Stuttering Sars no match for Erin’s Own

THEIR winning margin was just a point less than the lead they enjoyed after five minutes, but Erin’s Own were never pushed in this Evening Echo Cork SHC clash at Páirc Uí Rinn on Saturday.

Sarsfields never managed to achieve a real level of competitiveness in a disappointing contest and the result flattered them.

Both managers agreed afterwards that the Erin’s Own’s ‘quick start’ had an important bearing on the outcome. John Barry admitted Sars expected to produce a better display, commenting: “our lads were lacking confidence”. But, it was clear that Erin’s Own were the better team.’’

Martin Bowen said not only did they get the start they wanted, the players responded to their half-time urgings to ‘attack the game’. “They did that and we got the scores. That was the winning of the match,’’ he stated.

Given that the Erin’s Own goal came in the third minute — with Fergus Murphy’s excellent finish matching the opening made by Eoghan Murphy — it would be considered surprising that they didn’t get another. But, it wasn’t from the want of trying and Brian Corcoran would have had the ball in the net but for a vital interception and Kieran Murphy blew a penalty over the bar.

Whatever about trailing by 1-2 before they had time to settle, Sarsfields did offer some stout resistance in certain areas, such as the right flank of their defence where Kevin Goggin cleared a lot of ball under pressure. Likewise, Pat Ryan was prominent at midfield at stages, as was John Murphy at centre-forward and Gavin O’Loughlin before he was tied up at full-forward by Patrick Fitzgerald.

Most notably, Kieran Murphy contributed virtually nothing in the first-half, partly due to the fact that he saw little of the ball at right half-forward and more so due to the impressive covering of Cian O’Connor, who switched places with captain Timmy Kelleher. And, while the Sars man was a bit more involved later in the game, his Cork team-mate didn’t do him any favours in terms of his profile — which paled in comparison with the all-action display from his namesake on the opposition side.

As the game developed, it was clear Erin’s Own had more to offer. They were missing some key players and this applied particularly to their forward unit. Sars, missing Garvan McCarthy, suffered because of some poor shooting at times but more especially a real lack of scoring power. And, yet it took a great save from Shay Bowen (who diverted the ball over the bar) to stop Michael Cussen from giving them the boost of a goal in the 20th minute.

Shortly afterwards, Eoghan Murphy twice threatened goals for Erin’s Own. It was 1-7 to 0-5 at the break and while the opening minutes of the second half were tense, Sarsfields’ weakness in attack became more apparent after they conceded three points within 13 minutes. And that was after Corcoran, who didn’t have too many chances of scores, threatened a goal until Sars captain Ray Ryan got in a timely tackle to divert the ball outside the post.

Twenty minutes into the half, Erin’s Own were awarded a penalty after Eoghan Murphy was fouled, but with Kieran Murphy having pointed out to the referee that the keeper was off his line, he hit his shot high over the bar. Shortly afterwards, Sars got the goal they badly needed — through a lengthy clearance from wing-back Brian McCarthy which hopped through the goalkeepers legs. But it was a case of too little too late.

In remaining time, the highlight was a point from the winning keeper from about 120 yards.

Scorers: Erins Own:K. Murphy 0-5 (0-2 ‘65’s, 0-1 free); E. Murphy 0-4 (0-2 frees); F. Murphy 1-0; B. Corcoran 0-2; S. Cronin and S. Bowen 0-1. Sarsfields: B. McCarthy 1-0; J. Murphy, P. Ryan (0-1 free) and M. Cussen 0-2 each; G. O’Loughlin 0-1.

ERIN’S OWN: S. Bowen; P. Fenton, P. Fitzgerald, S. Murphy; T. Kelleher (capt.), P. Kelly, C. O’Connor; S. Cronin, J. Geary; R. Carroll, K. Murphy, F. Murphy; C. Coakley, B. Corcoran, E. Murphy. Sub: T. O’Keeffe for Geary (32nd minute).

SARSFIELDS: D. O’Rourke; P. O’Flynn, P. Roche, J. Barry; K. Goggin, R. Ryan (capt.), B. McCarthy; T. Og Lynch, P. Ryan; K. Murphy, J. Murphy, M. Cussen; R. Duggan, G. O’Loughlin, C. Duggan. Subs: R. Murphy for C. Duggan (36th minute); T. Og Murphy for R. Duggan (46th).

Referee: Diarmuid Kirwan.