Division 1 FL: St Finbarr's pull away from Castlehaven to maintain perfect start 

St Finbarr’s: 3-16 (3-0-16) 

Castlehaven: 1-13 (1-2-9) 

St Finbarr’s have made it five wins from their first five games following an impressive second half display against Castlehaven in the McCarthy Insurance Group Division 1 Football League at Togher on Saturday afternoon.

In what was Brian Roche’s charges first home game of the season following four away matches, the city side now move two points clear at the top before Clonakilty look to draw level once more when they play away to Cill na Martra on Sunday morning.

The back-to-back Cork Premier SFC winners Castlehaven are in a relegation scrap as they suffer a fourth defeat in five games with just two points on the board.

The Barrs only led by six points at the break despite having had wind advantage, but they pushed on in the second 30 minutes to record another win.

Steven Sherlock hit 0-16 the last day out against Carrigaline. He wasn’t as influential here as he was well marked by Thomás O’Mahony, but he still ended up with 1-5.

The Barrs showed that they aren’t reliant on one man with a nice spread of scorers, seven in total. They did finish with 14 players following a William Buckley red card late on, but it didn’t matter.

Cork senior hurler Jack Cahalane opened the scoring with a point for Castlehaven followed by a Jamie O’Driscoll effort.

Despite being with the wind, it took St Finbarr’s time to settle, but a Buckley white flag after four minutes did just that.

Following patient build up play, Jack Cahalane restored Castlehaven’s two-point buffer, but a Buckley goal after seven minutes gave his team a grip on proceedings.

It was a neat finish following a brilliant pass by defender Dylan Quinn, 1-1 to 0-3.

Two Eoin McGreevy points and efforts from Buckley and Sherlock gave the Barrs a five-point advantage after 13 minutes.

Andrew Whelton and the aforementioned Jack Cahalane did reduce the deficit to three points, but the city outfit finished the half well with three unanswered points. Quinn, Sherlock (45) and Bill O’Connell with the scores, 1-8 to 0-5 at half-time.

Castlehaven had now wind advantage for the new half and after a fairly positive opening 30 minutes, they landed the first two points of the second half through a Mark Collins free and another Whelton effort.

The Barrs did tack on three points on the bounce with the highlight being a splendid point by impressive sub Cian O’Sullivan, 1-11 to 0-7 after 40 minutes.

It looked like the game was slipping from Castlehaven, but a Shane O’Connell effort and a two-pointer from Jack O’Neill cut the gap to four points. That would be as close as the Haven would get to their opponents though for the remainder of the encounter.

Sherlock showed his class with 1-1 in two minutes, with his goal top drawer while his point was from a free, 2-12 to 0-10 with 14 minutes remaining.

O’Driscoll did raise a green flag for the Haven a minute later, but any hope of a comeback was evaporated when St Finbarr’s scored 1-3 without a response. McGreevy with a tidy finish to the net, 3-15 to 1-10 after 51 minutes.

Buckley then received a straight red card for the Barrs for an off the ball incident with eight minutes to go, but it didn’t matter in the context of the game.

A Whelton point and a two-pointer from Robbie Minihane did reflect Castlehaven's never-say-die-attitude and they also could have got a second goal, but O’Driscoll’s shot was well saved by Barrs netminder Darragh Newman.

Sherlock had the last say with a close range point from a free as the city side march on.

Scorers for St Finbarr’s: S Sherlock 1-5 (0-2 f, 0-1 45), W Buckley, E McGreevy 1-3 each, C O’Sullivan 0-2, B O’Connell, M Ahern, D Quinn 0-1 each.

Castlehaven: J O’Driscoll 1-1, A Whelton, J Cahalane 0-3 each, J O’Neill (1 2pt), R Minihane (1 2pt) 0-2 each, M Collins (f), S O’Connell 0-1 each.

ST FINBARR’S: D Newman; B O’Connell, A O’Connor, F Crowley; M Ahern, J Burns, D Quinn; C Doolan, T O’Keeffe; S Kirby, W Buckley, L Hannigan: E McGreevy, R Barrett, S Sherlock.

Subs: C O’Sullivan for L Hannigan (h-t), E Comyns for S Kirby (41), J Brady for R Barrett (56), E Hurley for B O’Connell (59).

CASTLEHAVEN: D Cahalane; T O'Mahony, J O’Regan, O Daly; J Bohane, S Walsh, J O’Neill; A Whelton, L McCarthy; S O’Connell, M Collins, R Minihane; M Crowley, J Cahalane, J O’Driscoll.

Subs: S Nolan for M Crowley (45), W O’Donovan for J O’Neill (47), K O’Donovan for S O’Connell, F Collins for J Bohane (both 60).

Referee: Robert Whelan (Gleann na Laoi).