Can Bantry Blues grasp shot at redemption?

BY GER McCARTHY

THE image adorning the front page of The Southern Star Sports section’s October 29th, 2022, edition spoke a thousand words.

Cork senior and Bantry Blues stalwart Ruairí Deane was pictured sitting disconsolate on the Páirc Uí Chaoimh turf just minutes after the West Cork club’s Premier IFC county final loss. Make no mistake, Kanturk’s 3-11 to 1-10 victory might have been hard earned but it was well deserved that afternoon.

The question facing Deane, Bantry Blues GAA, and their legions of supporters who began the long drive west was if or when they would be back?

That difficult question has now been answered following the West Cork club’s marvellous run to a second consecutive county final appearance in 12 months.

This season, a younger, more mobile and confident Blues have seen off Iveleary, Naomh Abán, Macroom (draw), Nemo Rangers, and Kilshannig to earn another shot at the title.

In such a crowded, quality Premier IFC field, Bantry Blues have emerged as a serious contender. Yet, such a bullish statement will be of little interest inside the Bantry dressing room. That’s because this year’s panel is determined to go one better than 2022.

Sunday’s opponents, Cill na Martra, will be just as hungry and just as determined to make the jump to the senior ranks. So for Bantry to be successful, a full 60-minute performance is a minimum requirement. That and a number of other factors will be pivotal to claiming silverware a year after experiencing heartache at the same venue.

The Blues have accrued a scoring average of just over 1-11 from their five 2023 county championship outings to date. Bettering that total will be necessary to seeing off a Cill na Martra defence that held Iveleary to 0-12 and Castletownbere to 1-7 in their respective quarter-final and semi-final victories.

Another important factor for Bantry is that a free-scoring forward group has taken over the main scoring responsibilities from Ruairí Deane. Paddy Cronin has amassed 1-18 and Arthur Coakley 2-14 so far this term. Stephen Coughlan, Sean O’Leary, Shane Keevers, Mark Óg O’Sullivan, and Paddy Cronin have also weighed in with important scores throughout their team’s championship run. The upshot of an even spread of scorers is that Bantry have been able to overcome Ruairí Deane’s injury absences and become a more rounded team.

Still, the Blues needed their Cork senior back to his brilliant best in the narrow county semi-final win over Killshannig. Deane contributed 1-3 that afternoon in a tight game Bantry edged by a single point.

By their own admission, winning close contests was something the West Cork club struggled with in recent times. That’s no longer the case as evidenced by edging Iveleary by two points, drawing with Macroom, and defeating Naomh Abán by a goal in the county championship group stages. True, Bantry rode their luck at times in that semi-final win over Killshannig, not least in the dying embers when Paddy Cronin struck an upright from a penalty, Killshannig did likewise from a 45’ deep into injury-time and Jack Twomey’s last-second effort flew wide.

You make your own luck when it comes to club football however, and the manner in which Bantry hung around in that see-saw semi-final owes much to a growing confidence within the panel. That mental toughness, as much as anything else, will be tested by Cill na Martra on Sunday but this is a stronger, more streetwise Bantry Blues than 12 months ago.

So, what will the front of next week’s Southern Star Sports section edition display? Hopefully, a sea of blue and white streaming on to the Páirc Uí Chaoimh pitch and Ruairí Deane smiling from ear to ear.