St James squeeze into hurling quarter-finals

St James 1-18

Bandon 1-16

JOHN MURPHY REPORTS

DEEP into second half injury-time in this RCM Tarmacadam JAHC clash at Barryroe, Bandon’s Jason Hickey made the upfield trek to take a close-in free.

His side were two points in arrears and a draw was of no use so his mission was simple, go for broke and score the winning goal.

His rasping shot flew into a crowded St James’ goalmouth and to a huge cheer shot-stopper Diarmuid O’Donovan cleared to safety and the whistle blew. St James had climbed their mountain (pardon the pun), qualified for the quarter-final while luckless Bandon’s interest in the competition was at an end.

St James’ manager, former Argideen Rangers star Johnny Deasy, was thrilled with the vital win.

‘The main difference tonight was that we won ball that eluded us against Ballinascarthy,’ he said.

‘James O’Sullivan, Kevin O’Leary, Kevin O’Brien all won quality ball, something we asked them to do and of course James O’Driscoll was outstanding while our full-forward line delivered the goods.’

‘If we were told back in January that we would be in this position tonight, we would have been delighted to accept it. Overall, it is a great win, we are thrilled.’

It was as close as that in a pulsating tussle in which supremacy changed hands at will. The sides were level on eight occasions, the pace unrelenting with some high-quality hurling. James O’Driscoll and Joe O’Sullivan, together with Stephen Collins and Rory Desmond, exchanged a quartet of early points and with the Saints in early control, a cracking move involving Ian Evans, Kevin O’Brien and Kieran O’Donovan in the tenth minute saw the latter abbreviate his swing to crash the ball past Pat Prendergast.

Both sides had the scoreboard operator in overdrive, dead-ball experts Jason Hickey and James O’Driscoll in regular action. Then, with St James ahead by 1-6 to 0-8, Bandon forced two magnificent saves from Diarmuid O’Donovan, who thwarted Hugh O’Mahony and Rory Desmond in rapid succession in the 28th minute. With play swinging from end to end, James O’Donovan, Conor Twomey and Dylan Barr had to be on red alert as Prendergast brought off a marvellous save. O’Driscoll’s 65 left it level at half-time, 1-8 to 0-11.

On resuming, both sides went for the jugular, St James having the stronger bench substitutes Conor Hayes, Mark Evans, Donnacha McCarthy, Seamus McCarthy and Shane Murphy playing influential roles. O’Driscoll continued to punish any Bandon indiscretions, but with the Saints leading by 1-11 to 0-13. at the end of the third quarter, Bandon got a major boost.

Rory Fogarty, who played a leading role, tried his luck from distance and, snapping up the breaking ball, Jake Lillis billowed the Saints rigging.

A setback, but credit to St James, they mounted a series of major assaults and not alone equalised but finished on a high with superb scores by Joe O’Sullivan and O’Driscoll (0-3) as that late Bandon bombardment just failed in a game that ended in a welter of excitement.

Scorers

St James: James O’Driscoll 0-12 (6f, 2 65), Kieran O’Donovan 1-1, Joe O’Sullivan 0-3, Ian Evans, Conor Hayes 0-1 each.

Bandon: Jason Hickey 0-6f, Jake Lillis 1-0, Stephen Collins 0-3, Rory Desmond, Rory Fogarty 0-2 each, Harry Lillis, Hugh O’Mahony, Donough Lucey (f) 0-1 each.

St James: Diarmuid O’Donovan; Eoin Deasy, Micheál McCarthy (D), Peter Whelton; Criostóir Hayes, Kevin O’Leary, James O’Sullivan; Ian Evans, Cathal Hennessy; Kevin O’Brien, Paul O’Sullivan, James O’Driscoll; Micheál McCarthy (B), Kieran O’Donovan, Joseph O’Sullivan.

Subs: Donnacha McCarthy for Criostóir Hayes, Seamus McCarthy for Micheál McCarthy (B), Conor Hayes for Ian Evans, Mark Evans for Paul O’Sullivan, Shane Murphy for Micheál McCarthy (D).

Bandon: Pat Prendergast; Conor Twomey, James O’Donovan, Oisín O’Mahony; Dylan Barr, Donough Lucey, Stephen Collins; Harry Lillis, Joe Harrington; Rory Fogarty, Jason Hickey, Rory Desmond; Jake Lillis, Aaron O’Reilly, Hugh O’Mahony. Sub: Donnacha McCarthy for Hugh O’Mahony.

Referee: Pat Lawton (Barryroe).