Honour in defeat for young Barrs side against bumbling Ballyea
Ballyea's Martin O'Leary commiserates with Ciaran Doolan of St Finbarr's. Picture: INPHO/Evan Treacy
Ballyea, despite being a man up for all bar the national anthem, were bumbling. St Finbarr’s, despite being a man down for pretty much their entire trip to Ennis, were ferociously defiant.
This wet and dreary November afternoon, though, did not care for romance or 14-man heroics. It didn’t care either for extra-time.
Two additional 10-minute periods looked the most likely outcome when the Barrs won a contentious 65 long past the allotted three minutes of injury-time.
Responsibility fell onto the broad teenage shoulders of Ben Cunningham. The Barrs sharpshooter had already split the posts nine times. It was a tally he was unable to grow to double digits. As the final whistle sounded seconds later, young Ben sank to his knees before rolling back on the drenched sod in devastation.
Cunningham’s miss made a matchwinner out of Ballyea corner-back Brandon O’Connell. The defender had popped up at the end of the field where nobody had bargained for his presence and flung over the lead score in the third minute of injury-time.
Ballyea’s forward unit contains past and present Clare hurlers. It also contains a sprinkling of Clare footballers. That it was a corner-back who provided the match winner neatly captured the extent to which the Ballyea attack were overpowered.
At times in the Barrs half, it was impossible to tell which side was the one with the man extra.
Tony Kelly, owing to Jamie Burns’ outstanding shadowing job, did not score from play until the 43rd minute. The recent All-Star winner did provide a crucial three-in-a-row to take the Clare champions two in front in the final quarter, but only one of that hattrick arrived from open play. His was a largely subdued afternoon.
Ballylea’s lead was also two strong when Conor Cahalane saw red on nine minutes. The Barrs half-forward had come into possession of Jack Browne’s hurl during a tangle of the pair. When seeking to throw it away, Cahalane caught Browne in the neck. The judgement of whether there was malice did not find in Cahalane’s favour.
The sending off was the culmination of a horrible two minutes for the Cork champions. In the play previous, the ageless Gary Brennan escaped five blue shirts during his near 40-metre run. It was a run that ended with the game’s only goal.
Ballyea led 1-1 to 0-2 when Cahalane walked. It was a two-point lead that never grew an inch bigger thereafter. In fact, it narrowed rather than widened.
The Barrs, instead of dropping the collective head at their 14-man situation, tore into their numerically advantaged opponents. They got in the face of each Ballyea man who came onto possession and there they remained throughout.
The interval scoreline of 1-5 to 0-7 in Ballyea’s favour was one the Barrs would have been far happier with.
Where Mossy Gavin was doing the business at corner-forward for Ballyea, the Barrs’ U20 midfield partnership of Ben O’Connor and Ethan Twomey were having an inspired afternoon.
Gavin had his third point of the semi-final four minutes into the second period. It proved an outlier in a head-scratching start to the second half from the Clare champions. Niall Deasy missed a routine free. Sweeper Jack Browne sent a clearance straight to an unmarked Barrs player. Tony Kelly couldn’t buy an inch of freedom from Burns.
Down the other end, Brian Hayes and O’Connor were fouled for converted Cunningham frees. The latter’s second from play on 42 minutes shoved the Togher lads 0-10 to 1-6 in front. It was the first of two occasions in the second period where they held the inside lane.
Kelly’s earlier mentioned three without reply wrestled the lead back into Ballyea’s corner six minutes from the hour. Cunningham and Hayes levelled as we headed into the red.
There was still some space remaining to pack in even more drama. Corner-back O’Connell nailed the target, Cunningham just missed.
The result continues the dreadful record of Cork clubs in Munster going back to 2009. This latest defeat, though, stands out from most of the 11 that went before it over the past 13 years.
The Barrs lacked for very little in Ennis. For a club with such a silverware-laden past, it's rare they would find honour in defeat. They did yesterday. This young group will be back on the provincial scene sooner rather than later.
As for Ballyea, we don’t need to tell them that a Munster final performance that in any way resembles what they produced here will guarantee a third consecutive Munster championship defeat to Ballygunner.
: T Kelly (0-5, 0-2 65s, 0-1 free); M Gavin (0-3); G Brennan (1-0); B O’Connell, G O’Connell, N Deasy (0-1 free), A Griffin (0-1 each).
: B Cunningham (0-9, 0-5 frees); B O’Connor, B Hayes (0-2 each); E Twomey (0-1).
: B Coote; B O’Connell, P Casey, P Flanagan; G O’Connell, J Browne, J Murphy; G Brennan, S Lineen; N Deasy, P Lillis, C O’Connor; M Gavin, T Kelly, A Griffin.
Subs: C Brennan for Lineen (48); M Garry for O’Connor (53); M O’Leary for Gavin (56).
: S Hurley; C Walsh, J Burns, E Keane; G O’Connor, D Cahalane, B Hennessy; B O’Connor, E Twomey; P Buggy, B Cunningham, C Cahalane; W Buckley, B Hayes, J Cahalane.
Subs: S Cunningham for Buckley (45); C Doolan for G O’Connor (56); E Finn for J Cahalane (60).
: M Kennedy (Tipperary).
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