Shercock 2-13 Kingscourt 3-7
SHERCOCK racked up their second Minor League win on the trot with a gritty display to overcome Kingscourt in Corduff on Sunday. Kingscourt enjoyed dominance in the first 20 minutes of this encounter which saw an effective, quick and clever passing game matched against the direct physical game play of Shercock. Stars’ marksman Joe Dillon took his first point in the second minute with a beautifully executed long range effort which he followed up a minute later with an identical effort just to prove his class.
Shercock were pushed back deep into their own half as they sought answers to counter Kingscourt’s ability to find the free man and it took an eventual free, converted expertly by Damien McIntyre, to get them onto the scoreboard. In the seventh minute Shercock scored again to level the scored at two apiece when corner forward Ryan Clerkin connected with McIntyre, who in turn made no mistake. Dillon was again the man to score for Kingscourt as a breaking ball was gathered and dispatched over the bar.
The first goal came in the tenth minute when a perfectly weighted ball, sent over the Kingscourt defence, found a running Jack McPhilips . Unfortunately the corner forward’s effort struck the post but it was pounced on by full forward Lee Clarke who crashed to the net. The reply was immediate when a free sent short into the Shercock square was spilled and a Kingscourt boot was the quickest to react. Buoyed, Kingscourt again rattled the net two minutes later when a clever pass found Cian McArdle, who struck past Shercock goalkeeper Simon McIntyre.
Kingscourt attacked again with their characteristic stylish play that culminated in a fine point executed by Kevin Rodgers. They hit their second goal when Paul Woods slipped through the Shercock defence to raise the green flag. Sensing the possibility that the game could shortly be out of their reach Shercock made some quick rearrangements on the field, changes that seemed to work as they began to get a grip on the game and engineer more effective game play.
Notably Owen Duffy, whose intelligent and hardworking defensive play was paramount in conquering the Kingscourt attacks. Shercock got their reward soon after as full forward Lee Clarke out-jumped goalkeeper James Farrelly to score a crucial goal. Shercock continued to capitalise on this pressure with points from Davis Harper and John O Reilly to leave just a point between the teams at half-time.
The second half began and continued as the first had finished. Shercock inflicted a direct physical style of play on Kingscourt who in an effort to stem the dynamic running by Killian Clarke and David Harper committed fouls for which they were punished. Damien McIntyre converted five points from frees as Shercock levelled with and then extended an impressive lead. Finbarr Farrelly and John O’Reilly also contributed with fines points as Kingscourt failed to find answers.
In fact Kingscourt did not score until the 57th minute with a point from Joe Dillon, by which time the game was effectively over. They followed that with two more in extra time, but by this time Shercock had the game sewn up.
Shercock: Simon McIntyre; Paul McIntyre, Shane Clarke, Paul Sloane; Colin Clerkin, Brian Sankey, Owen Duffy; Killian Clarke, David Harper; Finbarr Farrelly, Damien McIntyre, Jack McPhillips; John O’Reilly, Dean Daly, Lee Clarke.
Subs used: Ryan Clerkin, Dean Daly.
Kingscourt: James Farrelly, Stephen Fay, Aidan Smith, Rory Sheridan, Padraig Faulkner, Eoin Lynch, Michael Gargan, Terry O’Reilly, Joe Dillon; Reece McIntyre, Paul Woods; Shay Rooney, Cian McArdle, Kevin Rodgers; Robbie Rowntree
Subs used: Jamie Carolan for Robbie Rowntree and Robbie Rowntree for Kevin Rodgers
NOTE: Match Report courtesy of Niall Boyle of The Cavan Post
