Battling Boherbue don’t take no for answer

BOHERBUE refused to take no for an answer after showing remarkable steel to battle back from a four point deficit during the closing five minutes to overcome Duarigle Gaels in a dramatic conclusion to the opening round of The Corkman Duhallow Under 21 Football Championship played in Cullen.

All the excitement was packed into the closing exchanges, the Gaels broke a barren 16 minute scoreless spell to put daylight between the sides. Now Boherbue had slipped four points adrift and suggest a loss was on the cards given just minutes remained on the clock.

However, Boherbue never lost their composure to deliver a positive streak, helped enormously from a Bryan Herlihy goal. That proved the chasers with a fresh impetus to eventually reel in the Millstreet and Cullen combination thanks to a pair of David O’Connor points to secure a win by the minimum of margins.

In biting cold conditions, the sides exchanged early points to Thomas Walsh and O’Connor. That was a foretaste of what lay ahead, the pair remained evenly matched though scores were difficult to come by.

Duarigle received a break through from a Walsh goal to divide the pair. Still Boherbue pressed and Gaels were thankful to a brilliant save from ‘keeper Dylan O’Leary to enjoy a 1-4 to 0-4 grip at the break.

Boosted by the play of O’Leary, Francis Cronin, Colin Walsh and Michael Twomey, Gaels shaded the restart and extended their position from a Cathal Crowley point.

Boherbue hung in and back to back points from Jerry O’Sullivan left the issue wide open.

A scoreless spell followed, O’Leary to the Gaels rescue again yet they appeared to be in the driving seat after Walsh found the net in the 56th minute. The Boherbue response was most impressive as typified by the commanding presence of Peter Murphy, Daniel Moynihan, Jack Daly, CJ and Jerry O’Sullivan.

And Boherbue were back with a bang once Herlihy netted to narrow the arrears to the minimum.

Now Boherbue showed their mettle, O’Connor’s point tied up the contest; the initiative had definitely veered much in their favour, confirmed when O’Connor landed the match-winner much to the delight of Boherbue supporters.

BOHERBUE: S Flynn; P Murphy, D Moynihan, C O’Keeffe; O Healy, J Daly, P Daly; C J O’Sullivan, B Murphy; J O’Sullivan 0-2, R O’Connor, A O’Connor 0-1; B Herlihy 1-1, R Moynihan 0-2, D O’Connor 0-3

DUARIGLE GAELS: D O’Leary; T Healy, C Hickey, D Buckley; C O’Leary, S Hickey, N Flahive; C Crowley 0-3, P Dineen 0-1; T Walsh 1-1, C Walsh 1-0, M Twomey; C O’Leary, D Kiely, J Linehan

REFEREE: E Walsh (Freemount)