Shanballymore joy as brave Bantry fall just short
Leading by a point, 0-9 to 1-5, at half-time, the north Cork outfit looked to have swung the outcome irrevocably their way as Dylan O’Callaghan’s goal underpinned a break-neck start to the second half.
The lead stretched to six points at one stage, but Bantry — thanks largely to Shane O’Neill’s dead-ball prowess — got back into contention and a second inspirational point from centre-back Seánie O’Leary had them 1-13 to 1-12 just behind with three minutes left. While Brian O’Reilly set up his brother Colman to give Shanballymore breathing space once more, two minutes of injury-time gave Bantry hope. An attack looked to have broken down only for referee Ger Ahern to give them a free after an advantage didn’t accrue and then dissent saw it brought closer to the goal.
