Bishopstown 1-11
Beara 0-6
NOEL HORGAN REPORTS
IT began so brightly for Beara in the McCarthy Insurance Group county U21A football championship final in Páirc Uí Rinn on Sunday.
Midway through the first half they led by 0-5 to 0-1 and were performing with such purpose and assurance that they were entitled to fancy their chances of lifting the trophy for the first time since 2006.
The complexion of the contest changed considerably before the interval, however, as Bishopstown, aided by an opportunist goal from Patrick Casey, managed to erase the deficit.
To compound Beara’s misfortune, they had lost the services of two key players, Darragh O’Sullivan and Luke Harrington, both of whom were forced to retire injured in the 28th minute.
It meant the momentum was with Bishopstown at the end of a lively opening period, and, to their credit, they kept it going on the resumption to run out convincing victors.
Manager Andrew Fitzgerald felt developments in the last ten minutes before half time were disastrous from Beara’s perspective.
‘We started really well, and everything was going according to plan before the Bishoptown goal went in, probably against the run of the play. Then we lost Darragh and Luke, who are crucial players for us, which really scuppered our plans,’ Fitzgerald said.
‘From being very competitive with a nice lead and in control of the game, we were knocked out of our stride, and that’s not to discredit Bishopstown, who were very good on the day,’ he admitted.
Beara's Jack Hanley is challenged by Bishopstown's Kieran McFadden.
That Beara struggled to create openings after the interval is highlighted by their failure to score again after midfielder Fintan Fenner pointed in the 32nd minute.
It contrasted sharply with how they shaped up during the opening quarter when Fenner and Alan O’Sullivan impressed at midfield, and their defence, to a man, resisted stoutly.
Equally encouraging was the threat carried by Tommy O’Sullivan, Tom O’Connor and especially Ben O’Sullivan in the full-forward line. The latter bagged two points, the first from a mark, after Alan O’Sullivan and Bishopstown’s Conor Dunne had exchanged scores early on, and he placed Tommy O’Sullivan for another in the 16th minute.
Following the kick-out, wing-back Sean O’Shea won possession before feeding Tom O’Connor, who set Tommy O’Sullivan up for his second point to put Beara four ahead.
After Bishopstown midfielder Brian McCarthy narrowed the gap with a fine score, the Seandún kingpins made a major breakthrough when Kieran McFadden’s speculative delivery into a crowded goalmouth was knocked home by Patrick Casey in the 20th minute. That undid much of Beara’s early good work, and their self-belief dipped visibly in the wake of it.
Bishopstown's Conor Dunne cuts inside Beara's Darragh Harrington.
They were on level terms, 0-5 to 1-2, at half-time, and again after Fintan Fenner pointed in reply to the opening score of the second half from Bishopstown’s ever-menacing full-forward Conor Dunne.
But the city side came up with most of the answers in the last 25 minutes, putting up the shutters at the back where Max Sheridan kept a tight rein on Beara’s key attacker Ben O’Sullivan, who, in fairness, wasn’t exactly supplied with a quality service from outfield.
The bottom line is Beara were unable to cope with the cohesion and mobility displayed by Bishopstown as a unit in the second half.
With the game slipping away from them, Beara moved Fintan Fenner to full-forward in the closing stages, and it almost brought results when a probing cross by substitute Dylan Crowley broke kindly for Fenner at the edge of the square. His cracking shot was kept out by Bishopstown goalkeeper Sean Cronin, however, and a snappy counter-attack ensued, allowing Patrick Casey to tack on a point and make it 1-10 to 0-6. Kieran McFadden stretched the gap to eight in stoppage time.
While obviously disappointed with the outcome, Andrew Fitzgerald was keen to take the positives from Beara’s campaign overall.
‘I think the future is bright for Beara, our challenge is to get these guys to play at the highest level available to them, and in qualifying for this final, I think they showed they’re close to that now. Hopefully, they’ll have the hunger to build on this, and to play for Beara in the county senior championship,’ he said.
Scorers
Bishopstown: C Dunne 0-5 (2f); P Casey 1-1; G Holland 0-2; B McCarthy, O Foley, K McFadden 0-1 each.
Beara: Tommy O’Sullivan, B O’Sullivan (1m) 0-2 each; A O’Sullivan, F Fenner 0-1 each.
Bishopstown: S Cronin; D O’Donovan, F Stevens, M Sheridan; O Foley, D Cuthbert, H Wixted; K Murphy, B McCarthy; S Sheridan, P Casey, R Foley; G Holland, C Dunne, K McFadden.
Subs: C McGrath for S Sheridan (48), M Scally for Holland (62), B Cahill for Casey (62), M Buckley for O’Donovan (64).
Beara: K Murphy (Castletownbere); M Downing (Adrigole), Darragh Harrington (Urhan), Darren Harrington (Glengariff); S O’Shea (Adrigole), D O’Sullivan (do), N O’Shea (Urhan); A O’Sullivan (do.), F Fenner (Castletownbere); G O’Shea (Adrigole), L Harrington (Glengarriff), J Hanley (Castletownbere); B O’Sullivan (Adrigole), T O’Connor (do.), Tommy O’Sullivan (do.).
Subs: Tiernan O’Sullivan (Adrigole) for L Harrington (inj, 28), L Kelly (Castletownbere) for D O’Sullivan (inj, 28), D Crowley (Urhan) for Kelly (43).
Referee: R Whelan (Gleann na Laoi).
