Cork Premier SFC: Change of tactics and 'secret weapon' pay off for Castlehaven
Castlehaven's Cathal Maguire and Valley Rovers' Johnny Kiely tussle for the ball during the Bon Secours Cork PSFC quarter-final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
A searching test of Castlehaven’s championship credentials in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, with the West Cork side finding answers to questions from both Valley Rovers and a howling gale to book a place in the semi-final of the Cork Premier SFC.
Mark Collins’ first-half injury-time goal was the turning point in this encounter: the only green flag of the game, it gave Castlehaven valuable breathing space at half-time, and though Valleys threw the kitchen sink at their opponents in a bright opening to the second half, Haven asserted themselves and controlled proceedings to the end.
Mind you, the winning manager acknowledged his side had had their hands full - not just with Valley Rovers, but in coping with the wind. James McCarthy admitted that the weather had influenced his side’s approach: “One hundred per cent.
“We didn’t think it would be as bad today and sometimes you can’t plan for it. You tell the players to do this or that but even with a gale of wind at your back, it can be very hard to play with it as well against a massed defence. Valleys found that as well.
“Yes, we did change our tactics - and changed them again at half-time, and thank God they worked.
“Valleys are very strong up the middle and we were playing a lot of ball up the middle and getting turned over.
“To be fair, it was tough going out there.”
That it was. The game was littered with kicks carried wide by the wind or which hung in the air and dropped backwards, and both sides took a while to get used to it.
Valley Rovers did well facing into the breeze - they had Fiachra Lynch and Billy Crowley in good form up top while Castlehaven couldn’t get the Hurleys, Michael and Brian, involved to the same extent.
Still, Mark Collins hit the Haven’s fourth point just on the water break, giving them a 0-4 to 0-3 lead.
Conor O’Driscoll and Michael Hurley pushed the Haven further ahead, with Crowley responding in kind for Valleys, but in first-half injury time, Collins struck decisively.
The midfielder drifted upfield, collected a Brian Hurley free, and found the net from close range - 1-6 to 0-4 at the break.
“No better man than Mark to slip in behind the defence,” said McCarthy.
“We had told him to push up because we were going for broke, they weren't going to score too much against the wind.
“We told him to push up and it worked a dream, it gave us a five-point cushion going in at half-time that maybe we mightn’t have deserved.”
Credit Valleys, however, for throwing down the gauntlet on the resumption.
Crowley (free), Jack Walsh, Barry O’Sullivan, and Darragh Murphy hit four points in four minutes - 1-6 to 0-8 on 34 minutes, and the Innishannon men were flying.
“We could have made changes but we left it settle,” said McCarthy.
“Usually it’s the forwards that you change around or take off but the ball wasn’t going over the halfway line. We started motoring again and there was only one team in it from then on.”
True enough - Castlehaven answered that Valleys flourish emphatically: Jack Cahalane, Michael and Brian Hurley (two) responded, and by the second water break it was 1-11 to 0-9.
The Haven maintained their advantage in that fourth quarter, never allowing Valleys a sight of goal. Brian Hurley came close to a second goal for his side twice, but on both occasions keeper Cormac Desmond kept him at bay.
“Brian, it’s a joy to watch him,” said McCarthy.
“What the young fella has put his body through over the last few years to come back and play for Castlehaven and Cork - to see him back in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, I’m delighted for him.”
It’s not all about the Hurleys, either.
“Conor O’Driscoll has been our secret weapon - teams are watching the Hurleys and then Conor comes up trumps in the other corner.
“We have options. Robbie Minihane came on as a sub and was very good. We’re in the last four, it’s where we wanted to be.”
M. Collins (1-2); B Hurley (2 frees, 0-5); C. O'Driscoll (0-3); M. Hurley (0-2); J. Cahalane, R. Minihane (0-1).
B. Crowley (4 frees, 0-5); D. Murphy, F. Lynch, B. O’Sullivan, J. Walsh, A Walsh Murphy (0-1 each).
A. Seymour; J. O’Regan, R. Maguire, R. Walsh; D. Whelton, D. Cahalane, D. McCarthy; M. Collins (C), J. Walsh; C. Maguire, B. Hurley, C. Cahalane; C. O’Driscoll, J. Cahalane, M. Hurley.
R. Whelton for C. Cahalane (inj 46); R. Minihane for C. Maguire (50); A. Whelton and S. Nolan for O'Driscoll and J. Cahalane (61).
C. Desmond; J. Kiely, D. Lynch, A. Walsh Murphy; T. O’Brien, W. Hurley, J. O’Driscoll; C. O’Leary, K. Canty; R. O’Sullivan, D. Murphy, J. Walsh; B. Crowley, F. Lynch, E. Delaney.
E. O’Reilly for O’Sullivan (46); G. Farrell for Hurley (inj, 50); C. O’Keeffe for Murphy (56); C. McCarthy for F. Lynch (61).
D. Murnane (Macroom).
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