ST FINBARR’S 6-11

CASTLEHAVEN 0-19

TOM LYONS REPORTS

WHAT an amazing game as Castlehaven’s dreams of three-in-a-row disappeared in an avalanche of goals from St. Finbarr’s.

This quarter-final of the McCarthy Insurance Premier Senior Football championship in a packed Ahamilla on Sunday was the sixth meeting in a row between these great rivals, and was probably the most amazing of them all.

Who would ever have envisaged the county champions conceding four goals in a nightmare first half? Who would have believed that the Barrs, after scoring five goals, would only be three points up with 10 minutes remaining? Who would have predicted that the Haven would score 19 points but still lose by 10? Who would have guessed that the Barrs star scorer, Steven Sherlock, wouldn’t touch the ball for 15 minutes, then kick his first touch wide, score a goal with his second and convert a penalty with his third?

Seeing little of the ball in general play because of the close attention of Thomas O’Mahony, Sherlock finished with 3-3 to his credit, his two penalties being beautifully struck and his two-point free in the 54th minute drawing a line under the Haven’s brave comeback.

This will forever be the day the Haven defence will have nightmares about, torn asunder by the pace and the ability of the Barrs’ forwards to create space in front of goal. Funnelling 12 men back in defence at times, the Barrs broke forward with speed when they won possession, exposing huge gaps in the Haven defence which they exploited with clinical efficiency.

St Finbarrs' Jamie Burns closes in on Castlehaven's Jack Cahalane

They scored six goals, and could have had another few, but were disappointed afterwards at their lack of white flags over the hour. This display of attacking football was as good as it gets under the new rules, but they may be worried at their concession of 19 points. Had the Haven managed even one green flag, the result might have told a different story.

'If you go back over the last five or six years, ourselves and Castlehaven have had some amazing games,' said St. Finbarrs mentor Ian Keeler. 'This one was really topsy-turvy. We got some goals, the Haven got points. Even in the second half, when we were under pressure, the Haven got it back to three points. Then William Buckley got a tremendous goal.

'We were a bit disappointed in the first half with our point taking – 11 shots and only four points. We were rushing the shots but when we carried the ball in a bit deeper, we were getting some joy. 

‘The lads made a huge effort in the second half, stayed composed under pressure. At half-time we felt the key was not conceding any goal and we did that. We also concentrated on closing down the arc and the two pointers, and that worked well. We’ve been working on transitioning up the pitch a bit quicker and, again, that worked well today.’

In contrast to what was to come, it was the Haven who looked the better side in the first quarter, with Conor Cahalane doing well at midfield. Six different Haven players found the target in that opening quarter: Brian Hurley (two-pointer), Conor Cahalane, Andrew Whelton, Jack Cahalane, the classy Mark Collins and Michael Hurley. However, their good work was undone by the first goal from the Barrs in the eighth minute from the lion-hearted Ian Maguire. Points from Ricky Barrett (two) and the strong Brian Hayes had the sides level, 0-6 to 1-3, at the end of a high-standard first quarter.

The Barrs only scored four times in the second quarter, but three of those scores were goals against a shell-shocked Haven defence. With his second touch, Sherlock had the ball in the Haven net in the 16th minute, set up superbly by Ricky Barrett, and four minutes later, when Ethan Twomey was fouled in the square, with goalkeeper Darragh Cahalane being black-carded, Sherlock sent stand-in 'keeper Damien Cahalane the wrong way with his penalty.

The Haven responded well to the penalty with points from the Hurley brothers but in the 26th minute they were pole-axed again when Conor Dennehy rattled their net. John Wigginton Barrett and the lively Jack Cahalane swapped points and the sides retired for a well-earned break with the Barrs leading by 4-4 to 0-10.

'We knew we were scoring goals in recent games and creating a lot of goal chances, and today they just all went in,' said Keeler. 'Six goals was unbelievable. Look, Castlehaven are a super side, going for a third title in a row. We’ve played each year for the past six years and now the score is three all. They have fantastic players, great management, but it was just our day today. I’m sure if we play them again next season, it will be just as topsy-turvy.

