P2MFC: St Finbarr's survive sensational Ibane Gaels comeback to book final spot
Ibane Gaels' Mike Collins tries to get away from St Finbarr's Conor O'Donoghue during their Premier 2 MFC clash at the Mardyke. Picture: David Keane.
St Finbarr’s never trailed from the eighth minute, and yet they were never safe. Ten points up by the 40th minute of this Premier 2 Minor Football Championship semi-final at the Mardyke on Wednesday night, they still needed everything they had to subdue Ibane Gaels and set a date with Donoughmore in the final.
For Ibane, the collapse of that deficit was as swift as it was thrilling. In seven whirlwind minutes they reeled off 2-4, Luke Murphy imperious at the centre of it all. His first goal, in the 44th, was the product of Aaron Fleming’s surging run and unselfish handpass. Straight from the Barrs’ restart, Murphy turned over, offloaded to Robert Hennessy, who slipped it to Dermot Dineen and back again to Murphy for a ruthless second finish.
In the blink of an eye it was 3-9 to 2-9. Murphy tacked on a pair of frees, Mike Collins added a sensational score, and suddenly Ibane were level. The Barrs, stripped bare, looked certain to be engulfed with 13 to play.
But the Barrs found something when they most needed it. Scoreless for 13 long minutes, they edged ahead again through a Conor O’Donoghue 45 in the 53rd minute.
Liam O’Regan followed with a thunderbolt from outside the arc — a mirror image of the strike on Monday night against Ballincollig in their Premier 1 U16 semi-final. Then O’Donoghue from a free, Alex O’Herlihy with a gem, James Murray clipping over to finish a run of five unanswered. From level to five up in seven minutes, and the fist-pumps from O’Herlihy told you the Barrs weren’t letting go.
Still, Ibane threatened to rip it from them. Collins produced another two-pointer in stoppage time to cut the gap to four, and when Donagh Flynn released Murphy, the stage was set. He burst clear, the angle closing, and his rocket beat Liam Hegarty but cannoned off the crossbar. A breath from glory, denied by inches.
So Ibane were left with nothing to show for their fightback but pride, and the Barrs, though wobbled, moved on.
Their purple patch to ultimately decide the game came early. A close range Luke Murphy free was saved, the Barrs recovered the ball, stormed down the other end for Edmund Burke to level it in the eighth minute. That was the spark they needed.
In the space of three minutes, they rattled off 2-1. The goals blistering, not separated by 60 seconds. Evan Malone playing a quick one-two with Galvin, before dispatching into the bottom corner after 10 minutes.
And when Trevor Howe claimed the Ibane Gaels restart and thundered down the flank, it had an air of inevitability. No one could keep up with him, and he handpassed it to the centre where James Murray was ready to blast to the top corner, 2-2 to 0-1.
By the quarter-hour mark, Ibane had it back to two goals, before Burke took off down the other flank, teed up Murray and he drilled low into the net.
Four minutes later, Dan O’Keeffe picked out Conor Garvey, and he kicked a peach of a two-pointer, just as he did two nights’ previous, and just as his teammate O’Regan would later do, leaving the score 3-5 to 0-3.
Now 11 behind, Ibane Gaels were under severe pressure.
Collins and Murphy dragged the West Cork side back to something resembling a contest before the break, but the damage lingered.
A sloppy first half had left them climbing too steep a hill, and though they almost scaled it, the summit remained out of reach, and the Barrs march on.
J Murray 2-3, E Malone 1-1, C O’Donoghue (0-1 f, 0-1 45), C Garvey (tp), L O’Regan (tp), A O’Herlihy 0-2 each, E Burke, D O’Keeffe, D Burke 0-1 each.
L Murphy 2-3 (0-2 f), M Collins 0-7 (2 tp), J Collins (0-1 f), D Flynn 0-2 each.
L Hegarty; D McGuirk, E Barrett, CJ Barrett; T Howe, D Burke, C Garvey; D O’Keeffe, C O’Donoghue; E Malone, J Murray, L O’Regan; A O’Herlihy, C Galvin, E Burke.
C Kelleher for E Burke (44), C Herlihy for Malone (55).
A Hunt; D Murphy, M Collins, B O’Dwyer; A Fleming, K Hennessy, S Flynn; D Dineen, C Murphy; R Hennessy, L Murphy, J Twomey; D Flynn, J Collins, P Deasy.
C Hennessy for S Flynn (48).
T Manley (Inniscarra)
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