Ballingeary hold firm to advance
WITH 16 minutes gone, it seemed as if Ballingeary were firmly on course for a comfortable victory over last year’s intermediate kingpins Bandon in the PIFC Round 1 encounter at Cloughduv last Saturday evening.
The Gaeltacht men looked the complete masters as they responded to an early point from Bandon’s Darren Crowley with nine scores on the bounce, including a goal from a penalty by Andreas Ó Conceannain, which made it 1-1 to 0-1 inside three minutes.
It was awesome stuff, and Bandon appeared to have no answer to it, with Ó Conceannain, Donagh Shorten, Ben Shorten and Liam Shorten particularly prominent in a cohesive Ballingeary attack that carved out the openings with consummate ease.
The picture was just as bright for the Mid-Cork side elsewhere, as Eoinn Ó Coill, ably supported by Colmain Ó Tuama, gave them an edge at midfield, while Ciann Ó Duinnin, Leonard Ó Conchuir and Matt Ó Riordain comprising a commanding half back line, with all three regularly pushing forward with purpose to increase the pressure on a beleaguered Bandon rearguard.
Even if the penalty that yielded the Ballingeary goal was questionable, they were full value for their 1-8 to 0-1 advantage before the trend of the play underwent a remarkable transformation in the second quarter.
That Bandon snatched the initiative owed much to the contributions from wing-forward Darren Crowley and midfielder James Walsh, whose input had the twin-effect of easing their problems at the back and finally providing a decent service to their inside line of attack.
Mark Sugrue, Barry Collins and especially Adam Murphy all showed up well as Bandon made significant inroads on the deficit before half time, thanks primarily to a well-taken goal by Murphy resulting from good work by Darren Crowley and Collins in the 26th minute.
Trailing by 1-8 to 1-5, Bandon had every reason to fancy their chances at the interval, given they had built up considerable momentum towards the end of the first half, not to the mention the fact they were due to resume with the aid of a stiff breeze.
Ballingeary regained their composure on the turnover, however, with dynamic wingback Cian Ó Duinnin pointing before Ben Shorten was denied a goal when his fisted effort on an Eoin Ó Coill pass rebounded off the crossbar in the 35th minute.
Shortly afterwards, Adam Murphy, a constant threat for Bandon up front, brought the best out of Ballingeary custodian Muiris Ó Conchuir, and it seemed as if they might have weathered the worst of the storm after ever-menacing corner forward Donagh Shorten began a move completed by Cian Ó Duinnin, who played a one-two with Eanna Ó Duinnin before finishing to the net with aplomb in the 38th minute.
It left them 2-10 to 1-6 to the good, but Bandon were by no means ready to give up the ghost at that juncture. The Carbery side’s prospects suffered a couple of crippling set-backs over the next five minutes, however, with Adam Murphy having a penalty saved by excellent Ballingeary ‘keeper Ó Conchuir before they were reduced to 14 players after influential midfielder James Walsh was rather harshly red-carded.
Points from Donagh Shorten and Andreas Ó Conceannain quickly followed to push Ballingeary eight ahead, but gutsy Bandon hit back through substitute Michael Cahalane, Adam Murphy and Mark Sugrue, which meant they were still in with a shout with six minutes of regulation time remaining.
Their numerical disadvantage took its toll perhaps on the runin, allowing Ballingeary to put the issue beyond doubt with late points from Ó Conceannain (2) and Ben Shorten.
There was a mixed reaction afterwards from Ballingeary manager Ger McCarthy, who was obviously thrilled with the sparkling play produced by his charges in the opening quarter.
“I’d be disappointed with the way we went out of the game before half time, but I’d be happy enough with the performance overall, and I suppose the most pleasing aspect of it, aside from our whirlwind start, was that we responded so well when our backs were to the wall heading into the second half.”
McCarthy agreed the sending-off had a bearing on the outcome, adding that Muiris Ó Conchuir’s two ‘wonderful’ saves in the second half were also very important in terms of securing the win.
“The bottom line is it was all about getting to Round 2A tonight, and we were up against a good Bandon team that I’m sure will be involved at the business end of this very competitive championship,” he remarked.
Regardless of how the rest of the season unfolds for both sides, it can be safely said there will be few better games, in terms of free-flowing and enterprising football, in any grade this year than what they served up last Saturday night.