First-class effort as St Finbarr's second team squeeze past Urhan into county final

St Finbarr’s 0-10 Urhan 0-8 

ST Finbarr’s proved too strong for Urhan and qualified for the 2023 Bon Secours Cork Premier JFC county final on Saturday evening.

On a weekend the city club also contested the Cork Premier SFC semi-finals, the Barrs’ second string demonstrated why there is plenty of depth in the club’s extended football panel.

Overcoming a battle-hardened Urhan team attempting to reach a first county final in 31 years, St Finbarr’s utilised a strong bench and clinical finishing to cement a Premier JFC county final appearance against Kilmurry. Amazingly, the Barrs have never won a junior county football title so are now one step away from making history.

A tight, defensively dominated opening quarter produced five scores in front of an expectant attendance.

Conchubar Harrington got the Beara club off the mark inside the second minute. Yet, it would be another 20 minutes before Urhan registered their next score.

In between, St Finbarr’s second string made the better impact in the final third. Former Cork All-Ireland football winner, Michael Shields, levelled matters prior to Adrian Murphy’s free edging the city side ahead.

Denis O’Brien played effectively throughout and made it a two-point game before Adrian Murphy’s second score completed a dominant Barrs spell. Conchubar Harrington landed a badly needed Urhan score ahead of Phillip O’Shea bursting clear to make it a one-point game.

Both defences produced turnovers heading towards the interval, a period in which Denis O’Brien and Alan Elphick exchanged quality scores to leave St Finbarr’s 0-5 to 0-4 in front at halftime.

A nervy third quarter saw both teams put numbers behind the ball. Alan McCarthy fisted the leaders two clear, but Urhan responded positively via Conchubar Harrington and substitute Vinnie Lehane's efforts.

Tied 0-6 apiece, the city side once again took the initiative and moved 0-8 to 0-6 ahead following a flurry of substitutions. Denis O’Brien and Eoin Comyns found their range during a spell Cian Madden struck an Urhan upright.

The Beara side refused to go away however, and roared on by a vociferous following, reduced the score to the bare minimum when Phillip O’Shea fired over from distance. The game was in the melting pot when Michael Shields rolled back the years with a clever dummy and point to make it 0-9 to 0-7 five minutes from the end.

Cian Madden stretched St Finbarr’s lead leaving their opponents looking for a goal to force extra-time. Vinnie Lehane scorched an injury-time attempt over the crossbar but that was as close as the Beara club got. Their opponents saw out the remaining time to set up a county final showdown with Kilmurry.

Scorers for St Finbarr’s: D O’Brien 0-3, A Murphy (0-1 f), M Shields 0-2 each, A McCarthy, E Comyns, C Madden 0-1 each.

Urhan: C Harrington 0-3, P O’Shea, V Lehane 0-2 each, A Elphick 0-1.

ST FINBARR’S: C Keane; M Russell, D Byrne, J Kennefick; J Murphy, A Lynne, A McCarthy (c); L Hannigan, F Crowley; D O’Brien, O Murphy, C O’Sullivan; S Fenton, M Shields, A Murphy.

Subs: C Doolan for S Fenton (h-t), C Steele for J Murphy (42), C Madden for A Murphy (44), E Keane for C O’Sullivan (44), R Fitzpatrick for F Crowley (56).

URHAN: R Crowley; A Elphick, Conor O’Sullivan (jc), D Harrington; N Shea, J O’Shea, E O’Shea; A Elphick, M McCarthy; A O’Neill, P O’Shea (jc), S O’Shea; C Harrington, Ciarán O’Sullivan, B Sullivan.

Subs: V Lehane for B Sullivan (38), A O’Donoghue for M McCarthy (38), C Crowely for A O’Neill (56), C O’Shea for D Elphick (56, inj).

Referee: Niall Hayes (Carbery Rangers).