St. Nicks Teams

Bullish Nicks quell Mallow onslaught

St Nicholas 2-8 Mallow 1-10

Cork SFC: ST NICHOLAS survived a tremendous second-half fightback by Mallow to preserve their senior status for another season following a thrilling one-point victory in their Cork SFC relegation semi-final at Donoughmore last night. It looked as if the city side had done enough in the opening half when playing with the wind to lead by three goals at the break. But a goal and two points in quick succession for Mallow just after the restart threw the issue wide open, and Nicks were grateful for the final whistle, four minutes into injury time, as they survived by the narrowest of margins. Mallow now have one final chance to keep their senior status when they play Bantry Blues in the final game, and on the evidence of their second half display, are more than capable of winning that game.

Nicks had many stars, but the Brosnan brothers David and Robert stood head and shoulders over the rest. Not far behind was Graham Callinan, whose forceful running caused endless problems for the Mallow defence, while Brian McSweeney and Liam Leahy gave little away in the Nicks back line. Mallow won the toss, elected to play into the strong wind and made the perfect start with a Cian O'Riordan point after just 50 seconds showing Nicks they clearly had a battle on the hands. The city side needed a sizeable half-time lead if they were to survive this relegation contest, and set about building that lead with goals from Niall Harte and Robert Brosnan inside the opening minutes. The aerial dominance of the Brosnan brothers Robert and David gave Nicks control of midfield but for all their territorial advantage, they proceeded to kick a succession of wides. Mallow, without a score for 18 minutes, eventually got a point back when O'Riordan landed a free. But Nicks were excellent going forward and Callinan replied almost off the kick out, and they finished the half strongly, with three further points to take a 2-6 to 0-3 lead into half time.

However, whatever Mallow coach Ronan Sheehan said to his charges at half time, it certainly worked. They played the towering figure of Denis Hayes in at full forward, and in their first attack he set Pa Dineen up for a goal. Maintaining the pressure, the North Cork side added two points and in the space of five minutes they had the deficit down to four points, and it was very much a case of game on. With so much at stake, tempers became frayed both on and off the field, but wiser heads prevailed and the impressive David Brosnan eased the pressure for Nicks with two points. To their credit, Mallow weren't going down without a fight, and taking inspiration from Dineen and Riordan, they laid siege to the Nicks goal. Amid tremendous excitement, they cut the deficit to the minimum with five points in a row, and the city side were hanging on grimly. Brosnan had the chance to ease the pressure, but amazingly he missed a 13-metre free after the Mallow 'keeper was penalised for picking the ball off the ground outside the square, drawing moans around the ground from the Nicks supporters worried that it could prove a costly miss. However, as the game drifted into injury time, Nicks played the possession game to perfection to frustrate Mallow. When the final whistle came, the relief on the faces of the Nicks officials was very evident.

Scorers for St Nicks: R Brosnan 1-1; D Brosnan 0-4 (0-3 frees); N Harte 1-0; G Callinan 0-2; N Horgan 0-1. Scorers for Mallow: P Dineen 1-2 (0-1 free); C O'Riordan 0-4; S Cronin, K McCarthy, D Hayes, D Kerrrisk 0-1 each. ST NICHOLAS: P Cuthbert; S Kenefick, D Og O'Donovan, B McSweeney; L Leahy, N Horgan, D Cunningham; R Brosnan, D Brosnan; G Callinan, D Busteed, N Harte; G Moylan, D Goggin, K Herlihy. Sub: D Brosnan for Busteed. MALLOW: C Sheehan; J Collins, A Cashman, R Willis; P Riordan, K McCarthy, C Kerrisk; D Kerrisk, D Hayes; J O'Sullivan, C O'Riordan, M O'Brien; J Hayes, P Dineen, S Cronin. Sub: B Doyle for C Kerrisk. Referee: N Barrett (Carrigtwohill)

HAVING led by nine points at half-time, 2-6 to 0-3, in their Evening Echo SFC relegation play-off with Mallow, St Nicholas looked to have the outcome of the game secured, writes DENIS HURLEY.

However, the north Cork side showed great resolve in the second-half to almost pull the game out of the fire, eventually coming up just short on a 2-8 to 1-10 scoreline. St Nick's midfielder David Brosnan said, though, that he felt his side had enough belief within them to get the victory and ensure that the Blackpool side would still be playing senior football next year. "Well we were kind of expecting, coming into this, to be able to pull this one out after last year," he said. "We felt we let ourselves down in the previous two games, we got too confident after last year and we didn't give everyone else enough respect. "Tonight we wanted to make sure we gave Mallow enough respect to make sure we got the job done," Brosnan added. Having had such a lead at half-time, did Brosnan feel that the job was done by the end of the first half, or was he expecting Mallow to come at Nick's as strongly as they did? "Well we hoped we had done enough but we know that in every game every team is going to get a run, an we knew that they'd get a run in the second half," he said. "It was about being able to take their run and turn it back on them again." Brosnan himself had a fine game, scoring 1-2 from midfield in the first half, the goal coming after he was quickest to react when David Goggin's attempted point hit the post, though he said that he felt he owed it to his team-mates to put in a good performance. "Yeah I was pleased with my display, but in the Ballincollig game I felt I let everyone else down more than anyone, so I was determined tonight to come out and make amends for that match," he said. Having helped ensure that St Nick's stay senior for 2009, Brosnan says that the focus now will be on getting ready for that. "Well it's about getting back to where we were last year. "We've a very young team, a lot of talent, so we've got to make sure that we put the training in the off-season to come back next year and be ready."



