BANTRY BY A POINT AFTER EXTRA TIME
Bantry Blues ..................1-13
Sam Maguires ................1-12
TEAMS level nine times and an extra twenty minutes to separate them, with only a point between them at the finish, would indicate a thrilling minor A football semi-final in Aughaville on Sunday evening last but, unfortunately, such was not the case.
While the closeness of the scores and the swaying nature of the contest kept interest at a premium, the standard on offer left an awful lot to be desired and at times was downright poor, well below what we have come to expect from this grade. It was almost a case of victory by default by the reigning champions as both sides scorned chances to end the contest in normal time.
In particular, Maguires were left to rue a great chance in the dying seconds when the sides were deadlocked and Brian O’Sullivan, after cutting through the Blues’ defence, somehow managed to screw his shot wide of the upright.
In hindsight a winning point then, with the final whistle sounding on the kick-out, would have been rough justice on Bantry as neither side deserved to lose this one, or, more appropriately, to win it in ordinary time. There was nothing between the sides again in the first period of extra time but Bantry looked the stronger side in the final ten minutes but the tenacity of the Maguires’ side meant there was only a single point in it at the finish.
The first half was pedestrian in the extreme with both sides sharing eight points. Maguires had the advantage of the slight breeze and started with two pointed frees from Alan Sheehan. Bantry looked sharp up front and points by the talented David Power and David Casey had the sides level. It was point for point after that with Brian O’Sullivan and strong midfielder James Collins swapping points with the Blues’ David Power and Jason Coughlan.
EFFECTIVE
It stood at 0-4 each at the break and Bantry rang the positional changes, the move of Ruairí Deane to centre forward being particularly effective as he emerged as man of the match with some great points. The lively Gearóid White shoved Maguires in front but Deane levelled from a free before the hard-working Brian O’Sullivan was unlucky to see his angled shot run along the Blues’ crossbar to safety.
Ger Lynch, very good at wing back for Maguires, came forward to put Maguires in front again before the first goal of the game arrived in the 45th minute when David Power’s shot at goal was brilliantly saved but David Casey was on hand to first-time it to the net for a sweet goal.
The initiative was definitely with Bantry now but to their credit back came Maguires with the Collins brothers, Tom and David, Jeremy Moloney, James Collins, Brian O’Sullivan, Brian McCarthy and Alan Sheehan very prominent. Points from James Collins and Brian O’Sullivan, free, had the sides level again with Cathal O'Sullivan bringing off a great save from Bantry’s Mark Delaney.
Deane was flying for Bantry as he pointed them into the lead with six minutes to go and with David Power, Donagh O’Sullivan, Timmy O’Brien, Killian McCarthy, Owen O’Keeffe and Killian Crowley working very hard, it seemed the Blues were heading for a win.
REFUSED
It was not to be as Maguires refused to lie down and when James Collins set up Jeremy Moloney for a peach of a goal in the 55th minute, the ball was in Maguires’ court, leading 1-8 to 1-6. It was then we saw the heart of the Bantry side as they roared back and two points from the outstanding Ruairí Deane, the second a marvellous effort from 50m, had the sides level once again, 1-8 each, with time up.
O’Sullivan then missed that glorious chance to win it for Maguires and it was into extra time for two tiring teams and again there wasn’t a kick of a ball between the sides. Deane and O’Sullivan swapped points, as did Killian McCarthy and Jeremy Moloney, before McCarthy put Bantry in front at the small break, 1-11 to 1-10.
Maguires had lost their ace free-taker Alan Sheehan through injury earlier in the game and this was to cost them big-time as some good chances of scores were missed from placed balls in extra time and even though Brian O’Sullivan did level the game from a placed ball, for the last time, Bantry were lasting the pace better and they duly hit the front again with white flags from Deane and Jason Coughlan. Maguires got one back through Clinton Sweetnam but time ran out and it was the Blues who advanced to a final meeting with O’Donovan Rossa on a 1-13 to 1-12 scoreline.
Referee: Seán Nolan, Castlehaven.
Scorers – Bantry: Ruairí Deane 0-6, 0-1 free, David Casey 1-1, Jason Coughlan 0-2, Killian McCarthy 0-2, David Power 0-2. Sam Maguires: Jeremy Moloney 1-1, Brian O’Sullivan 0-4, 0-2 frees, James Collins 0-2, Alan Sheehan 0-2 frees, Gearóid White 0-1, Clinton Sweetnam 0-1, Ger Lynch 0-1.
Bantry Blues: David Andrews, Tadhg Downey, Donagh O’Sullivan, Shane Edgeworth, Timmy O’Brien, Killian Crowley, Alan Keane, Owen O’Keeffe, Mark Delaney, Killian McCarthy, Jason Coughlan, Jonathan baker, David Casey, David Power, Ruairí Deane. Subs: Paul O’Brien and Stephen Cronin.
Sam Maguires: Cathal O’Sullivan, Conor Doyle, Aidan Hurley, Daniel McSweeney, Ger Lynch, David Collins, Brian McCarthy, Tom Collins, James Collins, Jeremy Moloney, Brian O'Sullivan, Alan Sheehan, John Healy, Gearóid White, Clinton Sweetnam. Subs: Kevin Cotter.