Sars lose unbeaten record to Charleville

Charleville 1-19 Sarsfields 0-16

Charleville continued their great run in the Red FM Division 1 HL when a late scoring spree saw them hold out for a deserved win over Sarsfields at Charleville on Sunday. Prior to the game both teams were unbeaten in their opening two league games.

Played in windy conditions, it was Charleville that got proceedings underway when Jack Meade set up Conor Buckley for an early point. However, Sarsfields gained a foothold from here with Daniel Roche, Craig Leahy, Ben Nodwell, Liam Healy and Daniel Hogan making inroads and a series of points moved them 0-5 to 0-1 in front by the 11th minute. The east Cork side seemed in a comfortable position. As the half went on, the Charleville challenge gathered momentum. Alan Dennehy landed a huge free from back in his own half backline, before a point each from Conor Buckley and David O'Riordan reduced the margin to just a point at the end of the first quarter.

The sides were level moments later when a good clearance by Killian Cagney resulted in David Forde splitting the posts to make it 0-5 apiece. In the 19th minute a Charleville clearance was picked by Sarsfields’ Daniel Hogan, who sent over, with Liam Healy following with a point in the 22nd minute following good work by James O'Leary – now 0-7 to 0-5.

Both teams added a point, with Charleville certainly striking a purple patch in a five minute spell prior to the half-time whistle. Alan Dennehy, who was now operating at midfield, featured strongly along with Jack Meade and David O'Riordan. Dennehy, with points from a '65 and general play, tied matters at 0-8 apiece by the 28th minute.

The north Cork side were exerting all the pressure at this stage. Robert Carroll picked out Danny Flynn for a long range point and this was immediately followed by two great scores from David Forde and Alan Dennehy, as Charleville moved 0-11 to 0-8 in front.

In injury time Sarsfields steadied the ship when Daniel Hogan pointed a free as the gap was reduced to two points at the break, with Charleville leading by 0-11 to 0-9.

In a keenly contested third quarter both teams were all out to keep their unbeaten run intact. Sarsfields were very much off target early on, with Craig Leahy setting up wing back Barry Murphy for a long range point. At the other end, Charleville continued to create their fair share of chances. In the 38th minute Gavin Kelleher set up David O'Riordan who sent over. O'Riordan and Andrew Cagney worked well for David Forde to point from a difficult angle a minute later, as they moved 0-13 to 0-10 clear.

The lead was increased to six points soon after when both David O'Riordan and Andrew Cagney had their goal scoring chances cleared off the Sarsfields goal line and at the third time of asking, Cagney scrambled the sliotar to the net that helped open up a sizeable advantage. Sarsfields upped their efforts from here and points by Liam Healy, Darragh Long and Daniel Hogan set up a grandstand finale as they trailed 1-13 to 0-13 heading into the last quarter.

Sarsfields tried hard to reduce the deficit, but it was Charleville that showed greater character for the remainder of the game. David O'Riordan, Daniel Hogan, Mark Kavanagh and Colm McCarthy swapped points, as the home side maintained their three point cushion with six minutes of normal time remaining.

Indeed, it was the Avondhu side that swept aside the Sarsfields’ challenge in the closing moments. David O'Riordan added a point from a free, before Mark Kavanagh and Conor Buckley linked up well to set up Oran O'Connell for a point in the 56th minute - 1-17 to 0-15. David O'Riordan and James O'Leary exchanged points, before O'Riordan completed the scoring for the home side in injury time when he picked off an excellent score after receiving a great pass from the impressive Alan Dennehy, as the Rathluirc outfit held out for a fully deserved win.

TEAMS & SCORERS

Charleville: Cian Collins, Darren Butler, Jack Buckley, Finbarr Cagney, Alan Dennehy 0-5 (0-2f, 0-1 '65'), Jack Meade, Killian Cagney, Danny Flynn 0-1, Oran O'Connell 0-1, Tim Hawe, Gavin Kelleher, Conor Buckley 0-2, Andrew Cagney 1-0, David O'Riordan 0-6 (0-4f), David Forde 0-3. Subs: Robert Carroll for Jack Buckley (inj), Mark Kavanagh (0-1) for Gavin Kelleher.

Sarsfields: Donnacha McCarthy, Paul Leopold, Craig Leahy, Conor O'Sullivan, Brian Murphy 0-1, Daniel Roche 0-8 (0-6f), Kevin Crowley, James O'Leary 0-1, Darragh Long 0-1, Sean King, Daniel Hogan, Cian Darcy, Ben Nodwell 0-1, Colm McCarthy 0-1, Liam Healy 0-3 (0-1f). Subs: Aaron Myers for Cian Darcy, Kieran Walsh for Paul Leopold (inj) Sam McNamara for Ben Nodwell.

Referee: Ciaran O'Regan (Ballyhea).