Ballydesmond will be up against it
Ballydesmond v St Finbarrs Saturday, August 18 Macroom 7pm
WHEN the sides met in 2017, St. Finbarrs played exceptionally well, but it was made all the more easier by an out of sorts Ballydesmond. On doing so, the ‘Barrs produced a performance right out of the top drawer to record a eighteen point triumph.
Simply Ballydesmond were blown into oblivion by a potent mixture of crisp attacking football, defiant defending and intelligent midfield work. For Ballydesmond, it was a case of a day to forget as anything that could go wrong for them did, from an early stage, they were always chasing a game never capable of getting into.
In fairness Ballydesmond recovered from that first round reversal to return to winning ways before their campaign ended on a defeat by Mitchelstown after a replay.
From the current campaign, Ballydesmond had little complaints from a first round defeat by Aghabullogue, their second half performance was well down on what was expected from the Duhallow side.
Again Ballydesmond bounced back from a first round defeat and with the minimum of fuss, they easily overcame Clonakilty from a contest over long before the full-time whistle.
At the end of the hour, there was no disputing Ballydesmond’s dominance and they made it count where it mattered, on the scoreboard. Much of their confident play was down to a competent defence with a half back line of Donal Kelly, Denis Ring and Niall O’Connor controlling matters as did Shane Kelly and John O’Keeffe in the centre with Niall Fleming and Donncha O’Connor effective up front.
Back in April, St Finbarrs brushed aside 2016 county junior champions Gabriel Rangers by a whopping twenty one point margin.
On that occasion, the Barrs utilised the midfield dominance of Adrian Murphy and Ian O’Callaghan to hold sway and terrific ball into their full forward allowed veteran Robert O’Mahony and Eoin McGreevey capitalise and chalk an impressive tally.
Parading a second string combination illustrates the depth of talent at their disposal and at this stage of the campaign with their first team having played just one game, this St Finbarrs intermediate side is viewed as a match for any side left in the campaign.
A number of Ballydesmond younger players have gained experience, that’s sure to be a help on matching the city side. But on the basis of fielding a strong team and losing no player to their senior side, St Finbarrs are favourites to succeed.
Verdict: St Finbarrs