Gutsy Blues fall short as Kanturk reign

CORK PIFC FINAL
KANTURK 3-11
BANTRY BLUES 1-10

NOEL HORGAN REPORTS

THEY displayed resolve and resilience in abundance, but such attributes weren’t sufficient to prevent Bantry Blues from succumbing to Kanturk in the Bon Secours Premier Intermediate Football Championship final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

Bidding to make a quick return to senior ‘A’ ranks after being relegated last season, Bantry would have been under no illusions about the difficult nature of the task they were facing, given that Kanturk were shortlisted by most pundits as potential champions at the start of the campaign.

It didn’t take Kanturk long to serve notice of their intentions, grabbing a goal within seconds of the throw-in through wing-forward Ryan Walsh.

Despite Ian Walsh striking the crossbar with another goal chance, the Duhallow men had moved 1-4 to 0-1 ahead by the 12th minute, and were dictating matters to such an extent that Bantry Blues looked in danger of being overwhelmed before half-time.

They received a badly-needed boost a minute later however when a good move involving Arthur Coakley and Eoghan Minihane led to Sean O’Leary feeding corner forward Paddy Cronin, who neatly slotted the ball past Kanturk custodian Ronan Cashman.

Following a scorching run from deep, corner-back Seth Thornton tacked on a point six minutes later, and Paddy Cronin quickly added another to leave the Carbery men snapping at Kanturk’s heels, 1-4 to 1-3, with 19 minutes gone.

Just when it seemed as if Bantry might have weathered the early Kanturk storm, they were stung badly again, with Aidan Walsh bagging a second goal for the winners.

It did nothing to dampen their self-belief, as they battled gamely to stay in touch, even after Kanturk stretched their advantage to five points, 2-6 to 1-4, by the 24th minute.

They finished the first-half most encouragingly, with Sean O’Leary and Arthur Coakley, from a free, on target before the impressive Coakley, taking a pass from Ruairi Deane, completed their tally before the break.

In light of their potentially disastrous start, it was easy to appreciate why the large contingent of Bantry supporters were in full cry as the team headed for the dressing room at the interval.

To be just two points in arrears, 2-6 to 1-7, at that juncture was a definite positive in terms of their prospects of upsetting the odds, even if Kanturk, having clocked up seven wides, were hardly flattered by the situation at half-time.

Three minutes into the second-half, Bantry went close to making a major breakthrough when Eoghan O’Shea, Shane Keevers, Arthur Coakley, Ruairir Deane and Sean O’Leary combined to create an opening for Eoghan Minihane, whose effort for a three-pointer struck the side-netting.

Had Bantry managed to hit the front then, who’s to say it wouldn’t have worked wonders for their confidence, and, more significantly perhaps, caused feelings of self-doubt to filter into a Kanturk team desperate to avoid a third consecutive defeat in the decider?

Later, the Kanturk rearguard was almost breached tellingly again when, following good work by Bantry substitute Kevin Casey and Kevin Coakley, Paddy Cronin had a shot touched over the bar by ‘keeper Cashman.

Cronin’s point left Bantry trailing by just two, 2-8 to 1-9, approaching the last 20 minutes, but that was as good as it got for the gutsy West Cork-men.

They fell further behind to an Ian Walsh point before their fate was effectively sealed by a third Kanturk goal scored by Lorcan McLoughlin in the 46th minute.

There’s no denying the physically powerful Kanturk side looked awesome when in full flight, showing a facility to carve out the openings virtually at will.

That they were able to afford the luxury of registering 14 wides, 10 more than Bantry, over the hour tells its own story and they were never in any real danger of losing the game.

Still, Bantry must be credited for remaining in with a shout for so long.

A lot of teams would have wilted in the face of Kanturk’s whirlwind start, not to mention the demoralising blow delivered by Aidan Walsh during the second-quarter after Bantry had worked so hard to get back into contention.

Even after Kanturk moved into a seemingly unassailable lead, 3-10 to 1-10, approaching the last five minutes, Bantry kept plugging away.

As they searched for a consolation goal late on, Kevin Casey got on the end of a purposeful raid only to be crowded out in the danger-zone, while there was similar frustration for Dara McCarthy, who was fouled after racing on to a defence-splitting cross from Paddy Cronin in the dying minutes.

Scorers - Kanturk: I Walsh 0-5 (1f), Aidan Walsh 1-1, R Walsh, L McLoughlin 1-0 each, P Walsh, C Walsh 0-2 each, G Bucinskas 0-1

Bantry Blues: P Cronin 1-2, A Coakley 0-5 (2f), S Thornton, S O’Leary, R Deane (f) 0-1 each.

Kanturk: R Cashman; J McLoughlin, J Browne, L O’Neill; T Walsh, D Browne, B O’Sullivan; P Walsh, Aidan Walsh; C Walsh, L McLoughlin, R Walsh; I Walsh, Alan Walsh, G Bucinskas.

Subs: C Clernon for R Walsh (25), J Fitpatrick for L McLoughlin (57), L O’Keeffe for Bucinskas (60), M Healy for I Walsh (61).

Bantry Blues: S Murray; S Thornton, T Cronin, C O’Brien; D McCarthy, B Foley, E O’Shea; S O’Leary, E Minihane; D Murray, K Coakley, S Keevers; A Coakley, R Deane, P Cronin.

Subs: K Casey for Murray (ht), D Daly for K Coakley (47), C Power for O’Shea (57).

Referee: A O’Connor (Ballygarvan).