Ballinascarthy 0-11

Barryroe 0-11

TOM LYONS REPORTS

THIS intriguing contest in the second round of the Bandon Co-op junior A football championship was the battle of the two-pointers.

Look at the amazing scoring stats. Only three single points were kicked from play over the hour – all three for Barryroe – while eight two-pointers were registered, three from play, five from frees.

Bal won the two-point battle, five to three, and they reached half time leading by 0-8 to 0-2, courtesy of four two-point frees by Padraic Cullinane. They registered only two scores in the second half, a two-pointer from play by Connall Cullinane and a point from a free by the same player in injury time – not a single score from play on their score sheet over the full course of the game.

And yet, it took a last-gasp two-point free by Barryroe, in the 68th minute, by Ryan O’Donovan, to deprive the Bal side of a badly-needed championship win.

Ballinascarthy's Ciarán Nyhan gets his pass away ahead of a challenge from Barryroe's Daniel Moloney. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

Bal had lost their first-round game to Goleen and this single point for a draw sees their championship hopes hanging by a thread – a victory over St Colum’s in their last game now becoming a must.

While the game livened up in the second half, producing plenty of excitement, the standard still wasn’t what we expected from two of the favoured teams in the championship.

Scores, especially from play, were at a premium, and goal chances were rare. Barryroe did manage three, the first a ball being somehow scrambled off the Bal goal line in the 22nd minute following a fine Barryroe movement involving Olan O’Donovan, Adam McSweeney and Mike Collins.

The second came from a penalty in the 42nd minute when they were trailing by three points, the subdued Olan O’Donovan was fouled. Bal goalkeeper Tadhg O’Neill proved equal to Ryan O’Donovan’s spot kick with a fine save. Ten minutes later, O’Neill was the hero again with a point-blank save from Ryan O’Donovan, the 45 being converted by Ryan.

Ballinascarthy goalkeeper Tadhg O'Neill saves a penalty from Barryroe's Ryan O'Donovan. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

The story of the scoring is easily told. Barryroe, against the breeze, had points from Ryan O’Donovan and Luke Murphy in the opening ten minutes, but that was it for the first half. Bal got off the mark in the 15th minute with a two-point free from Padraic Cullinane and he followed with three more in the second quarter, as they led 0-8 to 0-2 at the break.

A rare point from play from Mike Collins and two two-pointers from play from Ryan O’Donovan cut the lead to single point in the third quarter before Connall Cullinane had a two-pointer for Bal.

It was 0-10 to 0-7 at the end of the third quarter and gritty Bal were hanging in as Barryroe’s scoring problems continued.

A free and a 45 from Ryan O’Donovan had it down to one by the 50th minute and it was a stalemate then until the 64th minute when Conall Cullinane pointed a free.

Then came Ryan O’Donovan’s last-gasp two-point free in the 68th minute to tie it all up, 0-11 apiece. Qualification from the group is still up for grabs as Barryroe face Goleen and Bal face St Colum’s in round three.

OUR STAR: Plenty of effort on both sides, with Dan Twomey, Ciarán Nyhan and Padraic Cullinane foremost for Bal, while Ryan O’Donovan almost won it for Barryroe. Our vote goes to Bal goalkeeper Tadhg O’Neill whose saves, including a penalty, were crucial for his side.

Scorers

Ballinascarthy: Padraic Cullinane 0-8 (4 2ptf); Connall Cullinane 0-3 (2pt, 1f).

Barryroe: Ryan O’Donovan 0-9 (2 2pt, 1 2ptf, 45, 1f); Mike Collins, Luke Murphy 0-1 each.

Ballinascarthy: Tadhg O’Neill; Eoin O’Brien, Daniel Nyhan, Dan Twomey; Ciarán O’Neill, Jeremy Ryan, Luke Murray; Ciarán Nyhan, Andrew McCarthy; Flor McCarthy, Donagh O’Driscoll, Jerry O’Leary; Dean Harte, Padraic Cullinane, Connall Cullinane.

Subs: Aidan O’Donovan for C O’Neill (25), Aaron Ryan for F McCarthy (39), Colm O’Brien for D Harte (48), Daniel O’Driscoll for J O’Leary (50), Keith Nyhan for J Ryan (55).

Barryroe: Liam Colbert; Michael Walsh, Diarmuid McCarthy, James Moloney; Seán O’Riordan, David O’Sullivan, Aaron Fleming; Dermot Dineen, Tomás Ó Buachalla; Adam McSweeney, Mike Collins, Daniel Moloney; Luke Murphy, Ryan O’Donovan, Olan O’Donovan.

Subs: Brian O’Donovan for D O’Sullivan (35), Cian O’Sullivan for A McSweeney (45), Seán Holland for D Dineen (56).

Referee: Michael O’Leary (Diarmuid Ó Mathúna).