Barryroe 2-7

Charleville 0-11

NOEL HORGAN REPORTS

THE adage that goals win games rang true for Barryroe as they lifted the county junior A football league title at the expense of Charleville at St Vincent’s Grounds in the city on Saturday evening.

In a final of dramatically fluctuating fortunes, the Carbery side twice found the net, courtesy of cousins Olan and Ryan O’Donovan, whereas the North Cork men were unable to make a major breakthrough during their periods of dominance.

For all that, it seemed as if extra-time might be required to resolve the issue when Charleville were awarded a long-range free in the dying seconds, but much to their frustration, goalkeeper Jessie Smith’s effort for a two-pointer struck the upright.

It’s fair to say relief was Barryroe’s overriding emotion at the end of an enthralling final, as manager Norman Fleming acknowledged afterwards.

‘We’re delighted with the win, but it was helter-skelter there during the last few minutes. It was a bit of a relief to hear the final whistle,’ he admitted.

‘We set our stall out at the start of the season to try and win this league and move up a division.

‘To have done it is a great boost going into the championship, all the more so since it was a very competitive game today against a good Charleville side that reached a county semi-final last year.’

Barryroe's Mike Collins gets away from Charleville's Zach Biggane. (Photo: Martin Walsh)

Fleming revealed the Barryroe team is nicely blended with youth and experience, pointing out there were five U19s in the starting line-up against Charleville.

‘We’ll certainly be approaching the championship in a positive frame of mind, but we’re fully aware there’s no shortage of teams entitled to fancy their chances of winning West Cork, so we’ll be taking it one step at a time,’ he stressed.

So, just a week after Barryroe’s hurlers won the Division 7 county league title, the club’s footballers also lifted county silverware to back up their Carbery league success.

The early indications were that Barryroe would have their work cut out to achieve the desired result against Charleville, although Olan O’Donovan, fed by Ryan O’Donovan, shot narrowly wide with a goal chance in the third minute.

The latter had opened the scoring from a free seconds earlier, but Barryroe didn’t add to their tally until Ryan O’Donovan pointed again from play in the 17th minute.

In the interim, Charleville had reeled off five points on the trot, and their speedy, cohesive raids clearly had Barryroe reeling.

The trend of the play changed dramatically in the second quarter. Barryroe upped their performance in all sectors, cutting the gap to the minimum before Tomás Ó Buachalla smartly dispossessed Charleville centre-back Danny O’Flynn to create a golden opportunity for Olan O’Donovan in the 24th minute.

O’Donovan beat Charleville goalkeeper Jones at the second attempt to nudge Barryroe ahead before a Ryan O’Donovan point completed the first-half scoring, making it 1-4 to 0-5 at the interval.

The O’Donovans carried an obvious threat up front for Barryroe as the first half aged, Tomás Ó Buachalla and Dermot Dineen were more involved at midfield, while lively corner-back Daniel Moloney regularly caught the eye in a defence that tightened up significantly as a unit.

The Barryroe team that defeated Charleville in the county junior A football league final. (Photo: Martin Walsh)

Barryroe kept the momentum going on the resumption, with an Olan O’Donovan point preceding a Ryan O’Donovan goal inside 33 minutes.

The latter’s strike, following a slick raid in which Daniel Moloney and Mike Collins featured prominently, left Barryroe 2-5 to 0-5 to the good.

The notion they might have laid firm foundations for victory at that juncture was quickly dispelled, as Charleville replied with a two-pointer from wing-forward Cathal O’Carroll a minute later.

With the score at 2-6 to 0-8, it took a good save by Barryroe goalkeeper Liam Colbert to deny Charleville’s Darren Butler a goal before an Olan O’Donovan point gave the winners further breathing space approaching the last ten minutes.

They needed it all, as resurgent Charleville applied almost constant pressure on the run-in.

Barryroe had reason to feel a little aggrieved when Charleville were awarded a questionable free around the middle, resulting in an attack completed by a point from substitute Jack Callaghan in the 55th minute.

It meant the Avondhu side’s hopes of erasing the deficit continued to flicker after their most impressive attacker Darren Butler added a point from a free to make it 2-7 to 0-11 heading into stoppage time.

Justice was done in a nail-biting finale, however, when the upright foiled Jessie Smith’s effort for an equalising two-pointer for Charleville with virtually the last kick of the match.

Scorers

Barryroe: R O’Donovan 1-5 (2f); O O’Donovan 1-2.

Charleville: C O’Carroll 0-4 (2pt); D Butler 0-4 (3f); DJ Collins, J Meade, J Callaghan 0-1 each.

Barryroe: L Colbert; M Walsh, J Moloney, D Moloney; C Dineen, D O’Sullivan, A Fleming; D Dineen, T Ó Buachalla; A McSweeney, M Collins, J Murphy; L Murphy, R O’Donovan, O O’Donovan.

Subs: C O’Sullivan for J Murphy (46), J Collins for Ó Buachalla (inj, 59), J O’Brien for McSweeney (62).

Charleville: J Smith; O O’Connell, M O’Flynn, D O’Sullivan; S Brosnan, D O’Flynn, J Meade; Z Biggane, D Forde; C O’Carroll, D Butler, J O’Brien; M Kavanagh, C Buckley, DJ Collins.

Subs: J Buckley for Kavanagh (ht), J Callaghan for O’Brien (ht), S Liddy for O’Carroll, (inj, 49), D Waters for Brosnan (51).

Referee: A Hourihan (Aghinagh).