Division 1 HL: Charleville come from behind to stun Douglas as both finish with 14 men
Conor Buckley, Charleville breaking between Douglas players Kevin McSweeney, Andrew O'Connell and Conor Kingston in the RedFM Hurling League Division 1 match at Charleville. Picture: Dan Linehan
Charleville came from behind late on to stun Douglas and take their second RedFM Hurling League Division 1 win of the season in Charleville on Saturday evening.
Charleville have done a lot right so far in the league. Against the Barrs they were held to a draw. Against Carrigtwohill they fell to a late defeat.
Any lingering disappointment has now evaporated.
The hosts found themselves five behind at the break. They had brought that deficit to one point with 15 minutes to go. Even after drawing level on 49 minutes, they needed more.
Alan Cadogan fired over a free and a beauty from out wide to restore Douglas’s advantage. In the interim Conor Buckley had levelled it a second time for Charleville. But the long awaited goal finally arrived for the hosts.
Gareth Gleeson – who put on his best performance so far this season surged forward to receive the pass from Darren Casey. He couldn’t make the catch. The ball fell. He pulled. It flew across goal and into the net.
The stand erupted, their bench elated.
Charleville led by one. Cian Baldwin restored parity for Douglas. But Charleville weren’t going to let this one get away from them.
Sean Bresnan fired one over from distance. Gleeson got his fourth point. Heading into injury time, they had a two point lead. Sub David Forde pointed from a free. Douglas trapped in the Charleville headlights.
That feeling compounded in the 63rd minute as Cadogan missed a close range free. Buckley notched his fourth to provide the Charleville cushion.
It meant a lot to the north Cork side. And they deserved it.
The first half got away from them in many respects. Wing-back Rob Carroll had roamed around the middle to give them a third midfielder. With Cathal O’Carroll putting in a phenomenal shift and Bresnan propping up with the scores as always – they were finding success in the middle third.
But a couple of costly errors left them trailing. Bresnan should have had 1-4. Casey should have had two assists.
Casey made a superb run through the middle in the 22nd minute and popped it over the top to Bresnan. All he had to do was catch it and he was through on goal, one-on-one.
The midfielder overshot his run and Douglas regained possession. A goal at that juncture would have levelled it. Instead, Andrew O’Connell raised a white flag before Conor O’Donovan pressed Charleville keeper Conor Reynolds into a cheap turnover.
He blasted into the open net. After 23 minutes, Douglas led 1-10 to 0-6. Charleville stopped the bleeding, though, with four points after the goal. Time to bandage the wounds was taken after a brawl that broke out late in the half.
Both Michael O’Flynn and Conor O’Donovan were sent off for contributing to the melee.
Andrew Cagney pointed the free in the aftermath, with both teams down to 14 men. Cadogan and O’Connell added two more white flags for Douglas to move them six clear.
Bresnan got the final score of the first half for Charleville. That five point margin should have been enough for Douglas, especially with the hosts forced to withdraw Cork U20 Zach Biggane at the interval.
But, spearheaded by Gleeson, Charleville had other ideas.
G Gleeson 1-4, S Bresnan, C Buckley 0-4 each, R Carroll (2 fs), A Cagney (2 fs) 0-3 each, T Hawe, D O’Flynn, D Forde (f), C O’Carroll, G Kelleher, Z Biggane 0-1 each.
A Cadogan 0-9 (5 fs), A O’Connell 0-4, C Baldwin 0-3, C O’Donovan 1-0, C Kingston 0-2 (1 f), C Lucas, M Howell 0-1 each.
C Reynolds; M O’Flynn, J Meade, D Butler; F Cagney, J Buckley, R Carroll; S Bresnan, C O’Carroll; Z Biggane, C Buckley, D Casey; G Kelleher, A Cagney, G Gleeson.
D O’Flynn for Kelleher, T Hawe for Biggane, C Collins for Reynolds (all HT), D Forde for Cagney (49).
D Maher; B O’Neill, C O’Donovan, S O’Leary; J O’Callaghan Maher, M Howell, K McSweeney; A O’Connell, C Kingston; C Hallahan, S Barron, C Lucas; A Cadogan, C O’Donovan, C Baldwin.
D Kelly for Lucas (37), C Mac Phaidin for O’Connell (49-51 temp), Mac Phaidin for Barron (51), D O’Callaghan for O’Leary (55).
Aidan Hyland (Kilworth)
App?
