Favourites prove their mettle with victory over hosts Tarbert

Tarbert 1-6 Glenbeigh / Glencar 2-13

AT half-time there was still hope for Tarbert, even though it was fast fading. There was hope because, for all their troubles over the course of a disappointing first half, up to that point Tarbert had owned that ball.

As the two teams trooped off and headed back to the dressing rooms, the most stark statistic from the previous thirty minutes wasn’t Glenbeigh / Glencar’s four-three lead, it was Tarbert’s lead on the kick-out stats.

The hosts dominated the stats ten kick-outs to three (eleven-three if you count a kick-out from Glenbeigh / Glencar keeper Donal O’Neill which went straight out over the sideline).

At one stage in the half they led on the kickout stats – if nowhere else, they never once led this game – eight to nil. If Tarbert could maintain that type of midfield dominance they should surely be able to compete even as Glenbeigh / Glencar had the wind advantage for the second half.

For Glenbeigh / Glencar boss William O’Sullivan and his players those stats would have given a very different motivation. They simply couldn’t afford to lose out quite so comprehensively in the second half.

Fired up and ready to go with the breeze at their backs they laid down an early marker winning the first handful of kick-outs of the half as well as extending their lead to nine points hitting 1-5 unanswered.

The goal came relatively quickly with Jason McKenna alive to the possibilities following a long ball pumped into the dangerzone. The ball was broken and the second it was McKenna snapped it up and sent it to the back of Jamie Diggins’ net.

It was the first time the Tarbert full-back line had cracked in a serious way. In the first half they’d done quite well. Jason and Danny Wren really stood tall when their team needed them to, coming to grips with Gavan O’Grady and co after their fine start (Glenbeigh / Glencar scored three of their four first half points inside the opening seven minutes).

On Glenbeigh / Glencar pushed. A point from Darran O’Sullivan. Two from Gavan O’Grady, one from the right, one from the left. A point from McKenna to compliment his goal. A surging run and a classy point from Pa Kilkenny.

Tarbert were reeling. They were still holding their own around the middle, in large part thanks to Conor Flavin who put in a man of the match performance, they just didn’t have the firepower to compete with Glenbeigh / Glencar.

That much was clear in a first half where they kicked four wides, kicked one shot into the keeper’s hands, and generally struggled to put together cohesive attacking moves. Where Glenbeigh / Glencar were slick and quick with men running on the overlap, Tarbert were often static.

Still they somehow found themselves back in the game, however tenuously, with a little over ten minutes to go. Jason Wren launched a ball into the Glenbeigh / Glencar square, which was deflected to the back of the net by Ambrose Lanigan (Tarbert’s leading light up front).

If there was hope it was only fleeting. Three minutes later O’Sullivan set up Glenbeigh / Glencar sub Daniel Griffin for the goal which put a cap on the victory.

It should surprise nobody to learn they won the kick-outs too in the second half (ten to eight).

Yes, indeed, Glenbeigh / Glencar are championship favourites for a reason.

TARBERT: Jamie Diggins, Shane O’Connor, Jason Wren, Danny Wren, Michael Normile, Shane Enright (0-1f), Daniel O’Connor, Conor Flavin, Donal Leahy, Mark Buckley (0-1), Ambrose Lanigan (1, 4), Kevin Enright, Andrew Doherty, John Kelleher, Sean Carrig Subs: Ger O’Sullivan for S Carrig, 19, Niall Foley for M Normile, 54, Evan Allen for D O’Connor, 58 Black Card: S Carrig for C Flavin, 57

GLENBEIGH / GLENCAR: Donal O’Neill, Kieran Doyle, Donough McGillicuddy, Vincent Hoare, Pa Kilkenny (0-1), Fergal Griffin, Jack Brosnan, Colin McGillicuddy (0-1), Jerimiah Hoare, Podge Griffin, Darran O’Sullivan (0-1), Bernard Murphy, Jason McKenna (1-1), Gavan O’Grady (0-7, 3f), Caolim Teahan Subs: Kieran Courtney for Caolim Teahan, 44, Tommy Cahill (0-1) for B Murphy, 49, Daniel Griffin (1-0) for J McKenna, 49, Eugene Courtney for J Hoare, 55, Sean Roche for D O’Sullivan, 59, Kieran Cahalane (0-1) for D McGillicuddy, 59

REFEREE: Tom McCarthy (Castleisland Desmonds)