Three goals in 16 minutes saw Carbery Rangers deservedly overcome Tadhg MacCarthaigh in the opening round of the Rowa/Rowex Pharma Carbery JAFC.
Carbery Rangers 3-9
Tadhg MacCarthaigh 1-11
GER McCARTHY REPORTS
THREE goals in 16 minutes saw Carbery Rangers deservedly overcome Tadhg MacCarthaigh in the opening round of the Rowa/Rowex Pharma Carbery JAFC at Dunmanway last Sunday afternoon.
Rangers blitzed their opponents during a dominant opening quarter, scoring three superbly crafted goals and putting Tadhg MacCarthaigh on the back foot for the remainder of the game.
Although the Caheragh club battled back from 11 points to within a goal of their opponents, there was no denying the Rosscarbery club a deserved victory.
Carbery Rangers began with the aid of a strong wind and made good use of the elements to lead by eight points at the conclusion of the opening quarter.
Rosscarbery’s Diarmuid Kerr raised the game’s first white flag before John O’Brien set-up Mark Ronan to bravely flick the ball past goalkeeper Denis O’Sullivan.
Michael O’Donovan got Caheragh off the mark prior to Cathal O’Rourke making it 1-2 to 0-1 in Rangers’ favour. Tadhg MacCarthaigh’s slow start was further punished when Finbarr Rudden palmed the ball into the net at the end of a flowing move and another Cathal O’Rourke score extended the leaders advantage 2-3 to 0-1 on 15 minutes.
Caheragh’s attempts to get back in the game repeatedly floundered in the final third and things got even worse when Patrick Hurley’s superb cross-field pass was finished to the net by Kieran Fitzpatrick to push Rangers 11 points in front.
Creditably, Tadhg MacCarthaigh finally got their act together and finished the first half strongly, Colm O’Driscoll (two frees), Kevin O’Driscoll and Mark O’Driscoll points eating into a Carbery lead added to by another long-range Cathal O’Rourke effort.
There was still time at the conclusion of an entertaining opening half for Gavin O’Neill to arrow home a low shot into the bottom corner and give Caheragh hope heading into the second period.
O’Neill added another point immediately after the restart but a converted Cathal O’Rourke free quickly restored Rangers’ six-point lead.
A scrappy third quarter saw Caheragh waste a host of scoring chances and denied a goal by a fine Ronan Milner save. Facing into a strong wind, Carbery Rangers played intelligently but drew their opponents forward by defending too deep and allowed Tadhg MacCarthaigh to chip away at their lead.
Three Colm O’Driscoll (two frees) efforts plus an additional Kevin O’Driscoll point made it 3-6 to 1-10 with five minutes left but Rosscarbery responded brilliantly, John Hodnett and Cathal O’Rourke scoring consecutive points to ease the pressure on the eventual winners.
Defending doggedly, a Cathal O’Rourke free handed Rangers an unassailable five-point lead on the stroke of full time before a late Gavin O’Neill (Tadhg MacCarthaigh) free completed the scoring.
Scorers
Carbery Rangers: Cathal O’Rourke 0-6 (1f), Finbarr Rudden 1-1, Mark Ronan, Kieran Fitzpatrick 1-0 each, Diarmuid Kerr, John Hodnett 0-1 each.
Tadhg MacCarthaigh: Colm O’Driscoll 0-5 (3f), Gavin O’Neill 1-2 (1f), Kevin O’Driscoll 0-2, Eoin O’Donovan, Mark O’Driscoll 0-1 each.
Carbery Rangers: Ronan Milner; Anthony Roche, Michael O’Donovan, Diarmuid Kerr; Cian Daly, Steven Murray, Cathal Hennessy; Steven O’Donoghue, Finbarr Rudden; John O’Brien, Cathal O’Rourke, Kieran Fitzpatrick; Patrick Hurley, Mark Ronan, John Hodnett.
Sub: Brendan Kingston for M O’Donovan (42, inj).
Tadhg MacCarthaigh: Denis O’Sullivan; Damien Harrington, Kevin O’Regan, David O’Connor; Charlie McCarthy, Daniel Kingston, Tom Daly; Sean McCarthy, Kevin O’Driscoll; Michael O’Donovan, Colm O’Driscoll, Eoin O’Donovan; Gavin O’Neill, Mark O’Driscoll, Leon Burke.
Sub: Gary O’Driscoll for Eoin O’Donovan (52).
Referee: Joe Kelly (Dohenys).
