Barryroe rue ‘flat’ showing in county JAFC loss

Castlemagner 2-10

Barryroe 1-11

TOM LYONS REPORTS

BARRYROE’S hopes of winning the Bon Secours county after their first-ever junior A title win in Carbery were scuppered in rainy Macroom on Sunday.

The boys in blue failed to overcome the big loss through injury of their two midfielders, the influential Robbie Kiely and the strong Jerome O’Brien. The loss was evident when Kiely appeared for the second half and changed the flow of the game while O’Brien came on in the closing 20 minutes and kicked their only goal. However, that goal, in the 64th minute, came too late to pull the game out of the fire.

Added to Barryroe’s woes was the fact that their ace scorer Ryan O’Donovan had one of those days when the ball just would not go between the uprights for him.

Barryroe’s downfall came in the first half when their defence, without Kiely to cover off the centre, failed to come to grips with the strong Castlemagner forwards. Playing with the breeze, and dominating early on, they conceded two goals, one in the 12th minute and the other in the 21st, both scored by Evan Magner.

‘We just didn’t have it today, we were very flat,’ admitted Barryroe manager Gearóid Whelton. ‘We gave it everything, but Robbie Kiely and Jerome O’Brien were huge losses in the first half. I think three extra time games finally caught up with us and the effort against Kilmacabea in the final just a week ago proved too much, the legs just weren’t there.’

In a cagey start, the sides kicked only a point each in the opening ten minutes, Ryan O’Donovan for Barryroe and Kyle Holland for Castlemagner. Barryroe’s attempts at playing the ball short out of defence were dodgy and they paid the penalty in the 15th minute. Castlemagner veteran Jack Cott lobbed a ball into the goalmouth and a defensive mistake saw the ball being presented to Evan Magner on a plate to finish to the net. The winners stretched the lead to four with a pointed free from Cormac O’Sullivan.

Barryroe, with Patrick and James Moloney, Olan O’Donovan and Conn Dineen prominent, responded well, points from Dineen and Diarmuid McCarthy halving the deficit as the second quarter began.

When Darragh O’Sullivan converted a mark and Linehan kicked a free, the gap was again four. Just as Barryroe were again appearing to gather momentum, Olan O’Donovan pointing, they were hit with a well-worked second goal, Magner again providing the finish. O’Donovan then blazed just over the bar and Shane Cronin answered before Adam McSweeney finished the half in style with two classy points for Barryroe, giving them hope for the second half despite trailing 2-5 to 0-7.

Kiely’s appearance in the second half lifted the Barryroe camp and McSweeney had his third point in a row. They could have levelled in the 36th minute but were unlucky to see sub Brian O’Donovan’s shot going wide off the butt of the post. Points by Linehan and Holland gave Castlemagner breathing space, the winners leading by 2-7 to 0-8 after 50 minutes.

Ryan O’Donovan hit two frees to sandwich a Linehan free and cut the lead to three by the 57th minute. Was this going to be another late salvage job by the never-say-die Barryroe men? Unfortunately, in pressing for an equaliser, they left their own house unguarded and two breakaway points by Magner and Linehan stretched the lead to five in injury time. Barryroe never stopped trying but Jerome O’Brien’s goal in the 64th minute was too little and too late.

Scorers

Castlemagner: Evan Magner 2-1; Danny Linehan 0-4 (3f); Kyle Holland 0-2 (1f); Shane Cronin, Darragh O’Sullivan (1m), Cormac O’Sullivan (1f) 0-1 each.

Barryroe: Jerome O’Brien 1-0; Adam McSweeney, Ryan O’Donovan (2f) 0-3 each; Olan O’Donovan 0-2; Diarmuid McCarthy, Conn Dineen, Dónal Ó Buachalla 0-1 each.

Castlemagner: Trevor McAuliffe; Tadhg Fitzmaurice, Tadhg O’Riordan, Liam O’Riordan; Conor Murphy, Donal Gayer, Daniel Murphy; Cillian O’Sullivan, Shane Cronin; Darragh O’Sullivan, Kyle Holland, Evan Magner; Cormac O’Sullivan, Danny Linehan, Jack Cott.

Sub: Conor O’Sullivan for J Cott (52).

Barryroe: Gearóid Holland; Michael Walsh, Seán O’Riordan, Patrick Moloney; Tomás Ó Buachalla, David O’Sullivan, James Moloney; Adam McSweeney, Diarmuid McCarthy; David Murphy, Olan O’Donovan, Conn Dineen; Ryan O’Donovan, Seán Holland, Mark Crowley.

Subs: Robbie Kiely for D O’Sullivan (ht), Brian O’Donovan for D Murphy (ht), Jerome O’Brien for D McCarthy (38), Dónal Ó Buachalla for S Holland (45), Jack Cahalane for M Crowley (50).

Referee: Brian McSweeney (Erin’s Own).