In an entertaining game played in Bishopstown on Wednesday evening UCC Staff edged out North Cork Garda by one point in the first round of the Junior A Football Championship. Goals from Donagh O’Mahony and Jerry Reen set up UCC’s first even win at this grade.
The game begun in bright, benign conditions but this suddenly changed after just three minutes as a thundershower poured rain down on proceedings. UCC started brightly but some poorly struck shots failed to find the target. After just five minutes UCC’s right half forward, Tom Byrne, had to leave the game with a hamstring injury and he was replaced by UCC’s solitary substitute, Donagh O’Mahony. O’Mahony made an immediate impact kicking a fine point off his left with his first touch of the ball.
UCC continued to gain a lot of possession through the midfield pairing of Dave Stafford and Liam Murphy. This led to further points from Michael Byrne and Jerry Reen, who saw an effort for goal deflected over the bar by the North Cork Garda goalkeeper.
