Holders St Finbarr's continue to impress in defence of their PSFC title

St Finbarr’s 3-19 

Carrigaline 1-11 

ONCE against it was the young brigade which were instrumental in champions St Finbarr’s continuing their winning ways in the Bon Secours PSFC at Pairc Ui Rinn on Sunday.

Brian Hayes helped himself to two of the goals and Ethan Twomey the other as the Andy Scannell Cup holders also got game-time into the returning Steven Sherlock, who played the last quarter.

There were other notable contributions from the Togher side as Dylan Quinn made up for lost time out through a litany of injuries and Eoin McGreevey also worked hard.

For Carrigaline, it looks like a re-run of last season, when they avoided relegation in the last minute of the play-off though they still have room to avoid a repeat even if Eire Og in their final group game reflects the degree of difficulty in the section.

Already in control at the break with a seven-point lead, the defending champions were in no mood for any complacency and killed off Carrigaline’s chances with a third quarter power play.

Denied a goal for a marginal square infringement, which ruled out Cillian Myers- Murray’s 33rd minute effort, the ’Barr’s hit back three minutes later to claim their second goal.

Captain Ian Maguire played in Hayes, who finished well for a 2-11 to 0-6 lead and when the dual star added his second and his side’s third, six minutes later, it was all about their winning margin at the finish.

On this occasion, Myers-Murray was the provider for Hayes, who impressed once more at full-forward in the first-half notably, when he used his power to gather well-organised crosses.

Sherlock’s introduction in the 46th minute created an obvious stir among the faithful and he almost made it a goal-scoring comeback from knee surgery after his exploits with Cork, but his effort was blocked by keeper Callum Dungan.

Myers-Murray, who retained the free-taking duties kept the scoreboard ticking along at a fine rate before Carrigaline conjured a consolation goal on the hour.

Rhys McCarthy took full advantage of a big gap in front of the posts and powered a thundering drive to the net.

In the first-half the dangers of short re-starts were felt by both sides though with contrasting outcomes.

’Barrs keeper John Kerins fed Billy Hennessy in the eight minute only for Carrigaline to apply serious pressure which yielded a free for over-carrying.

Rhys McCarthy duly converted it to level matters for the second time at 0-3 apiece, but Carrigaline then went 21 minutes without adding to their tally as the ’Barr’s compiled a game-defining 1-6.

The goal, two minutes before the interval, was the result of a miss-directed kick-out by Carrigaline keeper Dungan with Twomey duly accepting the gift and finding the net with an exquisite lob and when Hayes added an immediate point, the ’Barr’s lead had stretched to 1-9 to 0-3.

Still, Carrigaline kicked a couple in quick succession through Jack McCarthy’s impressive dart and a fine score from Luke Boyle.

But, the damage had been done with that scoring spurt from the champions, started by a Myers-Murray free in the 14th minute and he tacked on three more for good measure.

Twomey profited from Eoin Comyns turning over Carrigaline ball to extend the advantage and his goal only compounded their difficulties, trailing by 1-9 to 0-5 and staring down the barrel.

Scorers for St Finbarr’s: 0-10, 7f, B Hayes 2-3, E Twomey 1-3, I Maguire, E McGreevey, B O’Connor 0-1 each.

Scorers for Carrigaline: R McCarthy 1-3, 2f, K O’Reilly 0-3, 2f, E Ryle, J McCarthy, K Kavanagh, E Desmond, L Boyle 0-1 each.

ST FINBARR’S: J Kerins; C Scully, J Burns, S Ryan; D Quinn, B Hennessy, A O’Connor; I Maguire, captain, E Comyns; E Dennehy, B Hayes, E Twomey; E McGreevey, C Dennehy, C Myers-Murray.

Subs: B O’Connor for C Dennehy 37, B O’Connell for Scully 41, S Sherlock for Twomey 45, C Lyons for Maguire 57 CARRIGALINE: C Dungan; C Murphy, I Sheerin, C O’Herlihy; N Quirke, C Barry, N O’Keeffe; J McCarthy, K Kavanagh; C Barrett, E Desmond, D King; L Boyle, K O’Reilly, R McCarthy.

Subs: E Ryle for Quirke half-time, D Griffin for Murphy injured 41.

Referee: C Dineen (Douglas).