Ballinascarthy 1-11
Tadhg MacCárthaigh 1-10
JOHN MURPHY REPORTS
BALLINASCARTHY left it late to make the winning move in their Dubliner Cheese Carbery-Beara Division 1 Football League joust with visitors Tadhg MacCartháigh at balmy Bal on Friday night.
A barnstorming last quarter by the hosts saw injury-time points by Brian O’Donovan (two frees) and a superb long-distance effort by midfielder Ciarán Nyhan snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
‘Caheragh are a good team, they bring structure and method in the way they play and we struggled early on. They have a good defensive system, but once we ran at their cover, we improved and definitely finished stronger,’ Ballinascarthy selector Kieran Dineen explained.
‘We brought on Ciarán O’Neill and Ricky O’Flynn and they definitely gave us options. We are building a good panel and by the end of the league we should have 23 or 24 players fighting for positions.’
It was a disastrous opening quarter for the Reds, adrift by 0-6 to 0-1 and struggling badly to deal with the swift Caheragh forwards. Rory Kingston, the O’Driscoll duo of Colm and Kevin, Seán McCarthy and the elusive Charlie McCarthy had Bal defenders under severe pressure. Colm O’Driscoll, Kevin O’Regan, Charlie McCarthy and namesake Seán raised white flags with consummate ease. Granted, sandwiched in between Brian O’Donovan had opened Bal’s account and when hard-working Seán Ryan, Daniel Nyhan, Chris Ryan and David Walsh began to up the ante, the Reds began to come into the equation.
A rasping drive by Seamus McCarthy brought a great save from Caheragh shot-stopper Eugene Daly, and following up Luke Murray bisected the uprights. Brian O’Donovan and Conall Cullinane, two of Ballinascarthy’s marquee performers, found the range as a delightful score by the latter saw the narrowest of margins separate the sides at the break, 0-7 to 0-6, the visitors ahead.
Charlie McCarthy and Brian O’Donovan traded scores on resumption before, in the 40th minute, disaster struck for the Reds. A superb solo by Colm O’Driscoll, a teasing delivery by Colm Crowley before Rory Kingston spreadeagled himself to steer the ball past the reliable Cian Ryan.
Conall Cullinane hit the target but when Oisín Daly negated the score, the hosts looked in disarray. Funnily enough they had come close on three occasions to raising the green flag, the woodwork rescuing Caheragh. But God loves a trier and when dynamic Brian O’Donovan sent in a beauty, Conall Cullinane billowed the net. Bal were on a high now and finished with aplomb, that late bevy of scores just snatching it away from gallant Caheragh.
Scorers
Ballinascarthy: Conal Cullinane 1-3; Brian O’Donovan 0-6 (4f, 1m); Ciarán Nyhan, Luke Murray 0-1 each.
Tadhg MacCárthaigh: Charlie McCarthy 0-5 (2f); Rory Kingston 1-0; Colm O’Driscoll 0-2 (1f); Kevin O’Regan, Seán McCarthy, Oisín Daly 0-1 each.
Ballinascarthy: Cian Ryan; Rory O’Brien, Chris Ryan, James O’Brien; David Walsh, Daniel Nyhan, Daniel O’Brien; Ciarán Nyhan, Seán Ryan; Luke Murray, Pádraic Cullinane, Seamus McCarthy; Daniel Twomey, Brian O’Donovan, Conall Cullinane.
Subs: Ciarán O’Neill for Seamus McCarthy (45), Eoghan Ferguson for Daniel O’Brien (48), Gearóid O’Leary for James O’Brien (52), Ricky O’Flynn for Pádraic Cullinane (53).
Tadhg MacCárthaigh: Eugene Daly; Gearóid Hurley, Tadhg Keating, Kevin O’Regan; Liam O’Donovan, Micheál O’Donovan, Cormac O’Shanahan; Kevin O’Driscoll, Seán McCarthy; Colm Crowley, Colm O’Driscoll, Rory Kingston; Oisín Daly, Charlie McCarthy, Tim O’Farrell.
Subs: Dan McCarthy for Colm Crowley (54), Paul Keane for Tim O’Carroll (54).
Referee: Ian McCarthy (Bandon).
