Utterly unconvincing, yet Barrs do the necessary
Thomas O'Rourke pressures Barrs' Steven Sherlock. Pic: Denis Boyle
Utterly unconvincing by the Barrs. And yet still business was taken care of to ensure knockout involvement with a round of group action still to run.
Scoreless from the 13th minute of the opening half to the eighth minute of the second. Taken for seven consecutive points during this period. Scoreless from play for a stretch of 31 minutes. Only two scorers across the opening 49 minutes.
This was not the familiar St Finbarr’s. Where Nemo and Castlehaven ran up comprehensive eight and 13-point wins on Friday and Saturday evening respectively, the final member of the big three in action over the weekend spluttered far more than issue any similar statement of dominance.
Trailing by 0-8 to 1-3 on 38 minutes, it was Ian Maguire, Ethan Twomey, and Steven Sherlock who stepped forward to haul the collective across the line. The result carried implications for all four teams in Group 2. It settled Group 2 with a round still remaining.
The already qualified Barrs and Carrigaline will meet next time out to determine who finishes top of the group and puts themselves in the frame for direct passage to the semis. Eliminated Carbery Rangers and Clonakilty, meanwhile, are now chasing points in their final round clash to avoid being dragged into a relegation play-off.
We’ll deal with Carbery Rangers momentarily. A word first from the winning camp.
“Look, you have to be happy when after two games you are qualified out of the group. But that was poor from us today, very sloppy on the ball,” said Barrs selector Ian Keeler.
“We started well enough, went 1-3 to 0-1 up, then conceded five scores in-a-row and didn’t score again for the remainder of the half. A lot of it came down to our own use of the ball. Very sloppy, missing chances. Around the middle too many times, we were just kind of labouring the ball going backwards. That is not what we are about. Delighted with the win, but certainly average from us.”
The Barrs lined out minus Brian Hayes. Having been used off the bench in the club’s hurling championship defeat to Blackrock last weekend, he did not tog here.
When asked about the severity of Hayes’ injury and how long he might be sidelined for, Keeler was giving nothing away, stating, “I don’t know”.
The Barrs' wide count stood at three by the seventh minute. Then a blue burst.
Ethan Twomey’s second and Sherlock’s opening white flag sandwiched a green flag by the latter. His early 1-1 was assisted by Ian Maguire. The favourites 1-3 to 0-1 in front inside 13 minutes.
The Barrs would not score for another 27 minutes. There was a pair of poor Sherlock wides that really should have moved the dial. Beyond that, though, Carbery Rangers were in charge, if not on the scoreboard.
Perhaps a degree of complacency crept into the Barrs play when moving five ahead so early. Certainly, a carelessness and casualness crept into their play.
One couldn’t accuse Rosscarbery of carelessness. Their failing was more wastefulness. Eight first-half wides. There was also a Timmy Cullinane goal shot well saved by Darragh Newman. The resultant 45 was off target from ‘keeper Paul Shanahan.
Cullinane, John O’Rourke, his namesake Peadar, and Jack Kevane were on target for a 1-3 to 0-6 half-time stalemate. John O’Rourke and Conor Twomey pushed them in front upon the restart. But once Sherlock had the Barrs back raising flags, after a pair of fouls on Maguire, their opponents never again led.
Cillian Myers Murray’s 49th-minute point saw him become just the third Barrs scorer. It was that sort of off-colour afternoon for them.
Carbery Rangers fumed at the final whistle. Players and management felt John O’Rourke was fouled as he went through for a winning goal in the third and final minute of injury time.
A two-pointer would also have kept them alive in the group, but the orange flag did not seem to be a consideration.
For the sixth time over the past seven seasons, they’ve failed to reach the quarter-finals. They are once again prioritised with avoiding a relegation play-off.
S Sherlock (1-4, 0-2 frees); E Twomey (0-4); I Maguire, C Myers Murray (0-1 each).
J O’Rourke (0-3, 0-1 free); T Cullinane (0-1 free), P O’Rourke, C Twomey (0-2 each); P Shanahan (0-1 ‘45), J Kevane (0-1).
D Newman; B Hennessy, A O’Connor, S Ryan; B O’Connell, J Burns, E Dennehy; I Maguire, E Twomey; C Doolan, C Dennehy, W Buckley; R Barrett, C Myers Murray, S Sherlock.
F Crowley for E Dennehy (6 mins, inj); L Hannigan for C Dennehy (40); E McGreevy for Myers Murray (50).
P Shanahan; Jerry O’Riordan, C Daly, T O’Rourke; S Linehan, J Kevane, James O’Riordan; B Hodnett, J O’Brien; K Scannell, J O’Rourke, P O’Rourke; T Cullinane, C Twomey, P Hodnett.
M Hodnett for P Hodnett (44); P Crowley for Scannell (50); J Fitzpatrick for O’Brien (52); J Hodnett for Kevane (56); B Shanahan for T O’Rourke (58).
P O’Driscoll (Bride Rovers).
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