Beara’s overall balance is decisive

By Philip O'Regan Saturday November 14th, 2009

Beara ...................................2-11

Bantry ..................................0-8



IN the end this was a comprehensive victory for Beara in the final of the Ulster Bank county minor football premier 2 championship at Aughaville on Sunday afternoon.

Beara had a few outstanding individuals but it was their overall balance which was the decisive factor in this win over Bantry Blues.

Bantry were well in it at half-time, trailing by just two points, 1-5 to 0-6, having played much of the better football early in the half, but once Beara settled they always looked the more likely side to prevail. And after perhaps ten minutes of the second half, with Beara having stretched their lead by three points, 1-8 to 0-6, there was an air of inevitability about the whole thing.

In the first round of this championship, back on April 29, all of six months ago, these two sides met in Adrigole and on that occasion Beara also came out on top, although that was much closer at 1-10 to 0-10.

Beara have improved substantially in the interim, and their terrific victory over Eire Óg in the semi-final, after extra-time, just the week before gave a clear indication of the strength of this side.

Mind you, they took quite a while to settle last Sunday but this may have been down to the fact that they were still on a bit of a high since the previous weekend. However, once they did come to terms with the early Bantry dominance, they slowly began to take control and managed to impose their pattern on the game.

In was only in the 26th minute of the second half that they finally killed off the Bantry challenge when full forward and captain Dean Murphy finished superbly for Beara’s second goal to make it 2-10 to 0-8, but in reality Bantry had lost their shape well before that and they had all the appearance of a side that knew it was fighting a losing battle.

Bantry began in whirlwind fashion when captain Mark Delaney won possession from the throw-in; his ball found corner forward David Power who twisted and turned out of a few tackles before firing over the opening point of the game inside 15 seconds.

Blues then proceeded to have the upper hand but wasted a few chances, including two very kickable close-in frees. It was level after five minutes when David Harrington laid off a nice ball to wing back Liam Harrington and he raced all of 30 metres before slotting over. The two Harringtons were to go on to play pivotal roles in Beara’s win, particularly David who tormented the Blues defence in the second half.

Mark Delaney, the Blues midfielder, was the most prominent player around the middle in this early period and in the 15th minute he set up his side’s second point when after a fine run he passed to David Casey who slotted over. Alan Keane, at centre back, was now also very influential for Blues.

A minute later, Ruairí Deane extended Blues’ lead when he scored a point from a free. Two minutes later Dean Murphy had his first point of the game, from a free, to bring it back to a point again, 0-3 to 0-2, but within a few minutes Ruairí Deane kicked his second point from a free to make it 0-4 to 0-2 for Blues in the 20th minute.

Two minutes later Blues full forward Ciaran Darcy extended their lead when he punched over their fifth point following the best move of the game up to then. But that was the high point for Bantry as Beara were to finish the half strongly.

Kevin Goggin pointed for Beara from a free, courtesy of the upright, before Mark Delaney replied almost immediately with a terrific point following a very strong run – the Blues midfielder certainly playing a captain’s part.

Two minutes later came probably the most decisive score of the game. A Bantry attack broke down when Beara corner back Michael O’Neill made a great interception and 15 seconds later the ball was in the back of the Blues net, following a lightning raid. Liam Harrington carried the ball out of defence, laid it off to Dean Murphy who in turn played in Tomas Joe O’Sullivan who finished powerfully to the net to turn the game on its head.

For Blues it was a disaster – having enjoyed the majority of possession they now found their three points lead wiped out and worse was to follow as Beara finished the half with a flourish and added two more points, Dean Murphy from a free, and Tomas Joe O’Sullivan, play, to lead by 1-5 to 0-6 at the break.

So Beara, not having played to anything like their full potential, went in leading by two points at the break and their heads up, while Blues were somewhat deflated.

Right from the throw-in for the restart, Beara applied all the pressure, with the Bantry goal having a lucky escape in the first attack of the half. After two minutes Kevin Goggin popped over a point from a free for Beara and four minutes later Brian T. O’Sullivan extended their lead with a point from play.

Almost immediately wing forward Thomas Joe O’Sullivan added another to make it 1-8 to 0-6 and it was all Beara now.

Eoin O’Keeffe and Mark Delaney did their best for Bantry to lift the siege and Blues did come back into it but were chasing the game at this stage. Ruairí Deane gained some respite for the Blues as he availed of some slack marking by Beara to take a pass from a quickly-taken 45 to slot over a nice point.

But David Harrington restored Beara’s five point lead following a great passing movement by Matthew O’Shea and David Murphy.

The sides traded points, David Casey a free for Blues and Kevin Goggin a free for Beara, before Beara finally killed off the Bantry challenge with a terrific goal in the 26th minute. Substitute Jamie O’Sullivan had hardly had time to warm up when he caught a great ball and cleverly laid it off to the inrushing Dean Murphy who finished neatly from close range – and that was that.

Beara’s Liam Harrington finished the scoring in the final minute with a point to leave it 2-11 to 0-8 and to compound Bantry’s miserable second half corner forward Ruairí Deane received his marching orders from referee Sean Collins.

As alluded to earlier, Beara’s main strength was in the balance of their team. They had no weak link at all, but especially prominent were Finbarr Sheehan, particularly in the second half, Liam Harrington, Sean Shea, David Harrington and Tomas Joe O’Sullivan, who was truly outstanding at wing forward, and captain Dean Murphy.

Mark Delaney had a great outing at midfield for Blues and his midfield partner Eoin O’Keeffe was also very prominent. Alan Keane was good at the back, while David Casey Ruairí Deane worked very hard in attack.

Scorers — Beara: Tomas Joe O’Sullivan 1-2, Dean Murphy 1-2 0-2 frees, Kevin Goggin, 0-3, frees, Liam Harrington 0-2, David Harrington and Brian T. O’Sullivan 0-1 each. Bantry: Ruairí Deane 0-3, 0-2 frees, David Casey 0-2, 0-1 free, David Power, Ciaran Darcy and Mark Delaney 0-1 each.

Beara: Alan Dunne, Connie O’Shea, Finbarr Sheehan, Michael O’Neill, Liam Harrington, Sean Shea, David Murphy, Brian T. O’Sullivan, Matthew O’Shea, David Harrington, Kevin Goggin, Tomas Joe O’Sullivan, Sean T. O’Sullivan, Dean Murphy, captain, Dean Henshaw. Subs played: Finbarr Dwyer, Eanna Murphy, Cormac McNally, Hugh O’Sullivan and Jamie O’Sullivan.

Bantry: Cathal Carroll, Timmy O’Brien, Donagh O’Sullivan, Shane Edgeworth, Cathal Power, Alan Keane, Alan Thomas, Eoin O’Keeffe, Mak Delaney, captain, Graham O’Leary, David Casey, Tadhg Downey, Ruairí Deane, Ciaran Darcy and David Power. Subs played: David Daly and Stephen Cronin.