Brave Fermoy fall well short

ONE would have given precious little for Fermoy’s prospects with 25 minutes gone in last Sunday’s couunty PIHC final at Pairc Uí Rinn.

They had been completely out-gunned up to that point by a Bandon side that was clearly brimming with confidence as a result of their victory over championship favourites Mallow in the semi-final.

It says a lot for Fermoy’s resolve that they managed to arrest their slide before half-time, and they kept the momentum going on the resumption, with a cracking goal from Padraig De Roiste followed by a point from a free by Liam Coleman bringing them right back into contention.

It enabled them to trim what had been a ten-point deficit to two by the 34th minute, but Bandon gradually got their act together again, and there could be no disputing they fully deserved to lift the title that had been denied them when they fell to Ballinhassig in the 2012 decider.

Typically, Fermoy never gave up the fight, and, trailing by six points, they might well have gone on to snatch the initiative had not Bandon ‘keeper Pat Prendergast kept out a rasper from David Geary in the 47th minute.

As it was, they managed to cut the gap to three points with four minutes of regulation time remaining, but it would be stretching things quite a bit to suggest that Geary’s foiled goal-attempt proved their undoing.

The fact is that Bandon were unquestionably the more accomplished outfit, producing a brand of hurling, particularly during the opening 25 minutes, that wasn’t matched by Fermoy at any stage.

They looked a class above the North-Cork side in this period, with their defence in complete control, and their forwards carving out the openings with consummate ease.

They were 1-5 to 0-1 to the good after Ronan Crowley rattled the net in the 14th minute, they led by 1-9 to 0-2 ten minutes later, and all the indications were that Fermoy’s bid for the laurels was destined to be demolished before half-time.

Crowley, Michael Cahalane and, to a lesser extent, Mark Sugrue were causing massive problems for the Fermoy full-back line, Darren Crowley was making regular headway on the right wing, while Bandon hadn’t a weak link at the back where James O’Donovan, James Walsh and Philip Crowley were especially unyielding.

By contrast, the number of Fermoy players performing up to scratch could easily be counted on one hand, with their limitations in attack underlined by the fact that none of their forwards had got on the scoresheet from play at that juncture.

Brian O’Sullivan kept his end up well at wing back, as did Kieran Morrison at midfield, while Shane Aherne worked hard after being switched from full forward to the ‘40 early on.

Aherne was instrumental in rekindling aspirations towards the end of the first half, setting O’Sullivan up for a point, making a strong run to earn a free converted by Liam Coleman and placing Morrison for another score in the 27th minute.

Further points followed from O’Sullivan and David Geary before Ronan Crowley broke the sequence from a free to make it 1-10 to 0-7 at the interval. Aherne made his mark again within a minute of the restart, providing Padraig De Roiste with the pass for his well-taken goal, which threw the issue wide open.

Fermoy used corner-forward Martin Brennan as an extra defender in the second half, and, with Darragh O’Carroll operating as a sweeper, it helped to ease the pressure on their last line of defence.

Their problems persisted at the other end, however, as can be gauged from the fact that they were forced to rely entirely on frees for penetration following De Roiste’s superb strike.

That De Roiste and David Geary, with his first half point, were their only forwards to raise a flag from play over the hour tells its own story, and, in the final analysis, Fermoy’s relentless workrate, hard-running and never-say-die attitude wasn’t nearly enough to offset Bandon’s superior hurling.

After Bandon custodian Prendergast prevented Geary from providing Fermoy with a badly-needed boost, there was always a sense of inevitablity about the outcome, although the gutsy losers did manage to get back within striking-range, 1-16 to 1-13, after Liam Coleman completed a hattrick of points from placed balls in the 57th minute.

Brian O’Sullivan, who had a fine game at wing back, and industrious midfielders Tomas Clancy and Kieran Morrison achieved most for Fermoy in the second half.

In light of their dominance in defence, Bandon always appeared to have the situation under control in the last quarter, and they put the finishing touches to an impressive performance when Mark Sugrue – who, switched to right wing, was arguably their best forward in the second half – and Ronan Crowley – after taking a return pass from Darren Crowley – posted a couple of sublime points in stoppage time.

Given that they appeared to be battling for mere respectabilty coming up to half time, Fermoy must be credited for making a gallant effort to knock Bandon off course, but the contest finished on a real low note for them after substitute Padraig Clancy and Darragh O’Carroll were both red-carded shortly before the last whistle.