St. Finbarr’s 4-23

Carbery 1-11

TOM LYONS REPORTS

THE story of this one-sided McCarthy Insurance Group Premier Senior Football Championship quarter-final in Ahamilla on Sunday can be told in six blistering minutes of football by the reigning champions.

In terms of the double header, full marks to Clonakilty GAA club for their handling of the huge crowd at the games, with a small army of stewards in action for parking, facilities, crowd control and the welcome cupán tae and refreshments on a long, busy day.

Trailing by four points at the break having played with the breeze, Carbery were battling gallantly and still in the game. Then, on the resumption, they were hit by an avalanche of Barrs’ goals, four in a devastating six-minute spell of blue power and wizardry.

Game over. The remainder of the encounter was only a training match for the Blues, even though outgunned Carbery tried to the bitter end, hitting a goal of their own in the 46th minute.

The Barrs clearly love the Ahamilla pitch as they put six goals past the Haven there last season and, had they not opted to take some easy points in the last quarter on Sunday, they could easily have surpassed that total against Carbery.

Carbery's Dermot Hegarty offloads the ball under pressure from St Finbarr's Jamie Burns and Thomas Egan. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

Once again, the architect of this outstanding performance was the mercurial Steven Sherlock. In the first half, when the game was a match, he kicked eight of the Barrs’ 12 points against the breeze, including one impossible two-pointer. When the Barrs landed their four goals, Sherlock took his foot off the pedal and spent most of the second half in the midfield third of the pitch, job done.

Just how good are the Barrs and how poor were Carbery? So superior were the Barrs that they were able to take off their senior hurlers early in the second half, including Brian Hayes, whose towering size at midfield proved a huge problem for Carbery. They emptied their bench early, unable to replace an injured player in the closing stages.

The power and size of the winners was complemented by the score-getting ability of their attacking brigade. All six forwards, the two midfielders and two subs shared in the scoring. But one has to temper the praise with a question mark over the quality of the opposition. Carbery were clearly out of their depth in this quarterfinal, despite winning the divisional section of the championship. The unavailability of players for training due to a congested club programme – only five of Sunday’s team turned out in their sole challenge against Dingle in Kerry the previous week and a number of the players having to line out with their clubs on the Friday evening in the SW junior football quarterfinals – was referenced by manager Gene O’Donovan, without using those reasons as excuses.

The big question in the air following this disastrous result was: Is there a place for the divisional teams in the county premier championship under the group format?

Carbery's Dan Twomey races away from St Finbarr's John Wiggington Barrett. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

‘You’re talking of premier senior,’ said the Carbery manager.

‘Seven of our lads played divisional junior quarterfinals on Friday night. The board’s hands were tied to play those games; we have no beef with that because the board has given us great support.

‘There’s talk of the divisions and colleges getting their own competition. We’d be all for that. We could do with more facilities; we struggled to get pitches this week for training. We had the intermediate players for training this week but we only had three-quarters of a pitch.

‘The step up to premier senior is huge, three steps above what some of our lads are playing and six above our junior A. That’s a massive jump to make. ’

Carbery were competitive in the first half with the breeze, with Liam Hourihane, Matthew Sheehan, Ian Jennings, Dara Sheedy, Ryan O’Donovan and Ruairí Deane to the fore. O’Donovan was their top forward, kicking six of their eight points, including two two-pointers and a 45. Sheedy and Deane kicked the other two.

It was 0-12 to 0-8 at the break, Sherlock’s display of scoring providing the main highlights.

The contest was all over within six minutes of the restart. Luke Hannigan palmed to the net in the very first attack, aided by a rampant Brian Hayes. Ian Maguire, thundering into the game, had the second a minute later, set up by John Wiggington Barrett. It was Barrett’s turn for the third, with Enda Dennehy involved, and Dennehy himself provided the fourth in a blistering six-minute period.

Game done and dusted, the Barrs emptied the bench and used the rest of the game for shooting practice, adding 0-10, including a two-pointer from Maguire and a pair from Cork hurler William Buckley.

St Finbarr's Ciaran Doolan gets to gips with Carbery's Aaron Hayes. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

Carbery failed to score in that devastating third quarter but went down fighting in the last, with Dara Sheedy finding the net and Olan Corcoran, sub Olan O’Donovan and Sheedy adding points.

‘The first 10 minutes of the second half, we came out very strong,’ said St. Finbarr's mentor Ian Keeler.

‘We saw the opportunity to get goals rather than take the easy option of points. We had the wind but we warned the lads not just to be shooting on sight but to create opportunities, and when they did, they took them.

‘We have a lot of athleticism through the pitch and the gaps opened up. Steven kicked eight great points against the wind in the first half and we knew we were in a good place at half-time, four in front.

‘We have a hurling semi-final next Sunday so we wanted to mind our dual players. We asked the lads for a big performance today and we got it.’

OUR STAR: Once again, it was that magical scoring touch of Steven Sherlock that laid the foundations for this comprehensive win.

Scorers

St. Finbarr's: Steven Sherlock 0-9 (1f, 1 2pt), John Wiggington Barrett 1-3, Ian Maguire 1-2 (1 2pt), Enda Dennehy 1-1, Brian Hayes 0-3 (1 2pt), Luke Hannigan 1-0, William Buckley 0-2, Ricky Barrett, Bill O’Connell and Cillian Myers Murray 0-1 each

Carbery: Ryan O’Donovan 0-6 (2 2pt, 1 45), Dara Sheedy 1-2, Olan Corcoran, Ruairí Deane and Olan O’Donovan 0-1 each.

St. Finbarr’s: Darragh Newman; Sam Ryan, Fionn Crowley, Colm Scully; Dylan Quinn, Alan O’Connor, Ciarán Doolan; Ian Maguire, Brian Hayes; Luke Hannigan, Ricky Barrett, Enda Dennehy; John Wiggington Barrett, Steven Sherlock, William Buckley.

Subs: Conor Dennehy for S. Ryan (ht), Thomas Egan for L. Hannigan (40), Jamie Burns for B. Hayes (41), Bill O’Connell for W. Buckley (41), Cillian Myres Murray for C. Doolan (41).

Carbery: Liam Colbert (Barryroe); Liam Hourihane (St. Colum’s), Peter Collins (Randal Óg), Jack Collins (Ilen Rvs); Paddy O’Driscoll (Gabriel Rgs), Dermot Hegarty (do.), Matthew Sheehan (Goleen); Aaron Hayes (St. James), Ian Jennings (Kilmacabea); Kevin Casey (Bantry Blues), Dara Sheedy (Bantry Blues), Olan Corcoran (St. Mary’s); Ryan O’Donovan (Barryroe), Ruairí Deane (Bantry Blues), Keith O’Driscoll (Gabriel Rgs).

Subs: Dan Twomey (Ballinascarthy) for J. Collins (36), Seán Connolly (Ilen Rvs) for I. Jennings (38), Olan O’Donovan (Barryroe) for P. O’Driscoll (40), Seán Daly (Randal Óg) for K. Casey (40), Luke Murphy (Barryroe) (43).

Referee: Robert Whelan (Gleann na Laoi).