Doyle’s late equaliser earns Cornafean a replay against Butlersbridge

Intermediate Football Championship semi-final

Cornafean 1-10

Butlersbridge 1-10

Damien Donohoe at Kingspan Breffni

Cornafean and Butlersbridge will have to do it all again after a dramatic semi-final in Kingspan Breffni ended level on Saturday evening. A last-gasp fisted point from substitute Conor Kilkenny ensured parity, with the sides finishing locked at 1-10 apiece after an absorbing game of football that swung one way and then the other.

Cornafean led by five at the break and despite registering 12 missed chances in the first half they looked well placed. But Butlersbridge with the wind in the second half, roared back with a goal from Caoimhín O’Reilly, back on holiday from Australia. Just as victory seemed theirs, Peter Doyle struck a two-pointer before Kilkenny delivered the final word.

The game began with Butlersbridge enjoying the early initiative. Both sides were guilty of some poor shooting in the early exchanges. After five minutes, they opened the scoring when Fionntán O’Reilly converted a 13m free, awarded after Cathal Leddy was fouled.

Cornafean responded smartly. In the seventh minute, corner-forward Peter Doyle levelled the contest with a tidy effort on his left from 25 metres. From the resulting kick-out, midfielder Culann Mac Seain powered through the heart of the Butlersbridge defence and pointed superbly to give Cornafean the lead at 0-2 to 0-1.

The key moment of the half came in the ninth minute. Mac Seain picked up possession in midfield and, after exchanging passes with Gerard Sheridan, cut in and calmly slid the ball low to the corner of the net. It was a clinical finish and left Cornafean four clear, 1-2 to 0-1.

Jack Wharton stretched the margin further in the 11th minute with a converted free after Cormac Doyle was fouled. Cornafean were firmly in control at this stage, and though Peter Doyle was off target with a shot moments later, they were dominating possession and the Butlersbridge kick-out.

Butlersbridge were struggling to fashion openings, though they did break through in the 13th minute when Cathal Leddy got in on goal, only for Sean McFaul to pull off a vital save. The significance of that intervention grew as Peter Doyle tagged on another score in the 15th minute from distance to make it 1-4 to 0-1.

The Bridge finally halted the slide in the 17th minute. After Davin Graham was fouled, Fionntán O’Reilly clipped over a close-range free, advanced forward by the referee for dissent. Caoimhín O’Reilly, in his first appearance of the year, was sprung from the bench but saw his first free drift wide as he acclimatised.

Cornafean countered in style in the 20th minute. A sweeping move involving Mac Seain and Doyle ended with Jack Trainor clipping over from 25 metres to leave it 1-5 to 0-2.

Butlersbridge were still carrying a threat, and in the 23rd minute Josh Mee wriggled clear only for McFaul to produce his second big stop of the half. Two minutes later, O’Reilly again pointed from a free, cutting the gap to 1-5 to 0-3. At the other end, Peter Doyle went for goal after being found by Mac Seain, but Michael Sheridan saved well.

At the interval, Cornafean led by 1-5 to 0-3. They had eight wides and three shots dropped short, while Butlersbridge had two wides, three efforts falling into the goalkeeper’s hands, and two clear goal chances denied.

With the breeze at their backs, Butlersbridge stormed back into contention after the restart. In the second minute, Caoimhín O’Reilly curled over a two point free from the 20 meter line to reduce the gap to three. Moments later, Joe Dugdale got in on the act, pointing from just inside the 40 to make it 1-5 to 0-6.

By the 10th minute, Dugdale struck again, this time from 35 meters, and the gap was down to the minimum. The comeback was complete in the 11th minute when Fionntán O’Reilly tapped over a 20m free to level, and four minutes later, he edged Butlersbridge in front with another dead ball. From five down at the break, they now led by 0-9 to 1-5.

Cornafean without a score in the second half, needed inspiration and found it in Barry Doyle in the 19th minute. He got on the end of a cross-field pass and, after Mark Johnston cleared a path, Doyle arrowed over a fine left-footed score to level matters at 1-6 to 0-9.

Momentum briefly swung back when Oisín Browne pointed a free in the 20th minute to nudge Cornafean in front, but the minutes later, Fionntán O’Reilly equalised again from play.

Then came the game’s turning point in the 26th minute. Conor Maguire surged the length of the pitch before linking with Leddy and feeding Caoimhín O’Reilly. The full-forward coolly sidestepped the goalkeeper and finished to the net with his right foot. It was a killer blow, putting Butlersbridge three clear at 1-10 to 1-7.

Cornafean’s chance of a comeback was made even harder when Barry Doyle received a black card in the 31st minute, leaving them down to 14.

But they refused to wilt. In the 32nd minute, Peter Doyle, who had been wasteful at times, showed resilience and confidence as he curled over a brilliant two-pointer against the breeze to cut the gap to the minimum.

The drama wasn’t done. In injury-time, a Cornafean 45 dropped short, but sub Conor Kilkenny reacted fastest, fisting over to tie the match. Seconds later, referee Paddy Clarke blew for full-time.

Cornafean: Sean McFaul; Pete Hogan, Dan Wharton, Ronan Trainor; Mark Johnston, Jason Miney, Barry Doyle (0-1); Culann Mac Seain (1-1), Cormac Doyle; Jack Wharton (0-1f), Peter Doyle (0-4, 1tp), Gerard Sheridan; Oisín Browne (0-1f), Jack Trainor(0-1), James McGahern

Subs used: Dean Kilkenny for J Trainor, Andrew Wharton for G Sheridan; Emmett Goldrick for J McGahern; Conor Kilkenny (0-1) for Johnston.

Butlersbridge: Michael Sheridan; Conor Maguire, Diarmuid McCorry, Shane Leddy; Cillian Murphy, Kevin McPhilips, Phillip Shannon; Cathal Leddy, Ciarán O’Reilly; Davin Graham, Fionntán O’Reilly (0-6,5f,), Joe Dugdale(0-2); Josh Mee, Dara Dempsey, Luke Allison

Subs used: Caoimhín O’Reilly (1-2, 1tpf) for D Dempsey, Andrew McConnell for C Murphy; Fionn Murtagh for L Allison; Dara Dempsey for D Graham; Killian Leddy for J Mee.

Note: This report was inadvertently omitted from this week's print edition. It will be included next week. We apologise for the omission.