{"id":566618,"date":"2026-07-24T21:54:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T21:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/566618\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T21:54:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T21:54:12","slug":"safc-eire-og-hold-off-bishopstown-after-dramatic-finish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/566618\/","title":{"rendered":"SAFC: \u00c9ire \u00d3g hold off Bishopstown after dramatic finish"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00c9ire \u00d3g: 0-15 (0-3-9)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bishopstown: 1-11 (1-1-9)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00c9ire \u00d3g held on to edge out Bishopstown in the McCarthy Insurance Group SAFC at Ballincollig on Friday evening.<\/p>\n

The Muskerry side also defeated Bishopstown at the quarter-final stage last year, and this one similarly went down to the wire. It wasn\u2019t a classic, but \u00c9ire \u00d3g won\u2019t mind. They prevailed by the bare minimum, having looked comfortable for the vast majority without ever pulling away.<\/p>\n

There was late drama, though. Bishopstown could have snatched it when the influential Conor Dunne was unable to land a two-point free from outside the arc. Having done so just a minute beforehand, you would have backed him to raise the orange flag.<\/p>\n

\u00c9ire \u00d3g were able to breathe easily at full-time in this Group 3 Round 1 clash.<\/p>\n

Not for the first time, Daniel Goulding was key, with the 2010 All-Ireland winner landing 0-5. Chris Kelly\u2019s kick-outs and a tight defensive structure were also vital in securing the win.<\/p>\n

\u00c9ire \u00d3g did so without Cork player Darragh Clifford, who is abroad but should be back for the next championship game.<\/p>\n

\"Bishopstown\u2019sBishopstown\u2019s Patrick Casey tackles \u00c9ire \u00d3g\u2019s Daire McCarthy. Picture: Noel Sweeney<\/p>\n

A pair of Jack Murphy points got \u00c9ire \u00d3g up and running, but in a cagey opening ten minutes, Dunne pointed an easy free for Bishopstown. A Goulding two-point free stretched \u00c9ire \u00d3g\u2019s advantage to three, 0-4 to 0-1 after 13 minutes.<\/p>\n

Cork U20 footballer Gary Holland, who caused problems throughout, kicked a splendid point for Bishopstown, but they continued to struggle to break down a tough \u00c9ire \u00d3g defence.<\/p>\n

A Mark Griffin orange flag gave \u00c9ire \u00d3g a four-point buffer, but Bishopstown goaled after 18 minutes. An excellent fetch from Holland resulted in the forward playing in Simon Collins, who finished to the net, 0-6 to 1-2.<\/p>\n

\u00c9ire \u00d3g always had the answers. Another Goulding two-point free steadied the Muskerry men.<\/p>\n

In a low-scoring opening 30 minutes, there were just four more scores, evenly shared. Ois\u00edn O\u2019Shea and Griffin raised white flags for \u00c9ire \u00d3g, while Odhran Foley and Patrick Casey pointed for Bishopstown, leaving it 0-10 to 1-4 at half-time.<\/p>\n

A Colm O\u2019Callaghan fisted effort gave \u00c9ire \u00d3g a small bit of breathing space on the resumption before the sides exchanged points, 0-12 to 1-5 after 39 minutes.<\/p>\n

\"Bishopstown\u2019sBishopstown\u2019s Gary Holland seeks support as \u00c9ire \u00d3g\u2019s Conor McGoldrick closes in. Picture: Noel Sweeney<\/p>\n

Two Holland points kept Bishopstown in touch, but Brian Thompson replied with a fine individual score.<\/p>\n

The sides traded points as \u00c9ire \u00d3g led 0-14 to 1-8 with five minutes remaining.<\/p>\n

Kieran McFadden bisected the posts for the Town, only for O\u2019Callaghan to respond likewise, and it looked like \u00c9ire \u00d3g had done enough.<\/p>\n

Not so. A Dunne two-point free in added time left just a point between the teams, and with the last play Bishopstown had the opportunity to snatch victory \u2014 but unfortunately from their point of view, their leader Dunne was unable to convert a kickable two-point free.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Scorers for \u00c9ire \u00d3g: D Goulding 0-5 (2 2p f, 0-1 f), M Griffin 0-3 (1 2pt), J Murphy, C O\u2019Callaghan 0-2 each, B Thompson, C McGoldrick, O O\u2019Shea 0-1 each.<\/p>\n

Bishopstown: C Dunne 0-5 (1 2pt f, 0-3 f), G Holland 0-3, S Collins 1-0, K McFadden, O Foley, P Casey 0-1 each.<\/p>\n

\u00c9IRE \u00d3G: C Kelly; C Murphy, M Corkery, J Mullins; B Thompson, M Griffin, D McCarthy; D Kelly, C McGoldrick; O O\u2019Shea, C O\u2019Callaghan, J Kelleher; D Goulding, J Galvin, J Murphy.<\/p>\n

Subs: E O\u2019Shea for C Murphy, S Hurley for J Galvin (both 44), R O\u2019Toole for D Kelly (50), M Brady for J Kelleher (58).<\/p>\n

BISHOPSTOWN: C Hynes; M Murphy, H Wixted, M Scally; K McFadden, B McCarthy, K Murphy; J Murphy, S Sheridan; P Casey, C Dunne, O Foley; S Collins, G Holland, B Cahill.<\/p>\n

Subs: N Crowley for S Sheridan, C Daly for B Cahill (both 44), J Tompkins for P Casey (55), L Hogan for B McCarthy (59).<\/p>\n

Referee: Brian Crowley (Castlehaven).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00c9ire \u00d3g: 0-15 (0-3-9)\u00a0 Bishopstown: 1-11 (1-1-9)\u00a0 \u00c9ire \u00d3g held on to edge out Bishopstown in the McCarthy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":566619,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1964,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-566618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-cork-gaa","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=566618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/566619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=566618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=566618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=566618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}