Ruairí Deane goal seals stunning Bantry comeback against Aghada

Bantry Blues 2-11 Aghada 1-9 

A MASTERFUL display by Bantry in the closing 10 minutes was enough to defeat Aghada in a compelling Bon Secours PIFC clash at Ovens.

Aghada looked the dominant side for the majority of the game and actually commanded a two-point lead with four minutes of normal time remaining.

Suddenly the pendulum swung and a stunning Ruairí Deane goal set the west Cork side up for this win against the odds.

Bantry were relegated from the Senior A Championship last season and for a club that won two senior counties in 1995 and 1998 times have changed in recent years.

Credit to Aghada they went into the game without stalwart Pearce O’Neill but they got a good start when a Danny Creedon point got them up and running in the fourth minute.

The East Cork side were dominant all over the pitch and when Shane Bennett burst through the lethargic Bantry defence in the 12th minute his final pass to Arthur Coakley was well off the mark.

Deane was man marked by various Aghada players and looked frustrated at times despite the sides on parity in the 16th minute.

To be fair Aghada always looked dangerous going forward and consecutive classy points from Diarmuid Byrne and Charlie Terry edged them ahead 0-5 to 0-3.

Deane showed his class in the 23rd minute with a superb injection of pace but his blistering shot came off the crossbar.

On the next possession poor defending by Bantry allowed Aaron Berry to get in behind their defence as he billowed the roof of the net.

In the final minute, Kyle O’Shea went close to raising another green flag for Aghada on the stroke of halftime but they still looked comfortable at the break when commanding a 1-5 to 0-4 lead.

On the restart, Bantry began to increase the physicality stakes but with the minutes ticking down they were still struggling to take command.

When Aghada look back on this game they will surely rue not scoring for 20 minutes as Bantry moved up a couple of gears.

There is little doubt a Kevin Coakley goal five minutes into the second half settled them into their stride as they looked far more clinical when the game hung in the balance.

In the closing minutes, it was all Bantry and Deane showed his class when taking a pinpoint assist from Coakley with a minute remaining before placing his shot to the corner of the net.

In the end, Aghada will wonder how this game slipped away from them as group games against Na Piarsaigh and Castletownbere will now be crucial.

Scorers for Bantry: R Deane 1-3 (0-1 f), A Coakley 0-4 (0-3 f), K Coakley 1-0, S Keevers, S O’Leary, D Murray, K Harrington 0-1 each.

Aghada: F Cody 0-4 (0-1 45), A Berry 1-0, D Byrne 0-2, D Creedon 0-2, C Terry 0-1.

BANTRY: S Murray; S Thornton, T Cronin, C Power; E O’Shea, B Foley, D McCarthy; E Minihane, S O’Leary; R Deane, K Coakley, S Keevers; D Murray, A Coakley, P Cronin.

Subs: K Harrington for B Foley (43), D Daly for K Coakley (58).

AGHADA: C O’Shea: J Colbert, R Power, K O’Shea; T Hartnett, J O’Donoghue, J Tynan; S Barrett, A O’Connell; F Cody, M Russell, D Creedon; A Barry, D Byrne, C Terry.

Subs: C Fleming for S Barrett (h-t); A Hogan for C Terry (50), D Collins for D Byrne (55).

Referee: B Coniry (Crosshaven).