Bride Rovers have no answer for a rampant Glen Rovers in opening fixture

WHILE they finished the first half just three points in arrears, it would be fair to say the signs were ominous for Bride Rovers from an early stage in this county SHC preliminary round clash with Glen Rovers at Pairc Uí Rinn last Saturday evening.

The truth is that the Glen always looked the more accomplished side, and they proceeded to pound the Rathcormack men into submission on the resumption, sending out a clear message that their bid for a third title on the trot isn’t going to be easily foiled.

It was awesome stuff from the defending champions, and Bride Rovers manager Joe Delaney readily admitted afterwards his charges had no answer to it.

“Credit to the Glen, they showed just how good they are tonight, their use of the ball and their striking was excellent, and to put 2-30 on the board is impressive shooting by any standards,” he remarked.

“We felt it was all to play for going in at half time, but we just couldn’t match them in the second half, and I don’t think any team can compete with them when they are in that kind of form.”

Delaney said he was fully aware Bride Rovers would have their work cut out to bring the Glen down, but he was hopeful at the same time they’d deliver a decent challenge.

“We expected a lot more of ourselves, and this was a chance to measure ourselves against the best, so we’re obviously disappointed with the way things worked out.

“Having said that, it’s still early days, no county title is won in May, and I’m in no doubt we’ll be able to pick ourselves up and that we are capable of much better than what we produced tonight,” he said.

Bride Rovers were on the back foot virtually from the outset as, after Barry Johnson got them off the mark from a free, they conceded four points before Johnson converted another placed ball in the 10th minute.

They were 0-6 to 0-2 behind midway through the first half, but they received a badly-needed boost at that stage when keeper Denis Fitzgerald’s long-range free went all the way to the net.

Making light of that set-back, the Glen responded with a quick brace of points, and it took a fine save by Fitzgerald to prevent David Busteed from goaling for the winners in the 20th minute

Busteed wasn’t to be denied five minutes later, however, finishing to the net from closerange after David Cunningham and Patrick Horgan had combined to create the opening.

That made it 1-8 to 1-4, but Fitzgerald’s booming puck-out fell to full-forward Sean Walsh, who, having ghosted behind the Glen cover, showed good composure to make the most of his gilt-edged opportunity.

Again, the Glen quickly took the sting from that body-blow, hitting back with four points on the trot, and the ease with which they prevented Bride Rovers from building up any sort of momentum meant it was hard to see them being knocked off course.

While Daniel Dooley impressed up front for Bride Rovers, they relied largely on Denis Fitzgerald’s massive puckouts to put pressure on the Glen rearguard before the break.

By contrast, the Glen attack moved with immense purpose and fluency as a unit, with the powerful running of Dean Brosnan at wing-forward causing particular problems for the Bride Rovers defence.

Flattered to go in at half-time trailing by 1-12 to 2-6, Bride Rovers clearly had a lot of gaps to plug if they hoped to remain in contention after the interval, but they couldn’t have envisaged they’d be forced to endure such torment in the second half.

Simply put, the Glen were in a different class, with Conor Dorris and Patrick Horgan wreaking havoc in attack where Dean Brosnan continued to show up well and newcomer Mark Dooley also shone, putting his name on the goal that propelled the title- holders into a 2-22 to 2-10 lead approaching the last ten minutes.

It was indeed a demoralising experience for Bride Rovers,, but they can take some comfort going forward from the knowledge that they won’t meet a team capable of performing to the level that the Glen reached on this occasion.