Castletownbere 0-17

Glanmire 3-6

GER McCARTHY REPORTS

DECLAN Dunne proved Castletownbere’s hero with two late points to overcome Glanmire and survive a Cork Premier IFC relegation play-off in Ballinacarriga last Saturday.

The Beara club recovered from the concession of three second-half goals but needed eight Declan Dunne scores to retain their PIFC status.

Six up at the break, Castletownbere were reeled in by a revived opponent as Cathal McCarthy, Darragh Murray and Billy O’Mahony found the net.

Yet, poor shooting and going over 20 minutes without a score would come back to haunt the eventual losers.

Castletownbere, led brilliantly by Fintan Fenner and 40-year-old Andrew O’Sullivan, hung in and utilised Declan Dunne’s accuracy to win by two points.

It proved a productive afternoon for Beara GAA as Urhan also survived their Premier JFC relegation playoff.

‘One of our selectors, John Paul Sheehan, said earlier in the week that the crest is over your heart for a reason,’ Castletownbere manager Lorcan Harrington commented.

‘We had lads travelling from Dublin, London – there’s a lot of moving parts. It’s not easy at this grade but to be fair, it’s a fantastic competition.

‘We drew with Macroom the first day and they are in the quarterfinals. Kiskeam, we were with them for most parts of our game and they’re in the semi-finals. We’re delighted to be one of the teams that are staying up.’

Castletownbere's Fintan Fenner and Glanmire's Jeremy Kingston. (Photo: Anne Marie Cronin)

Harry Jones and Daniel Molden scores sandwiched a Gary Murphy effort to hand Glanmire a 0-2 to 0-1 lead after five minutes.

A torrential downpour meant there wouldn’t be another score until just before the quarter-hour mark. Playing with the aid of a strengthening wind, it was Castletownbere’s Declan Dunne who scored next.

Lee Kelly, Fintan Fenner, with a superb two-pointer from the left sideline, and Declan Dunne pushed Castletownbere 0-10 to 0-2 clear. Creditably, Glanmire finished the half positively as Harry Jones fisted his second and third points of the playoff to leave six points in it at the interval.

A frenetic third quarter began with Darragh Murray slaloming through the for a point before Daniel Hogan set up the Cathal McCarthy for Glanmire’s first goal. Castletownbere were unable to respond and, dominating the middle sector, their opponents pounced for a second goal when Darragh Murray netted after 39 minutes.

Gary Murphy replied with Castletownbere’s first score in over quarter of an hour. That levelled matters for a second time before Declan Dunne forced a turnover and split the posts to make it 0-12 to 2-5.

Murray equalised and it was anyone’s game with 10 minutes remaining. Gary Murphy edged the Beara men back in front but a Glanmire shot dropped short and was flicked into the air for substitute Billy O’Mahony to palm to the net. Now 3-6 to 0-13 behind, Castletownbere’s Fintan Fenner kicked his second two-pointer to level the score for a fourth time as the clock reached 60 minutes. Deep into injury time, as Glanmire floundered in front of goal, Declan Dunne fired over two points to clinch a 0-17 to 3-6 win for Castletownbere.

‘Ah sure, as long as Town won, no-one cares!’ match-winner Dunne said.

‘It’s a very tight grade. There’s probably 11 out of the 12 teams where everyone’s on the same level. It’s a really, really close grade. At the end of the day, it was all about winning this game today.’

OUR STAR: Castletownbere’s Declan Dunne, who scored 0-8 – including two late match-winners.

Scorers

Castletownbere: D Dunne 0-8 (1 2pt), F Fenner 0-6 (1 2pt, 1 2ptf), G Murphy 0-2, L Kelly 0-1.

Glanmire: D Murray 1-2, B O’Mahony, C McCarthy 1-0 each, H Jones 0-3, D Molden 0-1.

Castletownbere: K Murphy; D Walsh, J Rosales Harrington, B Murphy; T Collins, D Hanley, J O’Neill; A O’Sullivan, F Fenner; U Murphy, M Orpen, J Hanley; G Murphy, L Kelly, D Dunne.

Subs: T Murphy for J O’Neill (46), J Spence for L Kelly (56), O Byrne for Orpen (64).

Glanmire: C O’Neill; R McSweeney, B Murphy, C Nelligan; D Murray, D Kenneally, S O’Driscoll; H Cogan, J Kingston; D Hogan, D Molden, T Hourihan; H Jones, D Lynch, H Browne.

Subs: C McCarthy for H Browne (31), B Galvin for D Molden (42), C Hackett for S O’Driscoll (42), C Crowley for J Kingston (52), B O’Mahony for Lynch (56).

Referee: A Long (Argideen Rangers).