Adrigole 1-18

Glengarriff 1-14

ADRIGOLE are back on top in Beara.

For the eighth time, the club are Beara junior B football champions, dethroning Glengarriff in Castletownbere on Sunday.

While Sean Hurley’s Glengarriff were chasing back-to-back titles, Adrigole reclaimed the throne they had last sat in the year before.

This is a triumph that means a lot to Adrigole, coming one week after the intermediates had lost their county championship semi-final.

‘It’s very important. We treat this competition very seriously,’ says Adrigole manager Darragh Carey.

‘It’s a great way to keep lads involved. We have lads who are living in Cork, lads who are semi-retired who have come back to play, and we have a good crop of younger lads coming through as well so this is a platform to play adult football.

‘We used 22 or 23 players with the intermediate team so we are starting at player 23 or 24, so it’s great for the club when you consider that 23 players are taken out of the equation.

‘For years we didn’t have a junior B team, down to numbers. But now we have encouraging numbers. We had 26 fellas togged out on Sunday.

‘It was a boost too coming off the back of the loss in the intermediate A semi-final.’

Glengarriff's Luke Harrington tackles Adrigole's Liam Crowley in the final. (Photo: Anne Marie Cronin)

The plan now is to have a crack off the upcoming county series, with Carey pointing out there is little between the teams at this level.

‘Glengarriff lost to Carrigaline last year and they went on to win the county. We lost to Douglas two years ago and they went on to win it. It’s great for the lads to be playing football at this stage of the season, and it creates a buzz around the place too,’ Carey said.

Heading into the Beara decider, both teams were without key players from their semi-final wins. Glengarriff midfielder Philip Harrington was ruled out through injury. Adrigole were without former Cork underage player Seanie O’Sullivan and Jack Crowley, who had played with the intermediate team the week before, while Daniel Mason missed out through injury.

It was Adrigole that made the brighter start with an early point from man-of-the-match Cormac Carey, but Glengarriff’s Darren Harrington soon levelled.

Carey was starting to prove himself unmarkable in the first half and he reeled off further points to fire Adrigole into a 0-5 to 0-1 lead after 15 minutes.

A free from Callum McElhinney got Glengarriff back on the scoreboard, but Carey scored his and Adrigole’s sixth point in the 20th minute.

Glengarriff came more into the game in the closing stages of the half, as points from Callum McElhinney, Gearóid O’Sullivan and a two-pointer from Darragh O’Sullivan-Connell reduced the Adrigole lead to a single point.

Glengarriff had momentum at this stage and will regret the goal chances they missed. A superb two-point free from Mikey Crowley extended Adrigole’s lead to three points in the 26th minute, but almost immediately they were reduced to 14 players when Callum Downing received a black card.

A late Gavin O’Sullivan point for Glengarriff cut the Adrigole lead to two at the break, 0-8 to 0-6.

‘It was a very close game,’ Darragh Carey explained.

‘We were up a few points at half-time, but Glengarriff got a goal and brought it back level. They went ahead, but we never panicked.

‘I thought our forwards were excellent. Kevin Goggin came off the bench and kicked three two-pointers. Cormac Carey at corner forward scored 1-8. Our inside forwards really delivered when we needed them to.

‘It was a game that could have gone either way but we just pulled away in the last few minutes.

‘We had big performances all over the field, our defence was excellent, and we got the scores at the right time. We took our chances.’

Adrigole celebrate winning the Beara junior B championship final. (Photo: Anne Marie Cronin)

With three minutes still left on the black card, Glengarriff took advantage of the extra man and scored two early second-half points from Darragh O’Sullivan-Connell and Tadhg McCarthy to level the final, 0-8 apiece, after 32 minutes.

Adrigole replied with two unanswered points from Cormac Carey and Tommy O’Sullivan before Glengarriff took the lead for the first time when Gearóid O’Sullivan found the roof of the Adrigole net in the 37th minute to nudge Glengarriff in front, 1-8 to 0-10.

Callum McElhinney extended Glengarriff’s lead before Adrigole substitute Kevin Goggin kicked a superb two-pointer to leave the teams level, 1-9 to 0-12, after 42 minutes.

Adrigole started to take control of the game. Another two-pointer from super-sub Goggin was followed by a point from Carey and a goal from a penalty, with Glengarriff’s only reply a point from Callum McElhinney. Adrigole held a five-point lead after 53 minutes.

But Adrigole received a second black card when Kieran O’Sullivan entered referee Evan Horan’s notebook.

Points from Callum McElhinney and Shaun O’Sullivan left just a goal between the teams after 57 minutes, but it was two Adrigole substitutes who pushed their team to victory – Kevin Goggin landed his third two-pointer of the half and Tom Harrington had the final score for Adrigole.

Late points from Ciarán McElhinney and Shaun O’Sullivan reduced the lead to four points but it was Adrigole who emerged the winners, 1-18 to 1-14.

After beating Castletownbere and Garnish en route to the final, Adrigole will be satisfied with a job well done.

‘From the first day out to the final, we lost three players to the intermediate team, but it shows the strength in depth the club now has,’ Carey added.

‘Lads like Timmy Shea are heading on towards 47, and then you have Tom Harrington who is only 18 and in his first year of adult football.

‘There is a group of lads there, and the interest level is high. We have a lot of fellas in with the Beara U21s, and the junior B team is important to the club. We have some very good young players who, no doubt, will make the step up to the intermediate team in the next year or two.

‘Hopefully in two weeks’ time we can make an impact in the county; we’re playing whoever comes out of Carrigdhoun in a county quarter-final.’

After the game, the Donal Jim O’Sullivan Cup was presented by Anne Marie McCarthy to Adrigole captain Eoin Greene O’Sullivan. Cormac Carey was presented with the man-of-the-match award from Conor Twomey of Twomeys Bar Castletownbere.