Castlemagner edge out Barryroe to reach JAFC semis

Castlemagner 2-10 Barryroe 1-11
A memorable 2023 campaign for Castlemager lives on after they progressed to the Junior A Football Championship semi-final.

After winning the Duhallow JAFC title for the first time in 62 years, Castlemagner are now one step closer to their first Cork JAFC crown since 1952.

This was a captivating encounter from the outset. Although Barryroe gave it an almighty effort, when the action was all said and done it was Castlemagner that edged out what was a tightly contested affair.

Barryroe, who won their first Carbery JAFC title last week, opened the scoring courtesy of a fine Ryan O’Donovan point. While Castlemagner responded positively with a Kyle Holland score.

Things got even better for Castlemager just before the quarter of an hour mark, as Evan Magner seized the opportunity to slot the ball home coolly from close range to the back of the net.

Barryroe responded through a point by Olan O’Donovan. However, Castlemagner goaled again on 20 minutes when Magner blasted home clinically after a pass from Shane Cronin into his path. 

That saw Castlemagner hold a 2-5 to 0-7 advantage at the halftime break Barryroe introduced their influential former Tipperary footballer Robbie Kiely in the second half and they reduced the deficit with an early Adam McSweeney point.

But Castlemagner were managing the contest well and a monster of a second-half point by Danny Linehan, along with a point by Kyle Holland, saw them maintain a five-point advantage with 48 minutes played on the clock.

Heading into the final ten minutes Barryroe pointed through Ryan O’Donovan and Donal Ó Buachalla to reduce the gap back down to three points and to keep the hopes of the Carbery side of salvaging this encounter alive.

But Castlemager refused to be knocked off course, with a well-taken score by Magner and a Danny Linehan point from a free proving ultimately to be the icing on top of the cake on another memorable day for the Duhallow club.

Barryroe got a late goal through Jerome O’Brien as he blasted the ball home into the back of the net, but it proved only to be a consolation.

This day though was to belong to Castlemager, who will turn their attention to their semi-final clash over the coming days.

Scorers for Castlemagner: E Magner 2-1, D Linehan 0-4 (0-3 f), K Holland 0-2 (0-1 f), S Cronin, D O’Sullivan, C O’Sullivan 0-1 each.

Barryroe: J O’Brien 1-0, R O’Donovan (0-2 f), A McSweeney 0-3 each, O O’Donovan 0-2, C Dineen, D McCarthy, D Ó Buachalla 0-1 each.

CASTLEMAGNER: T McAuliffe; T Fitzmaurice, T O’Riordan, L O’Riordan; C Murphy, D Gayer, D Murphy; C O’Sullivan, S Cronin; D O’Sullivan, K Holland, E Magner; C O’Sullivan, D Linehan, J Cott.

Sub: C O’Sullivan for Cott (53).

BARRYROE: G Holland; M Walsh, S O’Riordan, P Moloney; T Ó Buachalla, D O’Sullivan, J Moloney; A McSweeney, D McCarthy; D Murphy, O O’Donovan, C Dineen; R O’Donovan, S Holland, M Crowley.

Subs: R Kiely for O’Sullivan, B O’Donovan for Murphy (both HT) , J O’Brien for McCarthy (38), D Ó Buachalla for Holland (46), J Cahalane for Crowley (50).

Referee: Brian Sweeney (Erin’s Own).