Castlehaven 1-15 Dromcollogher-Broadford 0-7: Shane Nolan lived up to his super-sub billing for the second time in a week by again scoring the only goal to help Castlehaven reach the Munster club SFC semi-final in Clonakilty yesterday.
The UCC student grabbed the all-important goal in the previous week’s county final victory when sprung from the bench and Nolan repeated the trick in front of a crowd of just over 1,500 on this occasion.
He pounced after 48 minutes, finishing expertly with a low shot to the corner of the net following Seán Dineen’s spadework which helped take two defenders out of the equation.
And it got worse for Dromcollogher-Broadford because Mike Boyce was shown a red card following an off-the-ball incident involving Castlehaven’s star forward Brian Hurley as the players awaited goalkeeper Keith Noonan’s restart.
The goal helped the ’Haven to a 1-10 to 0-6 lead playing against the strong wind and effectively ended the match as a contest, the Cork champions registering their biggest score of the season in the end.
Man-of-the-match Damien Cahalane, who oozed class throughout, picked out Mark Collins for the next score and the impressive Hurley chipped in with two more before Stephen Hurley and Collins, again, wrapped up an impressive victory.
Castlehaven played with the wind from the start after winning the toss and they made their intentions know immediately, midfielder Dermot Hurley scoring the first point after only 12 seconds.
It triggered a scoring rush as the ’Haven surged 0-6 in front inside 11 minutes with Brian Hurley kicking two fine points before eventually Dromcollogher-Broadford settled.
Jason Stokes, Patrick Donnelly and Tom McLoughlin became influential figures for the visitors who managed outscore their opponents 0-4 to 0-1 in the closing 20 minutes.
A Michael Reidy free, followed by Derry McCarthy’s eye-catching point from play, helped the Limerick champions grow in confidence as the Cork champions struggled to keep possession.
A 22nd minute Collins free didn’t disrupt the flow as Dromcollogher-Broadford came again, Reidy landed a superb free from 45 metres into the wind and Garrett Noonan completing a sparkling move with another from play to leave his side just three adrift at the interval, 0-7 to 0-4.
But, they couldn’t take advantage of the wind on the resumption as Castlehaven again began smartly, Stephen Hurley pointing inside 20 seconds as the Cork side led 0-10 to 0-6 entering the fourth quarter before Nolan’s goal settled matters.
