Bandon suffer second relegation in three seasons as Carrigaline sprint free of the drop

West Cork club drops to fourth tier of COrk hurling championship, but no such worries for a resurgent Carrigaline

BREAKING FREE: Carrigaline's Kevin O’Reilly bears down on goal and away from Bandon’s Peter Murphy during the Cork Premier IHC relegation play-off in Ballinspittle.

Premier IHC Relegation Play-Off: Carrigaline 1-21 Bandon 2-9.

BANDON's hurlers have suffered their second relegation in three campaigns as they fell short to a resurgent Carrigaline side in Ballinspittle on Sunday.

It's been a sobering few years for the hurling side of the club in Bandon, and though manager Donal Kelleher insisted afterwards that better times lie ahead, there's a long road back now from the Intermediate A grade in 2024.

Things began badly for Bandon, who were without one of their key men, Rob Long. Carrigaline bagged their first goal of the game after just 35 seconds when Finn O’Connell, a late change on the team sheet, smashed the ball past keeper James McSweeney from close range.

It was an opening 20 minutes to forget for Bandon and ultimately it cost them on the day. Carrigaline ran riot, pointing from a range of angles and distances. Cheap fouls, sloppy passing and misplaced shots were killing Bandon. They had to wait until the 21st minute for their first point but kicked on after this until the short whistle, scoring 1-3 to give them a flimmer of hope for the second half.

Their goal came after a bit of well-needed luck. On 28 minutes Charlie Long’s long-distance free somehow made it all the way to the net as Carrigaline keeper Robert Foster, thinking it was going over the bar, let it off.

Going in 1-13 to 1-3 down at the interval, Bandon needed the second half of their lives and to their credit they had a crack at it. But, ultimately it wouldn’t be enough. Despite arguably being the better side in the second period, Bandon simply couldn’t keep up with Carrigaline’s quality marksmanship.

Both sides were reduced to 14 men after 45 minutes when a brawl broke out. Bandon’s Darren Crowley and Carrigaline’s Kieran Kavanagh were the ones to see red, although there could have been a couple more had the ref been so inclined.

Carrigaline corner-forward Brian Kelleher was a stand out. With 11 key scores on the day, he was a huge factor in his side's victory. For Bandon, Charlie Long, with 1-5, and Eolan McSweeney (1-2) kept going til the end, but were helpless to avoid the drop.

Scorers for Bandon: C Long (1-5, 4f, 1 65), E McSweeney (1-2), A O Mahony, J McSweeney (0-1 each)

Scorers for Carrigaline: B Kelleher (0-11, 6f), R McCarthy (0-4), F O’Connell (1-0), D Griffin (0-2), S Williamson, D Greene and K O’Reilly (0-1 each).

BANDON: J McSweeney; H Lillis, P Murphy, E Twomey; S Collins, T Twohig, C McCarthy; E McSweeney, C Calnan; D Collin, D Crowley, J Mulcahy; C Long, A O’Mahony, M Cahalane.

Subs: N McCarthy for C Calnan (48), R Desmond for J Mulcahy (54), M Sugrue for C Long (57).

CARRIGALINE: R Foster; D King, S Williamson, C Vaughan; Kieran Kavanagh, D Griffin, Kev Kavanagh; J McCarthy, E Desmond; R McCarthy, F O’Connell, D Greene; R O’Shea, K O’Reilly, B Kelleher.

Subs: D Drake for F O Connell (12), N Coleman for D Greene (36), R Kelleher for R McCarthy (47), N O’Keefe for J McCarthy (55), P Mellett for E Desmond (58), J Maher for D Drake (58).

Referee: P Lyons.