{"id":617829,"date":"2026-09-08T03:42:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T03:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/617829\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T03:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T03:42:13","slug":"premier-1-u16fc-macroom-push-ballincollig-to-the-wire-in-thriller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/617829\/","title":{"rendered":"Premier 1 U16FC: Macroom push Ballincollig to the wire in thriller"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ballincollig: 3-14 (3-1-12)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Macroom: 0-19 (0-3-13)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Goals proved vital as Ballincollig eked out a cracking win over Macroom in the Rebel \u00d3g Premier 1 U16 football championship semi-final at Bishopstown on Monday night.<\/p>\n

This last-four clash was thoroughly enjoyable, helped by referee Peter Cotter allowing the game to flow as much as possible.<\/p>\n

Ballincollig ultimately got the scores at the vital stages, with two green flags before the short whistle giving them a four-point buffer at half-time.<\/p>\n

Cayden Murphy helped keep the defence intact, while Cork minor Evan Stack was a driving force from midfield for the winners. The likes of Liam O\u2019Brien, Will Twomey and Shay O\u2019Brien supplied the scores that got their side over the line by four points.<\/p>\n

\"Ballincollig\u2019sBallincollig\u2019s Faol\u00e1n O\u2019Leary chases Macroom\u2019s Darragh Creed. Picture: Chani Anderson<\/p>\n

It was level midway through the second half, but Ballincollig had the firepower to squeeze through.<\/p>\n

The Collig will meet Douglas in the decider after they overcame Nemo Rangers by six points.<\/p>\n

There were plenty of green shoots for Macroom, who were driven on by the excellent Dylan O\u2019Shea in midfield. He scored a tally of 0-14, including three orange flags.<\/p>\n

They will benefit from playing Premier 1 this year, while their minors are in the Premier 2 semi-final on Wednesday against St Finbarr\u2019s.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Shea got Macroom up and running with a free, followed by a David Bradley effort, but a two-point free from Stack drew Ballincollig level.<\/p>\n

An O\u2019Shea orange flag pushed Macroom 0-4 to 0-2 ahead after 14 minutes, with wing-back Con Moss having a stormer.<\/p>\n

Ryan Brophy extended the advantage out to three, but the Collig replied with three points on the trot, with Shay O\u2019Brien key in that scoring spree.<\/p>\n

The sides were level at 0-7 each after 27 minutes, but the first of Ballincollig\u2019s three goals arrived when Will Twomey showed his pace as he billowed the back of the net.<\/p>\n

\"Ballincollig\u2019sBallincollig\u2019s Evan Stack in action against Macroom. Picture: Chani Anderson<\/p>\n

Macroom\u2019s response was an O\u2019Shea two-point free, but Ballincollig grabbed their second green flag in added time when Liam O\u2019Brien finished low into the back of the net, making it 2-7 to 0-9 at half-time.<\/p>\n

Macroom didn\u2019t wilt despite the concession of those goals. They started the new half with three unanswered points \u2014 two O\u2019Shea frees and a Bradley effort.<\/p>\n

Ballincollig kicked two of the next three points before the impressive O\u2019Shea landed his second two-point free to draw Macroom level, 2-9 to 0-15 after 43 minutes.<\/p>\n

The Village, though, had more scoring power, and two Shay O\u2019Brien white flags \u2014 one from a free \u2014 and a Faol\u00e1n O\u2019Leary fisted effort steadied them.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Shea did land a 45 in between those scores, with the game still finely poised with 12 minutes to go, 2-12 to 0-16.<\/p>\n

A real sucker punch arrived for Macroom 10 minutes from time when the powerful Alan Jozefowski burst through the defence and netted Ballincollig\u2019s third goal.<\/p>\n

It was the most important score of the game, as the Collig were able to manage the closing stages.<\/p>\n

\"Ballincollig\u2019sBallincollig\u2019s Liam O\u2019Brien celebrates his goal against Macroom. Picture: Chani Anderson<\/p>\n

Macroom did land three of the next four points, but they really needed a goal that didn\u2019t come to fruition.<\/p>\n

Stack got the final score of an enjoyable game with a fine 45.<\/p>\n

Ballincollig were pushed to the wire but passed the test.<\/p>\n

Scorers for Ballincollig: L O\u2019Brien 1-3, S O\u2019Brien 0-4 (0-2 f), W Twomey 1-1, E Stack 0-3 (1 2pt f, 0-1 45), A Jozefowski 1-0, C Hannigan, F O\u2019Leary, C Connaughton 0-1 each.<\/p>\n

Macroom: D O\u2019Shea 0-14 (0-6 f, 2 2pt f, 1 2pt, 0-1 45), D Bradley 0-2, R Brophy, A Hopkins, D O\u2019Connell 0-1.<\/p>\n

BALLINCOLLIG: R O\u2019Sullivan; R O\u2019Connell, C Murphy, O Harrington; R Creedon, J O\u2019Sullivan, C Hannigan; E Stack, K McSweeney; A Jozefowski, W Twomey, F O\u2019Leary; C Connaughton, L O\u2019Brien, S O\u2019Brien.<\/p>\n

Subs: D Jozefowski for W Twomey (43), O Power for C Connaughton (58).<\/p>\n

MACROOM: C Lee; T Mullane, M Deasy, D Condon; C Moss, C Murray, L Slattery; D Twomey, D O\u2019Shea; R Brophy, A Hopkins, D Creed; D Bradley, C Angland, D O\u2019Connell.<\/p>\n

Subs: B McCrory for D Twomey (29-31, temp), D Twomey for L Slattery (31).<\/p>\n

Referee: Peter Cotter (Gleann na Laoi).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ballincollig: 3-14 (3-1-12)\u00a0 Macroom: 0-19 (0-3-13)\u00a0 Goals proved vital as Ballincollig eked out a cracking win over Macroom…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":617830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1964,61,60,112],"class_list":["post-617829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-cork-gaa","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617829","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=617829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/617830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=617829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=617829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=617829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}