Castletownbere stand firm to edge past battling Éire Óg

Castletownbere 1-12 Éire Óg 0-13

Beaten in the 1990, ’97 and ’99 deciders, the Beara club also lost the first final after the grade was split in two and fell to Kinsale last year. When the 2012 campaign brought losses to Kanturk and Adrigole, dreams of atonement must have seemed fanciful.

A team meeting was the catalyst for the turnaround, and any doubts about the side’s character were dispelled yesterday. A point down at half-time, an Andrew O’Sullivan penalty helped them to push ahead, but Shane McCarthy’s 42nd-minute red card, when they led by 1-8 to 0-8, threatened to derail them.