O'Donovan Rossa and Béal Átha’n Ghaorthaidh left with regrets and a point apiece

Neither team was happy with the outcome but Béal Átha’n Ghaorthaidh and O’Donovan Rossa left Bantry with a point apiece following their McCarthy Insurance Group Cork SAFC Group 3 draw.

Four points up following a terrific second half display that included 1-2 from corner-forward Elliott Connolly, O’Donovan Rossa looked set for victory. Instead, a late Béal Átha’n rally saw the Muskerry side draw level through Donagh Seartan’s injury-time equaliser.

Skibb goalkeeper Ryan Price missed a late free before Diarmuid Mac Thomáis (who played superbly and kicked seven points) failed to find the target at the opposite end.

So, it finished 1-12 to 0-15 after 64 minutes of evenly fought action leaving Rossa manager Gene Hourihane pondering what might have been.

“I wouldn’t say it is the worst start for us but we felt we left ourselves down in the first half,” Hourihane stated.

“This is senior football. If you don’t play for the full 60 minutes then sometimes you get sucker punched.

“We are absolutely delighted with our lads and the way they came out in the second half. In fairness to them, everything improved, our work-rate, scores, everything.

That first half hurt us. If we played for the full 60 minutes, we felt we would probably have gotten over the line.

“I’m not taking anything away from Ballingeary. I thought they were outstanding. I don’t think they kicked a wide in the first half.

“So, all things considered, of course a point is a good result with Bishopstown and Dunmanway coming up. Tough assignments but everything is a tough assignment at the moment.” 

KICK ON

Ballingeary mentor Aindrias Ó Coinceannáin believed giving up a three-point interval advantage is what cost his team an opportunity to grab an opening day Senior AFC victory.

“When you are three points up at half time, you target the third quarter to try and kick on and unfortunately that didn’t happen,” Ó Coinceannáin admitted.

“Skibb drew us back in, got level, got their goal and then we were under pressure.

“Look, our lads showed great character to get a draw in the end. We had a chance to win it but it didn’t work out.

“There are ifs and buts and you are asking if this and that happened. We have a point and that point might prove valuable by the end of the group stage.”

Aindrias Ó Coinceannáin’s assessment is a valid one considering Bishopstown upset the form book to defeat Dohenys in the other Group 3 first round tie. Both Béal Átha’n Ghaorthaidh and O’Donovan Rossa will be focusing on the positives ahead of the remainder of the Senior AFC group stage.

“There are positives to take alright,” the Ballingeary mentor added.

“We felt we gave them a couple of easy frees that we shouldn’t have and that kept them alive when they were tapping those over.

“Overall, we were happy with our first half performance. The second half wasn’t great so a draw is probably as much as we deserved. We can’t be feeling sorry for ourselves.

“We will move on. We have Dohenys in three and half weeks in Inchigeela. So, we have to look forward to that game, look at the areas we can improve and just keep working.” 

Finally, Gene Hourihane hopes lingering injury issues clear up in time for O’Donovan Rossa’s next championship outing against Bishopstown.

“Look, we would like to have had a few more options but we were curtailed by injuries..

That’s the situation for most teams but when you have a small panel it’s tougher. 

"It’s tougher when you get some key players carrying injuries. Hopefully, that’ll change for the next game.

“We back our fitness levels all day long and Brendan Walsh has done unbelievable work on that side of things.” 

So, a point on the board for both Béal Átha’n Ghaorthaidh and O’Donovan Rossa and all to play for in a wide open McCarthy Insurance Group Cork SAFC Group 3 battle.