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N.Y. GAA For shorthanded Cork, Leitrim not a lovely opponent

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

By Mike Fitzpatrick

Leitrim 1-19

Cork 1-1

Cork entered this senior football Div. I game Sunday at Gaelic Park as underdogs.

As if it weren’t bad enough facing a team as fancied as Leitrim, Cork were a man short going into the tie. The team has also suffered a string of injuries and defections. Star midfielder Pat Mahoney, nursing a longterm injury, had to start the game in goal, and with manager Liam Bermingham having to play himself up front, the omens did not look good for the Munster men.

But all credit must go to the lads who did show up.

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Fourteen-man Cork had the audacity to score the first point of the game, and prevented Leitrim from scoring for the first 10 minutes or so.

After that, however, Leitrim took control, and began to steam forward in search of the two points they so urgently needed to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Cork’s John Donovan opened the scoring, but this was not a setback for Frank Brady’s men.

Alan McFadden and John Meehan soon added their names to the scoresheet, and Leitrim were on a roll.

Mike Murphy added two more, and John Donaghue and Kieran Traynor added a couple each to go into the break leading by nine points to one.

A fine save from Mahoney in goal prevented the Leitrim attack from grabbing a goal just before the break, but with the amount of attacking the Cork defense had to endure, it was only a matter of time before a goal went in.

The second half opened on much the same level. A hat trick of points from one of the leagues top scorers, Alan McFadden, began the second half rout, and Leitrim just kept on going.

Morgan Burns showed his experience for Cork and battled valiantly in an attempt to stem the green and red tide, but fighting a team with such battle hardened pro’s as Mike Joe Hennessy, Mike Brosnan, Sean Jones and the Donaghues was never going to be easy.

Cork managed a late goal thanks to Brendan Wylies’s fine effort, but an 18-point victory for Leitrim was the eventual outcome.

Cork have one game left to play, against Cavan, which they will hope to gain something from, whereas Leitrim have a hugely important tie versus Monaghan in a couple of weeks which they simply must win to stay in contention.

Cork: Pat Mahoney, Brendan O’Connell, Joe Sullivan, Paddy Sullivan, Morgan Burns, John Donovan (0-1), Kenneth Delanty, Eamonn Crowley, Denis Mahoney, Brendan Wiley (1-0), Sean O’Flynn, Kieran Carr, Barry John Ryan, Eamonn Ryan, Liam Bermingham.

Leitrim: Mike Joe Hennessy, Malachy McHugh, Kieran Walsh, John McGuinness, Jim Donaghue, Mike Brosnan, Neville Dunne, Kieran Traynor (1-2), John Meehan (0-1), John Donaghue (0-3), Noel Donnellan (0-1), Dermot Early (0-2), Alan McFadden (0-6), Sean Jones (0-1), Mike Murphy (0-2). Subs: Jonathon Daly (0-1), Andy Grady.

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