Iveleary's Dominance: Jones Hat-Trick Leads to Victory
Iveleary 4-16 Glanmire 3-10 (McCarthy Insurance Group PIFC)
Jones hat-trick fires Iveleary’s 2026 statement
Twelve months after heartbreak, Iveleary are back swinging.
The Muskerry men, beaten so cruelly by Aghabullogue in last year’s McCarthy Insurance Group PIFC final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, opened their 2026 campaign with a wild, breathless win over Glanmire in Kilmurry on Friday night, a game that veered from routine to chaos and back again before finishing in a blaze of red and white.
At the centre of it all stood Chris Óg Jones. Three goals, four points. A hat-trick stitched through the contest at the exact moments Iveleary needed a finisher, not a stylist.
He was ruthless.
Cagey start, then a spark
Both sides flirted with early goals before the scoreboard finally woke on 10 minutes, Tiernan Hourihan clipping over Glanmire’s first point.
That stirred Iveleary. Sean O’Riordan and Sam Pickering settled them with tidy scores, and soon they had a 0-4 to 0-1 cushion, the favourites beginning to look like themselves.
Glanmire, though, are no strangers to a rise in grade. Cork IAFC champions in 2024 and Premier Intermediate quarter-finalists last year, they arrived with ambition, not awe. Midway through the half, they were level again, Harry Browne drilling a penalty low to the corner with conviction.
The game loosened. Space opened. Iveleary edged back in front during a productive spell, Pickering curling over a classy two-pointer to reassert control.
Glanmire hit back. Shane O’Driscoll answered in kind with a fine two-pointer of his own, and suddenly Glanmire led 1-5 to 0-7 on 27 minutes. Their work-rate, their running, their belief – all of it began to turn the screw.
Then came the sting.
First Óg Jones dagger
On the cusp of half-time, Iveleary pounced. A turnover in stoppage time, a quick transition, and the ball found its way to the one man Glanmire didn’t want to see in space.
Jones didn’t hesitate. He buried it.
In an instant, the mood flipped. Instead of trailing, Iveleary jogged to the dressing room 1-7 to 1-5 in front, the late goal slicing through all of Glanmire’s earlier good work.
Iveleary take command
When they emerged, Iveleary looked like a side intent on parking any lingering scars from 2025.
They charged into the second half, O’Riordan adding a composed finish to the net to stretch the gap. The tackles sharpened, the runs from deep grew more confident. Iveleary’s power game started to tell.
Then Jones struck again. His second goal arrived as the pressure mounted on Glanmire, and with eight minutes of normal time left, the scoreboard read 3-10 to 2-8. The contest looked dead, the outcome a formality. Iveleary in cruise control, Glanmire seemingly spent.
It wasn’t over.
Glanmire’s blitz from nowhere
Like a switch flicked, the entire tone of the evening changed.
Glanmire exploded into life, tearing at Iveleary’s defence with a ferocity that stunned the crowd. Jeremy Kingston crashed home a goal. Brian Galvin followed with another. Iveleary, who had looked so assured, suddenly wobbled.
Then came the equaliser. Harry Cogan, already influential, stepped up with a two-pointer that left the place in disbelief. From eight points down to level in a blur of attacks – Glanmire had dragged themselves off the floor and stood toe-to-toe with one of the championship’s heavy hitters.
For a few minutes, the ghosts of last year must have felt very real for Iveleary.
Brothers close it out
They didn’t panic.
Instead, they leaned on their leaders. Ian Jones, cool when everything around him felt frantic, clipped over crucial points to steady the ship. Each score was a small act of defiance, a reminder that this Iveleary team has grown hardened by the pain of near misses.
And then, fittingly, it was left to his brother to slam the door shut.
Deep in second-half stoppage time, with Glanmire still clinging to hope, Chris Óg Jones struck for his third goal. Another ruthless finish, another dagger. The hat-trick complete, the contest finally buried.
By the whistle, Iveleary had stretched clear again, 4-16 to 3-10, a margin that told only half the story of the chaos that preceded it.
Iveleary’s intent is clear
There are hurdles ahead, plenty of them. The memory of Aghabullogue and last year’s final will not vanish with one win in July.
But this felt like a statement.
With Jones in lethal form, Cathal Vaughan pulling strings in a talented forward unit, and the likes of O’Riordan, Pickering and Ian Jones all chipping in on the scoreboard, Iveleary look armed for another serious push towards the Senior A ranks.
Next up is Bantry Blues, another test, another chance for John McNulty’s side to tighten the screws and move closer to the PIFC knockout stages.
If this is how they’re playing in midsummer, who exactly is ready to stop this Iveleary machine when the stakes climb higher?
