney pointed for Christopher’s, but the rebels were still hard at work in the forwards, with Dalton, Mick Malone and Murphy converting points.  Mark Delaney converted a couple of very well taken frees before Christopher’s hit with a goal from Ken O’Reilly.  Unfortunately for Christopher’s the game had gotten away by that stage, and Cork continued to chip away with some additional points to end up 6 point victors.

Cork:  Kieran McEnery, Frank Dillon, Paddy Clarke, Jack Lacey, Adam Kenny, Patrick Bohane, Emmet Smith, William Finnegan, Mick Malone, Darragh Murphy, Nick O’Mullane, Mark Dalton, Ian Caffrey.

Christopher’s:  Conor Allen, Martin Coppinger, Gerry Bannon, Gareth Barr, Shane Power, Aengus Carmody, James Horgan, Patrick Kenneally, Kenneth O’Reilly, Mark Delaney, Jerry Kenneally, Dan Kenneally, Bryan Herlihey.

By Rory O'Donnell