[ad_1]
Castlehaven will face Nemo Rangers in the final of the Bons Secours Cork Premier SFC for the third time in eight years after Mark Collins scored the winning penalty in tonight’s semi-final against St Finbarr’s in Páirc Uí Rinn.
A game of great intensity saw Brian Hurley put the Haven 1-11 to 1-10 ahead in the sixth minute of stoppage time at the end of normal time with a kick off the sideline of the boot, only for free by Steven Sherlock. level in the ninth minute.
Then, with the Barrs enjoying a men’s lead for much of overtime and with Haven losing Brian and Michael Hurley through injury, Sherlock’s ninth point of the night, a 77-minute free kick, suggested it could have been the winner.
However, when Haven’s Darragh Cahalane returned to the field after his black card, the Barrs lost captain Ian Maguire to one almost immediately, turning the table from 15 to 14 and the West Cork men won a free, which Collins converted. .
It meant a first penalty shootout at the senior level, with teams tied at 3-3 after five shots from the spot each, goalkeepers Anthony Seymour and Patrick O’Neill saving twice each. When Cillian Myers Murray, who had scored his first penalty, watched his sudden death effort return off the crossbar, Collins stepped up to score his, sending the Haven through.
While manager James McCarthy was naturally delighted with the result, the method is not the one he favors.
“We are happy with the result,” he said, “but I wouldn’t want to put guys through that again.
“Both sides gave their all and in the end they had cramps. On a bad night, both teams went to the wire.
“Each one could have won in certain stages. We almost did it at the end of 60 minutes and they came back and scored again. It could have been for anyone. ”
Having had the best record in the group stage, Haven skipped the quarter-finals to go straight to the semi-finals, but the payoff was a longer wait. In contrast, the Barrs came in after Wednesday night’s quarterfinal victory over Newcestown and McCarthy felt that was a factor in his team going 1-3 to 0-2 from the start.
“Its intensity was much higher than ours and the water breaking could not come fast enough for us,” he said.
“The guys got a little funny: ‘Now you’re in a semi, awake.’ In the group stage, you won’t get that intensity.
“There were stages where we could have been overrun but we came back and the Barrs were the same. Nobody gave each other a meter. ”
Steven Sherlock had Barrs’s goal in the seventh minute, after Eoghan McGreevey intercepted a loose defensive free kick from Castlehaven, but after the restart Haven improved and took advantage of a black card for St Finbarr’s winger Colin Hayes, to cancel four points in a row.
They were tied when Michael Hurley signaled in the 23rd minute, but the Barrs, back in full complement, moved to the front as Maguire’s strong run prepared Brian Hayes for his second point.
By halftime, Jamie Walsh and Brian Hurley had Haven up front, with Michael Hurley doubling that lead at the restart, but a pair of Sherlock frees tied things again before Denis O’Brien had the Barrs up front with a excellent individual effort.
It was 1-8 to 0-9 after Sherlock’s quarter, but the game continued to ebb and flow and Conor Cahalane’s goal, created by Mark Collins and Cathal Maguire, put Castlehaven back in front. That lead didn’t last long, as Sherlock sent two more, a knockout from the latter sparking a fight that resulted in a red card for Haven’s Roland Whelton and Barrs’ Eoghan McGreevey.
With time running out, Myers Murray nearly scored a goal to punt the Barrs, but Seymour saved and Cathal Maguire fist on the other end to make it 1-10 apiece. Brian Hurley seemed to have won it with his supreme effort, but Sherlock forced overtime.
When that didn’t produce a winner, it came down to penalties and McCarthy reserved high praise for Collins, who had the decisive final contribution.
“Who else would you like to do a winner-take-all kick?” I ask.
“He was outstanding tonight, he and Maguire went head to head and that’s what you want to see in Cork football, your best players facing each other and having a good mood.”
S Sherlock (1-9, 7 free); B Hayes (0-2); D O’Brien, C Myers Murray (0-1 each).
M Collins (free), B Hurley (0-2 free, 0-1 winger) (0-4 each), C Cahalane (1-0), M Hurley (0-2), Damien Cahalane, J Walsh, C Maguire (0-1 each).
To Seymour; J O’Regan, Damien Cahalane, R Walsh; C O’Sullivan, R Maguire, D McCarthy; J. Walsh, M. Collins; R Whelton, B Hurley, C Maguire; C Cahalane, M Hurley, C O’Driscoll.
D Whelton for McCarthy (15), J Cahalane for O’Driscoll (36), Darragh Cahalane for O’Sullivan (57), C Nolan (15th in overtime), S Nolan for M Hurley (66), TO ‘Leary for R Walsh (70-, blood), J Davis for C Maguire, K O’Donovan for B Hurley (both at halftime of extra time).
P O’Neill; Or Murphy, S Ryan, A O’Connor; C Lyons, J Burns, C Scully; I Maguire, M Shields; D O’Brien, E MCGreevey, C Walsh; C Myers Murray, S Sherlock, B Hayes.
C Dennehy for Scully, E Finn for Walsh (both at halftime), A Lyne for Lyons (44), E Keane for Shields, G O’Connor for O’Brien (both 56), E Twomey (15th man on time extra).
J Ryan (Macroom).
[ad_2]