'Last season they opened us up, one-on-one, down the park, so we worked very hard on closing down space, not being caught one-on-one with the Hurley brothers. Our lads really worked fierce hard today and got the reward.’

The second half saw a fiercely-determined Brian Hurley taking the game to the Barrs but shipping a lot of punishment for his efforts. Five times Hurley split the posts, one a two-point free, and he was most unlucky not to be awarded a penalty. This was Hurley at his very best, but it was no surprise that he faded in the last quarter after shipping some hard tackles.

Castlehaven's Cathal Maguire attempts to get past St Finbarrs' Brian Hayes.

Unfortunately, Hurley’s great work was undone by another Sherlock penalty goal, blasted into the roof of the net in the 36th minute after a defensive error. Points from Sherlock, a 45, and full-back Jamie Burns, answered by a point from Michael Hurley, left the Barrs leading by only four at the end of the third quarter, the Haven still alive.

It got even better when Conor Cahalane pointed in the 51st minute to cut the lead to a single goal and the noise was incredible. The unthinkable, a Haven escape, was clearly on the cards, but then disaster struck as an intercept in midfield saw William Buckley racing through for Barrs’ sixth goal in the 53rd minute, and when Sherlock converted a two-point free, it was all over bar the shouting. Eoin McGreevy, Ian Maguire, blasting over with a goal chance, and Brian Hayes finished the Barrs’ scoring, with Michael Hurley pointing for the Haven.

'Goals win games, we just didn’t get a run at it today,' said a hugely-disappointed Castlehaven manager, Seánie Cahalane. 'We’ll just have to look back and see where those goals came from and try to work on it going forward.

'True, we scored 19 points, which would have won most quarter-finals, but the Barrs were just ruthless. They are deserving winners at the end of the day.

'It’s very disappointing and the lads are very down at the moment. Our attitude, our will, our body language were all there today, but we just couldn’t get a rub of the green at times. You need a bit of luck to win anything and we just didn’t have it today. If we had got that penalty claim in the second half, who knows what might have happened. The game would really have been in the melting pot then.

‘It was a tough week for Castlehaven with the death of Bernard Collins and the funeral which kept all the Collins clan occupied. But our lads were up for it, but it just didn’t happen for us today.’

Before the game a minute’s silence was observed for three deceased members of the Castlehaven club, Bernard Collins, Ann O’Donovan and Stephen McCarthy.

Scorers

St Finbarr’s: Steven Sherlock 3-3 (2 pens, 1 2ptf, 1 45), Ian Maguire 1-1, Conor Dennehy and William Buckley 1-0 each, Brian Hayes and Ricky Barrett 0-2 each, Jamie Burns, John Wigginton Barrett and Eoin McGreevy 0-1 each.

Castlehaven: Brian Hurley 0-9 (2f, 1 2pt, 1 2ptf), Michael Hurley 0-4, Conor Cahalane and Jack Cahalane 0-2 each, Mark Collins and Andrew Whelton 0-1 each.

St Finbarr’s: Darragh Newman; Billy Hennessy, Jamie Burns, Sam Ryan; Dylan Quinn, Alan O’Connor, Ciarán Doolan; Ian Maguire, Brian Hayes: William Buckley, Stephen Sherlock, Conor Dennehy; John Wigginton Barrett, Ethan Twomey, Ricky Barrett.

Subs: Eoin McGreevy for R. Barrett (40), Luke Harrington for J. Burns (45), Bill O’Connell for E. Twomey (62).

Castlehaven: Darragh Cahalane; Johnny O’Regan, Damien Cahalane, Seán Browne: Thomas O’Mahony, Robbie Minihane, Mark Collins; Andrew Whelton, Conor Cahalane; Rory Maguire, Jack Cahalane, Jamie O’Driscoll; Cathal Maguire, Michael Hurley, Brian Hurley.

Subs: Mícheál Maguire for R. Minihane (ht), Seán Walsh for S. Browne (48), Jack O’Neill for C. Maguire (54).

Referee: James O’Regan.