Efficient Barrs see off plucky Ilen effort
Conor McCrickard of St. Finbarr's soloing with the ball chased by Ilen Rovers' Paddy Minehane in the Bon Secours Cork PSFC at Ballinascarthy.
St Finbarr’s ground out a hard-fought win over Ilen Rovers in this Bons Secours Premier SFC clash in Ballinascarthy, the city side’s efficiency in the final quarter proving decisive.
The Barrs started with a flourish but were pegged back by a game Ilen Rovers side who might have snatched a victory late on, as sketched out by the city team’s manager after the game.
“Look, they (Ilen Rovers) dug in,” said Paul O’Keeffe.
“I’d even said it during the week, that this was a classic banana skin, with massive odds in the bookies and us as red-hot favourites.
“I said if we came out strong at the start, that that might quench the fire and we might have an easier game. Thank God we had the start we did, because we had a lousy middle third of the game.
“To be fair to Ilen Rovers they dug in, they got a goal and brought themselves back into the game, and if they’d had their shooting boots towards the end of the game they might have gotten a result.”
It was a good thumbnail sketch of an entertaining game. The Barrs attacked the dressing-room end at the start and overwhelmed Ilen early on. They led 0-7 to 0-3 by the first water break and the west Cork men were only hanging on.
Conor McCrickard was a lively presence up front and hit three points for the Blues, while Stephen Sherlock also found his range early on. With Brian Hayes and Jamie Burns powerful presences in the middle the Barrs were cruising.
However, two injuries forced them to reshape their side, and in the second quarter Ilen found their feet, with Alan Holland and Peadar O’Driscoll driving them on.
Ilen forced a good save from John Kerins in the Barrs goal when Stephen Leonard broke through, and then Sean O’Donovan hit the only goal of the game after a good Dan MacEoin pass. That made it 1-4 to 0-8 with a couple of minutes left in the half and Ilen grew visibly in confidence.
Before a lengthy period of injury time finished Peter O’Driscoll levelled the game, but only after a sustained period of Ilen Rovers possession, in which they moved the ball with ease from one end of the field to the other before pulling the trigger for a score: 1-5 to 0-8.
Hayes and Cillan Myers Murray pushed the Barrs two ahead on the resumption but MacEoin and Alan Holland levelled. On a couple of occasions, the west Corkmen came near to a goal which might have given them the initiative, but neither side could get the upper hand heading into the second water break, when it was 1-10 to 0-13.
However, the Barrs had sprung subs Michael Shields and Ian Maguire and their influence began to tell, with the latter winning the ball and carrying it upfield to good effect. In that fourth quarter the Barrs outscored Ilen 0-4 to 0-1 and had the last three scores to decide the game.
A good Stephen Sherlock free pushed the Bars ahead late on and two Myers Murray points made it safe for the city side in injury time.
Paul O’Keeffe acknowledged how disruptive those first-half injuries were.
“We lost key players (Eoin Comyns, Colin Lyons), it’s not like they were easily replaced. At that stage, midway through the first half, we were having that discussion, whether to bring Ian Maguire on when he’s just coming back from injury.
“Any time you have an injury to a player on the first fifteen it’s going to hurt you, but we have depth on the bench - that might hurt the intermediates tomorrow, but so be it.
“We’ve a lot of big games under our belt. And being able to bring the likes of Shieldsy and Ian, they make a huge difference. We’re relieved.”
S. O’Donovan (1-3, 0-1 free); S. Leonard, P. O’Driscoll (1 free), D. MacEoin (1 free), A. Holland (0-2 each);
S. Sherlock (0-5)(2 frees); C. McCrickard (0-4); C. Myers Murray (0-3); C. Barrett, B. Hayes (0-2 each); D. Quinn (0-1).
D. O’Sullivan; A. O’Sullivan, P. Minehane, S. Minehane; D. Hegarty, J. Collins, Conor O’Driscoll; Cian O’Driscoll, Peadar O’Driscoll; Peter O’Driscoll, A. Holland, D. Collins; S. Leonard, D. MacEoin, S. O’Donovan.
M. Sheehy for A. O’Sullivan (inj, 25); C. Harrington for D. Hegarty (inj, 57); K. Lynch for O’Donovan (58).
J. Kerins; C. Scully, S. Ryan, C. Dennehy; C. Lyons, J. Burns, D. Quinn; E. Comyns, L. Hannigan; D. O’Brien, S. Sherlock, B. Hayes; C. Barrett, C. Myers Murray, C. McCrickard.
E. McGreevey for Comyns (inj, 12); A. O’Connor for Lyons (inj, 15); A. Lyne for C. Dennehy (inj, 20); I. Maguire for Hannigan (38); M. Shields for O’Brien (40).
J. Ryan (Macroom)
*Before the game a minute’s silence was observed in memory of the late Billa O’Connell (St Finbarr's) and Donal O’Driscoll (Ilen Rovers).
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