O’Sullivan spot on as Garnish get Beara bid off to winning start

GARNISH got their Beara junior B football championship campaign off to the best possible start with a 1-8 to 0-4 win against Castletownbere in Adrigole.

Even better, this first-round tie doubled up as the Beara junior B league decider for the Noel Kelly Cup so Garnish also got their hands on silverware last Sunday week.

It's the first time in 22 years that Garnish has won this particular cup, named after a Garnish man, and two men who were involved in that 1999 win, Fintan JL O'Sullivan and Brian Walsh, played central roles in this latest success.

An 11th-minute penalty from Fintan JL O’Sullivan, who finished with 1-2, handed Garnish the initiative in this first-round tie. At the time Garnish led 0-2 to 0-1, but O’Sullivan’s penalty put daylight between the teams and the winners led 1-3 to 0-3 at the break.

The Garnish junior B football team that won the Noel Kelly Cup. (Photo: Anne Marie Cronin)

The Garnish half backs – Jack Andy O’Sullivan, Darragh Henshaw and Paul O’Neill – played an important role in this win. Their ability to nullify Castletown’s attack and slow down the ball provided the base for Garnish to build on their lead. Brian Terry O’Sullivan was on target with a brace of points early in the second half to push his side’s lead out to five points, while the introduction of Darren Deery gave the winners a target at full-forward.

Rory O’Driscoll and Sean Terry O’Sullivan were having a greater influence for Garnish as the game progressed, with Eanna Murphy, Matthew O’Leary and Brian Walsh also impressing as Garnish got their Beara JBFC campaign off to the best possible, and picked up league silverware in the process.

Garnish scorers against Castletownbere were Fintan O’Sullivan (1-2), Brian Terry O’Sullivan (0-2), Sean Terry O’Sullivan (0-2), Dylan Henshaw and Paul O’Neill.

In the semi-finals, Garnish will now take on defending champions Glengarriff in a repeat of last year's final while the other side of the draw sees Adrigole play Urhan for a place in the divisional decider.