Ilen Rovers 1-13
Bantry Blues 2-8
TOM LYONS REPORTS
THE last time we visited Rath, Baltimore, in April 2023, Ilen Rovers beat Dohenys in a Division 3 county league game by two points. Hard to believe that Ilen then failed to win a single match in championship or league, being relegated in both at the end of last season.
Having already lost five games in a row in this season’s Division 4 league, little wonder that there was a fierce edge to this local derby against Bantry as the home side were so determined to get back on the winning trail on Sunday
In a cranky, stop-start encounter, laced with yellow cards, Ilen – after a wait of 386 days – finally rediscovered the winning feeling, courtesy of a classic display of shooting by corner forward Dan McEoin, who accounted for 1-9 of his side’s total.
Ilen Rovers' Dermot Hegarty feels the pressure from Bantry Blues' Eoin Minihane and David Daly during the McCarthy Insurance FL Division 4 at Baltimore on Sunday morning.
However, for much of this scrappy encounter, Bantry looked the likely winners and it took a late burst of scoring, notching 1-4 in the closing six minutes, to see Ilen collecting their first points in the current league campaign.
‘Yes, we’ve had a bad run and it isn’t at an end yet,’ said a worried Ilen mentor Johnny Holland.
‘We’re devastated as regards numbers at present. We had our last win against Dohenys last season, and now we’re missing nearly a dozen of that team. Australia, fellas heading off, is the main reason, and there are more due to go. Keith Ricken said to me that we probably have a better team in Perth than we do here at home and he’s probably right.
‘It’s a problem outside our control but we haven’t been helped by injuries either. I think we were missing about eight today due to injuries. And you saw during the game a number of players going down with injuries but they had to play on as we just haven’t a subs’ bench.
‘Unfortunately, this isn’t a short-term problem, either, as there is a big gap as regards player numbers down to U14. We do have a useful side there but how to fill the gap is our problem now. It’s up to all of us to work hard to come through this.’
There was nothing between the sides in the opening quarter, sharing eight points evenly. Jack Sheedy (2) and Arthur Coakley (2) hit the target for the Blues, while Jack Collins, Peter O’Driscoll and Dan McEoin (2) answered for Ilen. Ilen began the second quarter well with Dan MacEoin (mark and free) and Kevin O’Driscoll adding points but following an Arthur Coakley point, Bantry struck a major blow when the influential midfielder Seánie O’Leary hit the back of the Ilen net in the 29th minute. The hard-working Shane Keevers added another point and it was Bantry in front, 1-6 to 0-7, at the break.
Scores were scarce in the opening 20 minutes of a scrappy second half, with Arthur Coakley and O’Leary kicking Bantry points, answered by two frees from MacEoin. Bantry looked likely winners with ten minutes remaining but after MacEoin had cut the lead to a single point, the most vital score of the game arrived in the 54th minute when impressive centre back Dermot Hegarty was fouled in the Bantry square and MacEoin made no mistake from the penalty spot.
Bantry Blues' Sean O'Leary fires in the ball past Ilen Rovers' goalkeeper Edwin Collins during the McCarthy Insurance FL Division 4 at Baltimore on Sunday morning.
Ilen in front, 1-10 to 1-8, and with the bit firmly between their teeth, they kicked three points in a row from MacEoin (2) and Hegarty to open up a five-point gap.
Bantry did manage the last score of the game in injury time when the tall Stephen Coughlan fisted an Arthur Coakley centre to the net but it came too late to save the game. There was great delight among players, mentors and supporters as Ilen recorded their first win in 13 months.
Scorers
Ilen Rovers: Dan MacEoin 1-9 (5f, 1 pen, 1m); Dermot Hegarty, Jack Collins, Peter O’Driscoll, Kevin O’Driscoll 0-1 each.
Bantry Blues: Seánie O’Leary 1-1; Arthur Coakley 0-4 (2f); Stephen Coughlan 1-0; Jack Sheedy 0-2; Shane Keevers 0-1.
Ilen Rovers: Edwin Collins; Adrian O’Driscoll, Conor O’Driscoll, Kieran O’Dwyer; Denis O’Driscoll, Dermot Hegarty, Peter O’Driscoll; Peadar O’Driscoll, Emmet Hourihane; Mícheál Sheehy, Jack Collins, Conor Harrington; Dan MacEoin, Timmy McCarthy, Kevin O’Driscoll.
Bantry Blues: Eoin O’Donoghue; Connie O’Leary, Eoin Minihane, Conor Cronin; Kevin Coakley, Paddy Goggin, Shane Crowley; Seán O’Leary, Shane Keevers; Luke Salter-Townsend, David Daly, John Crowley; Arthur Coakley, Stephen Coughlan, Jack Sheedy.
Referee: James Kingston (Carbery Rangers).
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