Newcestown's fairytale gets a fitting finish as Buckley devours Dohenys to seal double
FAMILIAR FEELING: Newcestown captain Luke Meade raises the Kevin McTernan cup after defeating Dohenys in the Bon Secours Cork SAFC final at Pairc Ui Chaoimh. Picture; Eddie O'Hare
Thirteen championship games in 15 weeks. A 12-game unbeaten run. Three county finals. Two county titles. One glorious Senior A double.
The curtain fell on a fairytale season for Newcestown on Saturday evening. It was a championship season that had begun with a football defeat to Dohenys in late July. It was their one blip in an otherwise perfect season.
That perfect season ended with a reversal of their opening round defeat to the West Cork neighbours. Their perfect season has ended with two county final victories in the space of a fortnight and promotion back to Cork’s top table in both codes.
On the football side, theirs was a short stay in the second-tier Senior A ranks. Relegated last autumn, their Senior A status got only a few wears before being returned for a Premier Senior fit.
If their hurling replay win over Blarney was a true collective effort, this football final triumph had a rockstar of a lead act in David Buckley.
The full-forward finished with 0-9, six of those from play. His tally bettered the Dohenys total. He kicked back-to-back points at the beginning of the second half to shove Newcestown in front for the first time.
Colm O’Shea’s free levelled matters. It proved Dohenys’ lone second-half point until sub Gavin Farr ended their 26-minute scoreless spell in second-half injury-time.
In the interim, Buckley and Newcestown took over. Of their six-in-a-row between the 43rd and 61st minute, Buckley contributed all bar one. He couldn’t be tied down and he couldn’t miss.
Dohenys being shut out in the final quarter was some way removed from how they started. The pre-final concern in the Dohenys corner was that they would be stale. Rusty. Instead they roared into this decider.
From a lay-off of five weeks, they had built a 0-5 to 0-1 lead inside 14 minutes. Keith White had them on the board inside 34 seconds. He doubled his and his team’s account on 84 seconds. Colm O’Shea had their third in as many minutes.
It was as if they were the men who’d been stepping inside the whitewash for championship fare every week or fortnight. They were prompt and purposeful. Championship-heaving Newcestown, meanwhile, crawled from the startline.
Jack Meade’s second point on 17 minutes - his first came from a mark a minute earlier - represented Newcestown’s first from play. Niall Kelly and Buckley brought them level on 25 minutes.
It was a frantic first half of football. Both sides pretty much broke even for turnovers won and turnovers lost. It was a similar story on the restart front. Retention and control gave way to chaos and constant spilling of goods.
Keith White began the half with two white flags. He closed it with his third. Dohenys 0-6 to 0-5 in front.
It was the last time they led. In their semi-final win, the inside pair of Fionn Herlihy and Mark Buckley contributed 1-10 between them. Here, both were held scoreless. A phenomenal Newcestown stifling act from a phenomenal group of dual players.
D Buckley (0-9, 0-3 frees); J Meade (0-2, 0-1 mark); T Twomey, N Kelly (0-1 each).
C O’Shea (0-2 frees), K White (0-3 each); J Kelly, G Farr (0-1 each).
C White; N Murray, T Horgan, C Twomey; G O’Donovan, J Kelleher, L Meade; M McSweeney, C Goggin; R O’Sullivan, T Twomey, S O’Donovan; J Meade, D Buckley, N Kelly.
C Keane for Murray, S O’Sullivan for N Kelly (both 50); C Dinneen for Kelleher (59); J Kenneally for Goggin (63); E Collins for J Meade (65).
Stephen Daly; J Farrell, Sean Daly, D Rice; C Barry, E Lavers, B O’Donovan; J Kelly, R Coakley; C Daly, C O’Shea, A O’Donovan; M Buckley, F Herlihy, K White.
B Murphy for B O’Donovan (41); A Mannix for A O’Donovan (50); G Farr for O’Shea, P Crowley for Buckley (both 56); Declan Collins for Farrell (62).
J Ryan.
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