Ballyhea 8-14
Randal Óg 2-13
NOEL HORGAN REPORTS
THE scoreline tells the tale.
Randal Óg’s dream of county junior B hurling (inter-divisional) championship glory turned into a nightmare at the 4G pitch in Páirc Uí Chaoimh where they conceded eight goals and were thrashed to the tune of 19 points in a semi-final clash with Ballyhea.
With due respect to the winners, this would have to go down as a freakish result considering Randal Óg entered the fray with fairly impressive credentials.
Earlier in the season they lost by just a point to Freemount in the final of the county championship confined to clubs that have their top team operating at junior B level, and they filled the runners-up slot in that competition as well behind Belgooly in 2021.
Indeed, it seemed as if they were well-equipped to make a bold bid to achieve the desired result against Ballyhea, as, having conceded a goal within seconds of the throw-in, they replied with four points on the trot to hit the front inside nine minutes.
Then it started to all go wrong for the Carbery standard-bearers.
Randal Óg's Sean Daly in control against Ballyhea's Jordan Morris.
They were reduced to 14 players after midfielder John Collins was red-carded a minute later, and they were stung by three more goals before the end of the opening quarter, leaving them with a major uphill battle on their hands with the contest still in its infancy.
‘This was one of those games when you knew the outcome after about 15 minutes, but that can happen when it just isn’t going to be your day,’ commented Randal Óg selector Ger Collins afterwards.
‘We had made a promising start, but the sending-off was a big turning point and on top of that Ballyhea got a few goals around the same time.
‘For the rest of the first half, every hop of the ball seemed to go against us, and no matter what we did we just couldn’t get it right, it’s as simple as that,’ said Collins.
Following Randal Óg’s four-point flurry shared by Seamus Crowley, wing-back Kieran O’Brien and ace free-taker Sean Daly (2), Ballyhea’s Neil Ronan equalised from a placed ball before a quick-fire hat-trick of goals put the Avondhu kingpins firmly in the driving seat.
With Daly making his presence felt at midfield after moving from centre-forward following John Collins’ dismissal, and Seadhna Crowley and Eoghan O’Donovan showing definite promise in a depleted attack, Randal Óg continued to compete earnestly until Neil Ronan fired in Ballyhea’s fifth goal in the 28th minute.
Ronan pounced after Randal Óg goalkeeper Barry O’Sullivan had proved equal to a rasper from Sean Kelly, who, along with James Horgan, caused havoc in Ballyhea’s inside line of attack before the break.
A Randal Óg point from a free by Sean Daly completed the first-half scoring, making it 5-4 to 0-9, but the South-West side’s resistance waned after James Horgan bagged another three-pointer for Ballyhea in the 32nd minute.
Again Horgan scored from the rebound after Sean Kelly had been initially denied by Randal Óg custodian O’Sullivan, who made a few other fine saves during the hour, and couldn’t be faulted for any of the Ballyhea goals.
In front of O’Sullivan, full-back Conor O’Neill kept a reasonably tight rein on former Cork senior Neil Ronan, but failure to come to terms with the threat from the Ballyhea corner-forwards meant the Randal Óg rearguard always looked vulnerable.
As Randal Óg became visibly demoralised, the second half largely amounted to a bout of shooting practise for Ballyhea, although late goals from Eoghan O’Donovan and Donncha Collins made the scoreboard look a little more respectable at the finish.
Scorers - Ballyhea: S Kelly 3-1; N Ronan 1-6 (5f, 1 65); J Horgan 2-0; L O’Connor 1-2 (1f); Mikey Mortell 1-0; J Morrissey 0-2; A Horan, L O’Shea, S Walsh 0-1 each. Randal Óg: S Daly 0-9 (f); E O’Donovan, D Collins 1-0 each; Seadhna Crowley 0-2; Seamus Crowley, K O’Brien 0–1 each.
Ballyhea: G O’Shea; M Crowley, C Crowley, Eoin O’Sullivan; W Shanahan, K Hanley, A Horan; K Copps, W Carroll; J Morrissey, L O’Connor, Mikey Mortell; J Horgan, N Ronan, S Kelly. Subs: Eamonn O’Sullivan for Shanahan (39), Michael Mortell for Hanley (41), S Walsh for Copps (46), D O’Shaughnessy for Ronan (50), L O’Shea for Mikey Mortell (50).
Randal Óg: B O’Sullivan; P Duggan, C O’Neill, S Patterson; K O’Brien, P Collins, C O’Neill; Seamus Crowley, J Collins; L O’Donovan, S Daly, C Nyhan; E O’Donovan, Seadhna Crowley, D Collins. Subs: O Daly for Patterson (14), C Duggan for L O’Donovan (ht), D O’Callaghan for Nyhan (45), P Crowley for E O’Donovan (54), M Shanahan for Seadhna Crowley (55).
Referee: N Fahy (Brian Dillons).
