Diarmuid Ó Mathúnas 1-16
Ballinascarthy 1-10
JOHN MURPHY REPORTS
AFTER a game that never rose above the realms of mediocrity, spoiled by the gale-force wind and rain, a late scoring tsunami that yielded seven unanswered points fired Diarmuid Ó Mathúnas to victory at Enniskeane last Sunday.
It was fitting that the Lucey brothers, Jamie and Robbie, Jack O’Callaghan and Seán Crowley shared the decisive seven-point haul, because they had been leading lights for the Castletown lads all through this competitive encounter.
The result means that an absorbing local derby between Mathúnas and fellow parishioners St Mary’s in the quarter-final of the Bandon Co-op Junior A Football Championship will take place later this month.
It’s back to the drawing board for Ballinascarthy whose creativity was positive, but finishing very poor, as several scoring chances squandered.
They began well, two excellent two-pointers by Conal Cullinane the only scores in the opening quarter. Robbie Lucey opened Mathúnas tally in the 21st minute, followed quickly by a cracking Eoghan Mangan point. Ciarán O'Neill, one of the losers’ best players at centre-back, foraged upfield and shot over in the 23rd minute.
When Cullinane got another two-pointer and Eoghan Ferguson added a well-struck free, the advantage was 0-8 to 0-2. Stephen Moore cut the deficit a further point. With Ted Lordan and Aaron Draper having a great tussle with Seán Ryan and Cathal Nyhan around the middle, one wondered if the Bal advantage, 0-8 to 0-3, would prove adequate.
That question was answered in the 33rd minute when Jack O’Callaghan cut in from the right touchline to fire a beauty past Cian Ryan.
Still, the Nyhan brothers Daniel and Ciarán, Eoghan Ferguson, O’Neill and speed merchant Brian O’Donovan all had their shoulders to the wheel. Substitute Colm O’Brien found the range, but three scores on the trot from Jamie and Robbie Lucey and a two-pointer from Ted Lordan made it 1-7 to 0-9 at the close of the third quarter.
It was still all to play for, even more so when a defence-splitting sally by Brian O’Donovan had a positive ending when Eoghan Ferguson smashed the ball to the net in the 48th minute. When he bisected the uprights soon afterwards, it read 1-10 to 1-9.
But the increasing dominance of Mathúnas and the move of Seán Crowley into a more central position proved a masterstroke, as Mathúnas, like the famous wedding feast, kept the good wine to the end, finishing with aplomb.
Mathúnas selector John Roche felt the elements played a big role, but was happy that his side upped the ante towards the end.
‘Bal pushed us all the way. It was only in the last five minutes that we got the scores that won it,’ Roche said.
‘What worked especially well was the move of Seán Crowley out to the half-forward line where he brought stability and took a couple of crucial points.
‘We have a trend of playing against the wind and happily it worked out. We meet St Mary’s in a couple of weeks, it should be a cracking local derby.’
Scorers
Diarmuid Ó Mathúnas: Jack O’Callaghan 1-2 (1f); Seán Crowley 0-4 (2pt); Robbie Lucey, Jamie Lucey 0-3 each; Ted Lordan 0-2 (2pt); Eoghan Mangan, Stephen Moore 0-1 each.
Ballinascarthy: Conall Cullinane 0-6 (3 2pts); Eoghan Ferguson 1-2 (1f); Colm O’Brien, Ciarán O’Neill 0-1 each.
Diarmuid Ó Mathúnas: Oisín O’Leary; Ronan McCarthy, Seán Crowley, Eoghan Mangan; Barry Lordan, Conor O'Sullivan, Micheál O’Sullivan; Ed Lordan, Aaron Draper; Robbie Lucey, Stephen Moore, Matt Draper; Jamie Lucey, James Fleming, Jack O’Callaghan.
Subs: Kevin O’Donovan for Matt Draper (44), Matt Daly for Stephen Moore (50).
Ballinascarthy: Cian Ryan; Gearóid O’Leary, Ciarán Nyhan, Jeremy Ryan; Tristan Walsh, Ciarán O’Neill, David Walsh; Cathal Nyhan, Seán Ryan; Ciarán Deasy, Conall Cullinane, Daniel Nyhan; Brian O’Donovan, Eoghan Ferguson, Dean Harte.
Subs: Colm O’Brien for Ciarán Deasy, Donnagh O’Driscoll for Cathal Nyhan (ht).
Referee: Niall O’Regan (Carbery Rangers).
