O’Regan leads way for Castletownbere
Alan O’Regan was the talisman up front for Castletownbere with a tally of 1-5. But the Beara outfit had impressive performers all over the pitch, with Andrew O’Sullivan, Dave Fenton, Donnagh O’Sullivan and Dean Murphy all catching the eye.
Just as they did against Kildorrery and Cill na Martra, Glanmire allowed their opponents build up a head of steam early on. By the time they got to grips with the pace of the game midway through the first half, they were 1-4 to no score behind and never looked like clawing their way back.
Castletownbere’s midfield pairing of O’Sullivan Dave Fenton took control of the game from the throw-in, winning all the major battles around the centre of the park. O’Regan opened the scoring for on three minutes with a well-struck free.
Castletown laid siege on the Glanmire goal and O’Regan increased the lead to four points when he got his fist to a long Liam Hanley delivery, flicking the ball to the Glanmire net for the game’s only goal.
The East Cork side tried to counteract their weakness at midfield by dropping Michael Cussen back to centre-forward but this switch did little to impede Castletown, who looked hungrier than their counterparts.
It took a quarter of an hour for Glanmire to make an impression on the scoreboard, when Martin Connolly notched a fine point from a tight angle.
That score was followed by two more in as many minutes as Glanmire hinted at a comeback. But Castletownbere refused to let them build up a head of steam and late scores from Fenton and O’Regan made it 1-7 to 0-4 at the break.
Castletownbere seemed to slip into third gear after the changeover but, even with a greater share of possession, Glanmire couldn’t find their scoring touch.
A series of scuffles and injury stoppages contributed to a messy second half. Despite playing within themselves, Castletownbere had individuals capable of producing magic at any moment, such as Donnagh O’Sullivan and Alan O’Regan who each claimed a stunning second half brace to put the game well beyond Glanmire.
Scorers for Castletownbere: A O’Regan 1-5 (1f), D Fenton 0-4 (2f), D Murphy and D O’Sullivan 0-2 each.
Scorers for Glanmire: D Molden and M Connolly 0-2 each, J O’Keeffe 0-1.
CASTLETOWNBERE: J Power; D O’Sullivan; D Wiseman; E Wiseman; T Collins; S McCarthy; L Harrington; A O’Sullivan; D Fenton; L Hanley; S Regan; D Murphy; J Walsh; A O’Regan; G Healy.
Subs: S O’Sullivan for Regan (43).
GLANMIRE: B O’Connell; B O’Sullivan; K Sheehan; J Leopold; P Goggin; B Murphy; D Murphy; M Hopkins; K Kenneally; D Molden; J O’Callaghan; J O’Keeffe; B O’Callaghan; M Cussen; M Connolly.
Subs: F O’Reilly for J O’Callaghan (35), A Barry for Hopkins (51), J O’Keeffe for D Murphy (51), P Radley for Cussen (57).
Referee: P O’Leary (Kilmurry).
