Chris Óg Jones grabs a hat-trick as Uibh Laoire hit Castletownbere for five goals
Chris Óg Jones is tackled by Trevor Collins, Fintan Fenner and Thomas Murphy. Picture: Anne Marie Cronin Photography
A knockout spot secured with their second win of the group by Uibh Laoire with two wins from two games... and all the heavy lifting done in the opening 10 minutes.
A lightning start against the wind saw Cork attacker Chris Óg Jones find the net twice in the first five minutes; he was set up both times by his brother Ian who was making his return from injury. Chris Óg completed his hat-trick in the second half, while there were also goals from Cathal Vaughan and Ian Jones.
This, despite losing Seán O’Riordan in the warm-up when he rolled his ankle and was replaced by Sam Pickering. Brian Cronin also departed with a hamstring strain in the 12th minute with Ciarán Galvin coming in. But those defections didn’t upset Uibh Laoire's rhythm one bit. They led 3-4 to 0-2 at the break.
“While delighted with the win, we made hard work of it at times,” manager Barry Oldham said post-match. “I don’t think the scoreboard is a true reflection on the game, to be honest. Castletownbere are a tough team.
“The goals at the start helped us out and gave us a good cushion. But we have a lot to work on. Macroom are going to be completely different the next day, they’ll be fighting. We’ll regroup on Tuesday and get back to training.
“Seanie twisted his ankle and hopefully it is not that bad. Brian I’d say is bad, it’s his hamstring, the same one he did last year. We’ll have to assess everything when we get back. But we are in the quarter-finals now, so that has us delighted.”
It's a steep learning curve for Castletownbere, who had already defeated Macroom in round 1. They still have a chance of qualification in Group 3 in their final group tie against Kiskeam (who have one point).
Castletownbere were skippered by the evergreen Andrew O’Sullivan.
“A big learning curve, disappointed, but Uibh Laoire are a very good team. They are favourites for the county, they punish you,” was the reaction of Castletownbere manager Ian Murphy. “Whatever plans you have, you can’t give away a start like that. There is room for improvement. What we are hoping for now is second place.
“We were missing three or four players today so hopefully they’ll come back. Andrew O’Sullivan is still only a young fella (39), he has great energy and great drive.”
Uibh Laoire built on those early goals with Vaughan and Conor O’Leary adding points to make it 2-2 to nil.
The difference at this juncture was Uibh Laoire’s four shots yielded four scores while Castletownbere created three chances but got no return for their efforts.
Vaughan then curled over a free on the quarter-hour mark.
Daniel Hanley was playing well for Castletownbere but they couldn’t get any traction up front. A block by Cronin’s replacement Ciarán Galvin on Declan Dunne a prime example.
James Harrington finally got their opening point from play in the 17th minute. The wind was immediately taken out of their sails when they coughed up a third goal, this time it was a low shot from Vaughan after he was put through by Ian Jones.
Seanie O’Leary added a point, and while scores weren’t as plentiful for the mid Cork side in the final 10 minutes of the half, they were comfortable.
Castletownbere dropped a number of shots into the keeper's hands before Fintan Fenner scored their second point in the 22nd minute from a free.
It left them 3-4 to 0-2 behind at the break.
Uibh Laoire might have lost their way at the start of the second half, while Tomás Murphy and Harrington restarted for Castletownbere with points.
There was no need to worry though as Vaughan got the scoreboard moving again in the 39th minute from a free that was won by Barry O’Leary.
The Beara side wouldn’t score again until the 59th minute.
Meanwhile captain Seanie O’Leary initiated a move to Ian Jones that enabled Chris Óg complete his hat-trick in the 42nd minute.
Another slick move six minutes later, which was started by Chris Óg to Barry O’Leary and was finished by Ian Jones, left the score 5-6 to 0-4.
Castletownbere’s best chance of a goal came soon afterwards but Fenner’s kick went across the goal and wide - they were hurt by their wide count too.
In the remaining 10 minutes, Uibh Laoire outscored their opponents four points to one with Vaughan launching a two-pointer that closed out proceedings.
C Óg Jones 3-2 (0-1 f), C Vaughan 1-5 ( 0-2 f, 1 2pt), I Jones 1-1, S O’Leary, C O'Leary, S Pickering 0-1 each.
J Harrington 0-2, T Murphy, F Fenner (f), O Murphy 0-1 each.
J Creedon; B Murphy, D O’Donovan, D O’Riordan; K Manning, C O’Riordan, S O’Leary (c); T Roberts, C O’Leary; S Pickering, C Vaughan, B O’Leary; B Cronin, C Óg Jones, I Jones.
C Galvin for B Cronin (12 inj), B O’Riordan for B O’Leary (53), F McSweeney for D O’Riordan (54), K Jones for C O’Riordan, J Sweeney for I Jones (both 58).
L Harrington; B Murphy, S McCarthy, J Rosales; J O’Neill, T Collins, D Hanley; A O’Sullivan (c), T Murphy; J Hanley, F Fenner, M Orpen; J Harrington, D Dunne, J Spencer.
C Murphy for M Orpen (43), G Healy for T Collins (48), D Walsh for J Spencer (54).
Liam O’Shea (Carbery Rangers).
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