Analysis: Haven left to rue missed goal chances as fine margins deny them a trip to Croke Park

LIKE their famous Munster final victory, Castlehaven fought to the very end of their All-Ireland semi-final with St. Brigid’s at Semple Stadium on Sunday, but this time there was to be no late heroics or superb comeback, as their bid to reach the All-Ireland final fell just short.

St. Brigid’s, who were All-Ireland champions back in 2013, only got two points from minutes 30 to 60 in the second half but the Haven were not able to reel them in, as they could only register four second-half points of their own, even though they were visibly the better side in that period. Brigid’s knocked over two points in injury time when the Haven were throwing the kitchen sink at it up the other end to push the final score out to 1-11 to 0-10.

Ultimately this game was decided by how each team took their goal chances. Brigid’s created one goal-scoring opportunity, if you discount the last-gasp penalty they won when Castlehaven had virtually no one at home with the last play of the game. 

THIN LINES

They took it, while Castlehaven had two wonderful goal chances, but rattled the crossbar both times. Those are the margins that decide whether you reach an All-Ireland final or not.

Mark Collins set the tone from the get-go, attacking that aforementioned throw-in with real aggression to give the Haven the first attack of the game, but unfortunately, Brian Hurley could not find his range from the resultant free that had been won by his brother Michael.

St. Brigid’s went short from the kick-out and Castlehaven failed to touch the ball for the next five minutes, by which time they found themselves three points down, as the first two attempts by goalkeeper Darragh Cahalane to go long from his kick-outs backfired. In truth, they never really recovered from this blitzkrieg Brigid’s start.

It was noticeable that when they went short they were able to engineer a one-on-one situation for Brian Hurley and the Cork star was able to capitalise to get the Haven up and running on the scoreboard.

Brian Derwin struck for Brigid’s goal in the 12th minute after the Connacht champions had cut open the Castlehaven defence with a slick attacking move, with the impressive Ben O’Carroll assisting. The west Cork side thought they were about to cancel that green flag when Jack Cahalane let fly in the 15th minute but his rasping shot rebounded back off the crossbar, and to rub salt in the wound the Roscommon side scored from the next possession, after showing great patience in the build-up.

It took all of 24 minutes for Brigid’s to kick their first wide, which is a testament to the efficiency of their attacking play.

Brian Hurley clipped over a free on the half-hour mark and Cathal Maguire blasted over another just after, thanks to a brilliant turnover and assist by Jack Cahalane, to leave just four points in it at half-time. Considering the dominance of Brigid’s for large portions of the opening half the Haven would have been happy enough to still have been in touch.

Michael Hurley departed the Munster Final win over Dingle injured and while he played here he was nowhere near as influential in the first half as he had been in the Haven’s run to the Cork Premier Senior title. Jack Cahalane was getting on plenty of ball throughout, but it was also noticeable that his brothers Damien and Conor were not as involved as they normally are.

Michael Hurley burst into life with a fine score in the 38th minute after he had gathered a Mark Collins free that had dropped short, and when his brother Brian slotted a minute later, after a bad Brigid’s wide, it was game on, with the margin back to two.

The Roscommon side had been electric up front early on, but now with the game up for grabs, they started to look nervous, with their shooting now being extremely wayward.

HUGE

A huge moment arrived in the 43rd minute when Rory Maguire burst onto a Brian Hurley pass and saw the whites of the Brigid’s goalkeeper's eyes, but just like Jack Cahalane in the first half, his shot beat Cormac Sheehy but cannoned off the crossbar and the Roscommon champions survived once more.

Robbie Dolan clipped over Brigid’s first score in nineteen minutes to push the lead back out to three in the 48th minute, but Brian Hurley frees in the 50th and 53rd minutes left the minimum between the sides, and the Haven now looked to be the side in the ascendancy.

Substitute John Cunningham scored a magnificent score from range for Brigid’s in the 55th minute to push the much coveted All-Ireland final berth further away from the Haven, and two more conceded points in injury time ended their hopes.