McCarthy Insurance Group Premier Intermediate Football Championship – Round 1 - 25/07/2026

Aghada 2-11, Kiskeam 1-14 

Aghada opened their McCarthy Insurance Group Premier Intermediate Football Championship campaign with a hard-earned draw against Kiskeam in Donoughmore on Saturday afternoon. 

In a contest that remained finely balanced throughout, both sides had opportunities to claim victory before referee Conor McCarthy brought proceedings to an end with the teams level at 2-11 to 1-14. In truth, our lads were probably a little disappointed with the result but a draw was probably a fair reflection of an entertaining and closely fought opening championship encounter. 

Playing against the breeze and up a slight hill during the opening half, our lads could hardly have wished for a better start. Diarmuid Phelan opened the scoring with a lovely point from play before Joe McKenna, who produced an excellent performance, doubled the advantage after great work from Pearse O’Neill. 

Kiskeam responded with their opening point, but Aghada restored their two point lead after eight minutes when Jake O’Donoghue landed a superb score from close to the sideline near the 21-metre line. 

A fortuitous Kiskeam two-pointer, which bounced before sailing over the crossbar, brought the sides level at 0-3 apiece after nine minutes. Kiskeam then moved ahead for the first time in the contest with another point a few minutes later. 

As we would do again in the second half, Aghada responded brilliantly to falling behind. 

A flowing move began with Ray Savage’s kick-out and featured some excellent interplay as Aghada worked the ball quickly through the field. The move ended with Cian Hegarty calmly driving a low finish beneath the goalkeeper and into the net for Aghada’s first goal of the 2026 championship. The flowing move that set up the goal really epitomised our efforts in the opening quarter with Ronan Murphy, Ed Leahy and Kyle O’Shea all carrying ball well from defence during this period. 

Full-back Jack Colbert followed Hego’s goal with a beautiful point, moving Aghada three clear at 1-4 to 0-4 after 15 minutes. 

The scores continued to come for our men in green, with Jamie O’Hanlon pointing from play before McKenna registered his second point of the afternoon. That left Mick Kiely’s side in a commanding position at 1-6 to 0-4 after 22 minutes. 

A minute later, Phelan raised another white flag with a superb effort that was greeted by a huge roar from the large Aghada support. At that stage, Aghada led by six, 1-7 to 0-4 with David Wallace, Seamus Moloney, Scott Whyte and Jake O’Donoghue gathering a lot of possession for Aghada around the middle third. 

Kiskeam finished the opening half strongly, however, making full use of the breeze and the slope. A two-pointer from play and a pointed free reduced the deficit to a goal before two further points left just the minimum between the teams at the interval. 

Despite having played against the conditions, Aghada’s half-time advantage stood at 1-7 to 0-9. We were thankful to our defence who also stood firm on a few occasions with resolute defending from Ed Leahy, Kyle O’Shea and Jack Norris. 

Kiskeam carried their momentum from the end of the opening period into the second half and kicked the opening point two minutes after the restart to level the match. Three minutes later, they moved in front for the second time. 

Once again, Aghada’s response was immediate and emphatic. 

A sweeping move from defence to attack ended with McKenna bearing down on goal. He made no mistake, burying the ball into the back of the net to complete an excellent personal contribution of 1-2 and restore Aghada’s advantage after 36 minutes. Credit must go to all the Aghada players involved in this move, with unselfish play key to creating the opportunity. 

Scores became harder to find as the half progressed, with both defences working tirelessly. Kiskeam eventually registered the next score from a 45 in the 48th minute, but O’Hanlon replied immediately with his second point of the game. 

Aghada then introduced Jordan Tynan and Fintan Cody. The fresh legs made an immediate impact as Hegarty added another point from play before Phelan followed with his third score of the afternoon. 

With 12 minutes remaining, Aghada were four points ahead and in a promising position at 2-10 to 0-12. 

Kiskeam refused to go away and struck for an impressive goal to reduce the gap to a single point. Just 30 seconds later, they added another point to draw level once again. 

Diarmuid Byrne was introduced and provided fresh impetus to the Aghada attack, with the young forward getting on plenty of possession during his energetic cameo. 

Hegarty then produced one of the scores of the game, a lovely dummy before firing over from just inside the two-point arc. His excellent effort moved Aghada back in front, 2-11 to 1-13, with only three minutes of normal time remaining. 

Unfortunately, it proved to be Aghada’s final score of the contest. Kiskeam probed and eventually, after a long build up, levelled proceedings with a well taken point. 

Kalem Keane was introduced during the closing stages for Sean Morrissey who had run himself into the ground as both teams searched for a winner. 

Kiskeam had an opportunity to snatch victory but drove their effort wide. Our lads also had one final chance to create a winning score, only for possession to be turned over late in the move. 

Referee, Conor McCarthy’s full-time whistle confirmed that the spoils would be shared, with the scoreboard reading Aghada 2-11, Kiskeam 1-14. 

Both sides will feel they could have won the game, while both will also recognise how close they came to leaving Donoughmore empty handed. 

Our lads can take plenty of encouragement from a solid opening performance. The result puts the first point of the championship campaign on the board ahead of the remaining group matches against Macroom and Castletownbere. 

Well done to Mick Kiely, his backroom team and all the players on a promising first outing.

Attention now turns to our Junior A Footballers, who face Carrigtwohill at noon tomorrow in Ballinacurra.

The Intermediate A hurlers will then take centre stage when they play Bandon in Church Road next Friday night at 7:15pm. 

Ray Savage; Ronan Murphy, Jack Colbert, Jack Norris; Diarmuid Phelan, Ed Leahy, Kyle O’Shea (Captain); Pearse O’Neill, Jake O’Donoghue; Cian Hegarty, Seán Morrissey, Seamus Moloney; Joe McKenna, Jamie O’Hanlon, Scott Whyte. 

Subs used: David Wallace, Jordan Tynan, Fintan Cody, Diarmuid Byrne and Kalem Keane. 

Cian Hegarty 1-2; Joe McKenna 1-2; Diarmuid Phelan 0-3; Jamie O’Hanlon 0-2; Jack Colbert 0-1; Jake O’Donoghue 0-1.