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| Bantry Blues U16F County Finalists |
Bantry Blues U16 football county championship bid ended in heartbreak on Sunday last in Drimoleague when Clonakilty took the lead minutes from the end to steal the title.
From the throw in Seánie O’Leary won possession and kicked a perfect pass into Darren Cronin who settled any Bantry nerves with a well taken point. Moments later a high ball into the square was finished to the net by Daniel Murphy and Blues looked to have made the ideal start. Clonakilty got to grips in the possession stakes but could not get off the mark, kicking a number of wides. However lady luck smiled on the boys in green and red when an uncharacteristic mistake by goalkeeping ace Michael Casey allowed them in for a goal. A point from Anthony Hanley got Blues back on track, followed by a converted free taken from the hand by Tim Foley from the 45. Clonakilty edged back into the contest with the next two points. Drama was to follow when they were awarded a penalty but in trying to keep the shot away from Michael Casey, the kicker missed the target altogether. The on-song Darren Cronin extended Bantry’s lead with another point and when Daniel Murphy directed a high ball into the penalty area over the bar, Blues looked good value for their half time lead of 1-05 to 1-02.
Clonakilty were on the attack from the restart but were again guilty of some wayward shooting. When a ball dropped into the goals Michael Casey looked to have matters under control when he caught it, but one of the umpires deemed the ball to have crossed the line and raised the green flag. After the referee consulted with him the goal stood and the teams were level. Clon's freetaker kicked them in front by the minimum but Bantry dug in and high fielding Seánie O’Leary ran at the Clonakilty defence and kicked a great point to put his team on par again. Shane McCarthy popped over a point for Blues to edge ahead only for Clon to level matters again. The contest was very even at this stage with captain Tim Cronin leading the defence in curtailing Clonakilty but scores were hard to come by for both teams. Darren Cronin backed himself and kicked a glorious point and Bantry were back in the lead. However as Clonakilty came in search of the equaliser they found the target and with time almost up they went ahead by a point. Blues could not get the score they needed to force the draw and when the final whistle sounded it was hard for players and supporters to believe that this game had slipped away. Final score Bantry Blues 1-08, Clonakilty 2-06.
Bantry players gave everything in this game with Tim Cronin, Eoin Lynch and Kieran Hanley to the fore in defence. Midfielders Seánie O’Leary and Tim Foley never stopped battling and Darren Cronin was the best forward with three great points from play. Arthur Coakley and his selectors along with the entire squad put a huge effort in all year to get to this stage and that work must be acknowledged.
Team: Michael Casey, Paddy O’Shea, Eoin Lynch, Philip Downey, Brian Murphy, Tim Cronin (Capt), Kieran Hanley, Seánie O’Leary (0-1), Tim Foley (0-1F), Anthony Hanley (0-1), Mark Keohane, Killian O’Sullivan, Darren Cronin (0-3), Shane McCarthy (0-1), Daniel Murphy (1-01). Subs used: Arthur Coakley, Ben O’Shea. Subs: Owen O’Flynn, Cathal McCarthy, John Lavin, Liam Downey, Stephen Hanley, Sean Hodnett, Aaron Barry, Michael Healy, Nicholas O’Sullivan, Shane Keevers.
The U14 footballers play Ahán Gaels in Enniskeane on Sunday next in a league semi final, time TBC. Please support.