BY MATTHEW HURLEY
THIS wasn’t as exciting as previous Haven-Barrs meetings but Castlehaven will not mind one bit.
It may have been a four-point game in the end, 0-18 to 0-14, but there was a sense around SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh that this was rather comfortable for the West Cork team chasing back-to-back county titles.
There was a worry Castlehaven might be a little rusty having had to wait four weeks for this semi-final whereas the Barrs had the advantage of a county quarter-final against Ballincollig, but the Haven showed no sluggishness here.
The brilliant Brian Hurley scored 0-11 of the Haven’s total, including 0-7 from play as he showed his true credentials.
Hurley, Jack Cahalane and Cathal Maguire all caused havoc in the Barrs defence – the match-up of Hurley against Alan O’Connor proved particularly troublesome for the Togher outfit.
The Haven centre forward hit eight shots in the first half, six from play, and every one of those split the posts. A dream day from the Cork forward as he only missed two from 13 shots.
Indeed, the entire Castlehaven team was accurate in the scoring zone. They converted 18 of their 26 attempts, 69 percent shot accuracy. That trumped the three other semi-finalists in action on Sunday, as the Barrs converted 60 percent, Nemo Rangers got 48 against Mallow while the Avondhu side hit a measly 37.
New manager Seanie Cahalane must be doing something with the Castlehaven forwards in training because their shooting efficiency has very much improved from last year.
Against Nemo in the 2023 county final, it was 47 percent. In the Munster championship against Cratloe and Dingle, it was 44 and 54 percent respectively. Against St Brigids in the All-Ireland semi-final, it was at its lowest with 41.
Yes, it was one game, but the signs are there that if they can get Hurley, Cahalane, Maguire and Michael Hurley on song, Castlehaven will be a danger for anybody.
An important factor for the 2023 champions is not being as over-reliant on their main man as other clubs.
Jack Cahalane’s direct running created two goal chances and Barrs struggled to deal with his pace. One chance came in the first spell where he shot wide. The other in the second where he brought off an excellent save from Barrs’ keeper Darragh Newman.
While they were happy to keep possession in last year’s county final, if the Haven do run at the Nemo rearguard on Sunday week, the speed and finishing of the attackers could be too much for the city outfit.
The Trabeg team are always a tough opponent though and the West Cork side would still have to produce close to their best to beat them.
One aspect that was interesting on Sunday was the long opposition kickouts. The Haven pushed up on the Barrs 15 times, winning seven of those restarts, which is almost half a success rate.
Mallow only pushed up against Nemo with around five minutes to play for three kickouts. The city side lost all of those but by then, it was too late for the Avondhu side.
Added to that, the Haven were missing Conor Cahalane, their primary midfielder to win the ball. If the Haven can push up for the majority of the decider, they’ll more than likely win out.
The signs look good for a Haven two in a row.
