Beale battle back to take a famous draw against Cordal

A Lazarus-like resurrection by 13-man Beale earned the home-side a draw with Cordal in the first round of the Junior Club Championship in Ballybunion on Saturday evening.

Conditions were ideal and what started out as a promising, competitive, passionate game soon deteriorated into a free-ridden, lack-lustre affair with loads of stoppages and frees as the game was tense with indiscipline.

It is true to say that Cordal was the better team on the evening – more focussed, more driven and seemed to be in command – but Beale pulled it out of the bag and turned a seven-point deficit into a draw and could have won on the evening.

The teams lined out as on programme. Cordal opened the score with a pointed free in first minute by TJ O’Connor and Cormac Linnane and Eric Daly added points from play for

Beale. Cordal’s Philip O’Connor levelled from a free after 15 minutes.

Then Cordal took charge, raised the green flag with a free from the side-line which was lobbed into the back of the net by Michael Flynn to give them a 1-2 to 0-3 advantage, midways through the first half.

Both teams battled hard as the game was fraught with tension and Cordal had the edge over their opponents. When Philip O’Connor pointed from a free it gave Cordal a goal advantage, 1-4 to 0-4.

Beale lost their shape as indiscipline crept in and Cordal penalised them on the scoreboard, taking advantage of free-scoring by Philip O’Connor. At the short whistle, Cordal were ahead by 1-6 to 0-4.

Cordal meant business on the changeover, as TJ O’Connor tapped over another free in the first minute and Donal McCarthy kicked over a point from play. Beale experienced a torrid opening twenty minutes.

They had lost their shape as Ian Mannix got his marching orders after just six minutes and they were then reduced to thirteen men when Paul Collins was sent to the line. Cordal stretched their lead to seven points. Cormac Linnane’s point from a free was Beale’s first point since early in the first half.

While Cordal was the dominant side, kicking off the scores and mostly holding the lead until the closing stages of the game, Beale finished strongest. With less than five minutes on the clock, Beale upped the ante and struck back.

Struggling for possession, points from Tom Joy and Darragh Buckley had reduced the deficit to four points for Beale. A great side-line move by Johnny O’Sullivan was played into the danger area and Darragh Buckley found the net. Cordal were just a point to the good but Beale’s Buckley quickly levelled with a great point from the sideline.

In a heart-stopping finish, spectators were on their feet. Cordal desperately sought that winning point but it was Beale who got the chances. They earned a free from an almost impossible side-line angle which Buckley, was unfortunate to send wide.

The other free, from the opposite side-line, proved too difficult an angle for Linnane. Cordal, who were in the driving seat for most of the game, will rue the nightmarish final minutes and were, indeed lucky to come away with a draw as it looked very definitely that the odds were stacked against them at the end.

Beale can be happy to come away with the draw, but will need to address their indiscipline issues.

Beale’s Johnny O’Sullivan has to be commended for his work-rate right through, while the experienced Neilus Mulvihill and Dan Ellis seemed to settle the team when they came on as substitutes. Darragh Buckley came to the fore when needed and turned in a sparkling final quarter performance when Beale most needed him.

Cordal’s TJ O’Connor was on target with his superb free-taking and punished Beale at every opportunity. Seán O’Connell and Eamonn Nolan were a force to be reckoned with throughout the game and Cordal’s Mike Flynn was proving a handful for Beale’s Fionnán Toomey.