Kilbrittain 1-12
Clonakilty 1-8
TOM LYONS REPORTS
IT was mission accomplished for Kilbrittain and relegation for Clonakilty in this hard-fought Bandon Co-op junior A football relegation play-off in wintry conditions in Páirc Uí Mhurchú, Barryroe on Saturday.
It was history in the making but not the kind Clonakilty wanted as they dip into junior B football for the first time in their long and proud history.
For the winners, Josh O’Donovan was the hero with his second-half scoring burst, including a goal, and he had good support in attack from Luke Griffin, Conor Hogan and Ronan Crowley. Philip Wall and Oisín Gillian got on top at midfield in the second half while the defence was very competitive all through, backboned by Darragh Considine, Tomás Sheehan, Colm Sheehan and Mikolaj Kalitka.
This will be a very hard one for Clonakilty to swallow but this was a very young, light side, definitely not suited to the conditions. They had good performances from Oran Blackburn, Ciarán Crowley, Tom Palmer and Kieran Calnan in defence, Seán Coffey and Tim McCarthy at midfield in the first half, and James Campbell, Matt Murphy and Ciarán Coakley in attack.
With the wind, Clon got off to a fine start with points from James Campbell, Shane Collins (free) and David O’Sullivan before Kilbrittain replied with their first in the 12th minute. The hard-working Luke Griffin closed the lead to a point but Clon responded with scores from James Campbell and Matt Murphy to lead by 0-5 to 0-2 at the end of the first quarter. The opportunistic Ciarán Coakley stretched the lead to four, before Philip Wall cut it back to three.
In the 23rd minute the Brewery Town struck for a goal when Kieran Calnan did well to turn over possession in the half-back line and James Campbell and Ciarán Coakley played a superb one-two with Campbell finishing to the net.
They needed to build on this six-point lead, 1-6 to 0-3, but it was Kilbrittain who upped their game to add the next two points from Conor Hogan (free) and Luke Griffin. Coakley finished the half with a Clon point and it was 1-7 to 0-5 at half time.
When Campbell stretched Clon’s lead to six from a free on the restart, it was looking good, but, amazingly, this was to be their last score of the game. Points from Josh O’Donovan (2) and Griffin had halved the lead by the end of the third quarter, 1-8 to 0-8, but Clon were battling bravely. Still, the Kilbrittain pressure continued and another brace of points from O’Donovan, plus a free from Conor Hogan, had the sides level in the 50th minute.
The crucial score arrived in the 52nd minute, of the fortunate variety, when a high ball from Josh O’Donovan into the Clon goalmouth, swirled in the gale and deceived the goalkeeper who could only assist it in under the crossbar. A great point from Ronan Crowley followed and Kilbrittain had the cushion to see out the game to the final whistle.
Our Star: Special mention for Luke Griffin, Kilbrittain, and James Campbell for Clon, but 1-4 for Josh O’Donovan in the second half decided this relegation battle.
Scorers
Kilbrittain: Josh O’Donovan 1-4; Luke Griffin, Conor Hogan (2f) 0-3 each; Philip Wall, Ronan Crowley 0-1 each.
Clonakilty: James Campbell 1-3 (1f); Ciarán Coakley 0-2; Matt Murphy, David O’Sullivan, Shane Collins (1f) 0-1 each.
Kilbrittain: Eoin McCarthy; Darragh Considine, Sam Dewey, Mikolaj Kalitka; Colm Sheehan, Tomás Sheehan, Mark Hickey; Oisín Gillian, Philip Wall; Ronan Crowley, Luke Griffin, Charlie Kenny; Josh O’Donovan, Sam Shorten, Conor Hogan.
Subs: Eoghan Byrne for C Hogan (35), Conor O’Donovan for S Shorten (45), Cian O’Leary.
Clonakilty: Conor O’Callaghan; Oran Blackburn, Fionn McCarthy, Tom Palmer; Cian Ryan, Ciarán Crowley, Kieran Calnan; Seán Coffey, Tim McCarthy: Des Kenneally, James Campbell, Matt Murphy; Ciarán Coakley, Shane Collins, David O’Sullivan.
Subs: Jack O’Crowley for S Collins (16), Shane O’Regan for T McCarthy (38), Liam Knowles for F McCarthy (45), Jack Wycherley for C Ryan (50), Cal O’Mahony for M Murphy (55), Aaron Griffin for C Coakley (60).
Referee: Brian Crowley (Castlehaven).
