Iveleary's Dominant Win Over Glanmire in PIFC
Iveleary 4-16 Glanmire 3-10 (McCarthy Insurance Group PIFC)
Jones hat-trick fires Iveleary’s statement of intent
Twelve months after heartbreak, Iveleary look in no mood to tiptoe back towards another final. They’ve started 2026 by kicking the door down.
On a warm Friday evening in Kilmurry, the Muskerry club launched their McCarthy Insurance Group PIFC campaign with a wild, momentum-swinging win over Glanmire, driven by a devastating 3-4 from Cork senior forward Chris Óg Jones.
It finished 4-16 to 3-10. The scoreline only tells half the story.
Early blows and a first warning shot
Both teams came out hunting goals. Half-chances flashed and fizzed before the scoreboard finally moved on ten minutes, Tiernan Hourihan clipping over the opener for Glanmire.
That settled Iveleary more than it did Glanmire.
Sean O’Riordan and Sam Pickering began to find their range, Iveleary stitching together four unanswered points to move 0-4 to 0-1 in front. The patterns of last year’s near miss at Páirc Uí Chaoimh felt distant; this was sharper, more ruthless.
Glanmire, though, are no soft touch. Cork IAFC champions in 2024 and already proven at Premier Intermediate level, they steadied. Midway through the half, Harry Browne stepped up to a penalty and buried it into the corner, immaculate, to drag them level and jolt the contest into life.
Pickering answered with a classy two-pointer, Iveleary edging ahead again during a profitable spell. But Glanmire kept swinging. Shane O’Driscoll produced a fine two-point score of his own, and suddenly, with 27 minutes gone, they led 1-5 to 0-7. Their work-rate, their composure, all of it suggested a side ready to bloody a few noses this season.
Then came the first big turn.
Jones strikes before the whistle
In first-half stoppage time, Iveleary pounced. A Glanmire attack broke down, the ball was turned over, and in a flash it was at the feet of the one man Glanmire didn’t want to see bearing down on goal.
Jones didn’t hesitate. He blasted to the net, a ruthless finish that ripped up Glanmire’s good work in an instant. The whistle followed soon after, Iveleary now 1-7 to 1-5 in front and suddenly playing with a swagger.
The warning was clear: give Jones a sniff, and you pay.
Iveleary surge clear
After the break, Iveleary looked like a team intent on putting the tie to bed.
They drove into tackles, dominated the middle third, and when the chances came, they cut. Sean O’Riordan slipped in for a neat finish to the net, stretching the gap and draining Glanmire’s early confidence.
Jones then delivered again. His second goal, clinically dispatched, pushed Iveleary into what looked like an unassailable lead. With eight minutes of normal time left, the board read 3-10 to 2-8. The game felt done. Iveleary were cruising, Glanmire hanging on.
Or so it seemed.
Glanmire’s stunning punch back
Like a switch flicked, the entire mood changed.
Glanmire tore at Iveleary with a ferocity that stunned the crowd. Jeremy Kingston crashed home a goal. Brian Galvin followed with another. In a blur of green and white, the deficit vanished.
Then came the equaliser, a two-pointer from Harry Cogan that left players, management, and supporters on both sides briefly frozen. From eight down to level in minutes. Iveleary, who had been strolling to the line, suddenly looked rattled.
The question hung in the air: had they let this slip?
Jones and Iveleary slam the door
The answer came from familiar sources.
Iveleary snapped out of their daze and went back to basics: win the breaks, move the ball quickly, trust the shooters. Ian Jones stepped forward with vital points, steadying the ship just when panic threatened to creep in.
With Glanmire forced to chase, the spaces opened again. And in second-half stoppage time, Chris Óg Jones finished the job. Another surge, another ruthless strike, his third goal of the evening to complete a hat-trick that underpinned everything Iveleary did well.
By the time Brian Coniry blew for full-time, there was no doubt. This was Iveleary’s night, and a serious marker laid down.
A machine gathering pace
Behind the headline haul from Jones, there was plenty for John McNulty to like. Ian Jones clipped 0-5, including a key two-pointer, O’Riordan and Pickering chipped in with 1-1 and 0-4 respectively, and the work-rate around the middle third smothered Glanmire for long stretches.
Glanmire, for their part, leave Kilmurry with scars but also with evidence they can hurt anyone. Browne’s penalty, the goals from Kingston and Galvin, and the impact of Cogan and O’Driscoll on the scoreboard showed a side with genuine attacking weapons.
Next up for Iveleary is Bantry Blues, another step on a road they hope will end one rung higher than last year’s fall against Aghabullogue.
It is still only July. The real tests are weeks away. But on this evidence, it may take something special to derail this Iveleary machine before it reaches the Senior A gate it so clearly has in its sights.