				*SFC 2008*

	*Bullish Nicks quell Mallow onslaught* St Nicholas 2-8 Mallow 1-10 Cork SFC: ST NICHOLAS survived a tremendous second-half fightback by Mallow to preserve their senior status for another season following a thrilling one-point victory in their Cork SFC relegation semi-final at Donoughmore last night. It looked as if the city side had done enough in the opening half when playing with the wind to lead by three goals at the break. But a goal and two points in quick succession for Mallow just after the restart threw the issue wide open, and Nicks were grateful for the final whistle, four minutes into injury time, as they survived by the narrowest of margins. Mallow now have one final chance to keep their senior status when they play Bantry Blues in the final game, and on the evidence of their second half display, are more than capable of winning that game. Nicks had many stars, but the Brosnan brothers David and Robert stood head and shoulders over the rest. Not far behind was Graham Callinan, whose forceful running caused endless problems for the Mallow defence, while Brian McSweeney and Liam Leahy gave little away in the Nicks back line. Mallow won the toss, elected to play into the strong wind and made the perfect start with a Cian O'Riordan point after just 50 seconds showing Nicks they clearly had a battle on the hands. The city side needed a sizeable half-time lead if they were to survive this relegation contest, and set about building that lead with goals from Niall Harte and Robert Brosnan inside the opening minutes. The aerial dominance of the Brosnan brothers Robert and David gave Nicks control of midfield but for all their territorial advantage, they proceeded to kick a succession of wides. Mallow, without a score for 18 minutes, eventually got a point back when O'Riordan landed a free. But Nicks were excellent going forward and Callinan replied almost off the kick out, and they finished the half strongly, with three further points to take a 2-6 to 0-3 lead into half time. However, whatever Mallow coach Ronan Sheehan said to his charges at half time, it certainly worked. They played the towering figure of Denis Hayes in at full forward, and in their first attack he set Pa Dineen up for a goal. Maintaining the pressure, the North Cork side added two points and in the space of five minutes they had the deficit down to four points, and it was very much a case of game on. With so much at stake, tempers became frayed both on and off the field, but wiser heads prevailed and the impressive David Brosnan eased the pressure for Nicks with two points. To their credit, Mallow weren't going down without a fight, and taking inspiration from Dineen and Riordan, they laid siege to the Nicks goal. Amid tremendous excitement, they cut the deficit to the minimum with five points in a row, and the city side were hanging on grimly. Brosnan had the chance to ease the pressure, but amazingly he missed a 13-metre free after the Mallow 'keeper was penalised for picking the ball off the ground outside the square, drawing moans around the ground from the Nicks supporters worried that it could prove a costly miss. However, as the game drifted into injury time, Nicks played the possession game to perfection to frustrate Mallow. When the final whistle came, the relief on the faces of the Nicks officials was very evident. Scorers for St Nicks: R Brosnan 1-1; D Brosnan 0-4 (0-3 frees); N Harte 1-0; G Callinan 0-2; N Horgan 0-1. Scorers for Mallow: P Dineen 1-2 (0-1 free); C O'Riordan 0-4; S Cronin, K McCarthy, D Hayes, D Kerrrisk 0-1 each. ST NICHOLAS: P Cuthbert; S Kenefick, D Og O'Donovan, B McSweeney; L Leahy, N Horgan, D Cunningham; R Brosnan, D Brosnan; G Callinan, D Busteed, N Harte; G Moylan, D Goggin, K Herlihy. Sub: D Brosnan for Busteed. MALLOW: C Sheehan; J Collins, A Cashman, R Willis; P Riordan, K McCarthy, C Kerrisk; D Kerrisk, D Hayes; J O'Sullivan, C O'Riordan, M O'Brien; J Hayes, P Dineen, S Cronin. Sub: B Doyle for C Kerrisk. Referee: N Barrett (Carrigtwohill) HAVING led by nine points at half-time, 2-6 to 0-3, in their Evening Echo SFC relegation play-off with Mallow, St Nicholas looked to have the outcome of the game secured, writes DENIS HURLEY. However, the north Cork side showed great resolve in the second-half to almost pull the game out of the fire, eventually coming up just short on a 2-8 to 1-10 scoreline. St Nick's midfielder David Brosnan said, though, that he felt his side had enough belief within them to get the victory and ensure that the Blackpool side would still be playing senior football next year. "Well we were kind of expecting, coming into this, to be able to pull this one out after last year," he said. "We felt we let ourselves down in the previous two games, we got too confident after last year and we didn't give everyone else enough respect. "Tonight we wanted to make sure we gave Mallow enough respect to make sure we got the job done," Brosnan added. Having had such a lead at half-time, did Brosnan feel that the job was done by the end of the first half, or was he expecting Mallow to come at Nick's as strongly as they did? "Well we hoped we had done enough but we know that in every game every team is going to get a run, an we knew that they'd get a run in the second half," he said. "It was about being able to take their run and turn it back on them again." Brosnan himself had a fine game, scoring 1-2 from midfield in the first half, the goal coming after he was quickest to react when David Goggin's attempted point hit the post, though he said that he felt he owed it to his team-mates to put in a good performance. "Yeah I was pleased with my display, but in the Ballincollig game I felt I let everyone else down more than anyone, so I was determined tonight to come out and make amends for that match," he said. Having helped ensure that St Nick's stay senior for 2009, Brosnan says that the focus now will be on getting ready for that. "Well it's about getting back to where we were last year. "We've a very young team, a lot of talent, so we've got to make sure that we put the training in the off-season to come back next year and be ready."