SAHC: Castlelyons battle back well to ensure second day out against Bride Rovers

Bride Rovers 0-14

Castlelyons 0-14

Often, the response after a drawn final is that neither side deserved to lose.

In Saturday night’s Co-op SuperStores SAHC final at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, it was probably far to say that neither Bride Rovers nor Castlelyons did enough to win.

The Jim Forbes Cup remains unclaimed until next Saturday evening and while the 0-14 each outcome would not ever be classed as high-scoring, it’s worth noting that both clubs managed as many or more white flags than they had in their respective semi-final wins.

However, 12 Castlelyons points against Blarney were allied with four goals; Bride Rovers scored 3-14 against Carrigtwohill. Here, chances of green flags were thin on the ground, to the point that the closest either side came was almost by accident.

It came when Bride Rovers held a 0-13 to 0-9 lead with 11 minutes remaining, and a delivery towards to their goal led to a scramble. When the ball squirted out, it deflected off Castlelyons sub Eoin Maye and might have ended in the net, but instead it ran just wide.

Having led throughout, Bride Rovers would not score again in normal time and Castlelyons were able to inch their way back to parity. The excellent James Kearney’s driving run led to a foul, with Alan Fenton sending over his sixth point from the free and the deficit was down to two when captain Colm Spillane landed a boomer from his own 65.

After a missed free at the other end, Spillane’s brother Anthony got his first point. Having been well-marshalled by Eoin Roche up to then, the Dubai-based teacher was fouled for a free, with Fenton again doing the needful to tie the game for the first time since the opening minute.

To Bride Rovers’ credit, they responded well as sub Cormac O’Sullivan won a free that O’Flynn converted but from the puckout, Colm McCarthy of Castlelyons was fouled on his own 45. Fenton came back to take it and, while he had needed treatment during the second half, there were no lasting problems as his free was good for at least another ten yards.

It was the last action and the teams must do it all again, each seeking to garner the positives from the outing. For Castlelyons, that was the late comeback and the refusal to be beaten; for the Rovers, it was the strong start.

They had the wind but it wasn’t the sole reason they had moved into an 0-8 to 0-2 lead after 17 minutes - their pressing was excellent and led to turnovers which they maximised. Brian Roche was prominent early on before Niall O’Leary got to grips with him and curbed the influence and that was emblematic of how defenders were on top for the most part.

Colm Spillane swept well for Castlelyons, helping them to claw their way back to 0-8 to 0-6, Fenton unerring from frees, while at the other end Cillian Tobin was superb for Bride Rovers, as were Eoin Roche and left half-back Shane O’Connor, who finished with three points from play and won man of the match.

Having taken over the Bride Rovers frees, O’Flynn’s point in injury time sent them in leading by 0-9 to 0-6. While Castlelyons had a huge Keith O’Leary effort on the restart, a fine point from Rovers captain Conleith Ryan and O’Connor’s third helped them to establish a 0-12 to 0-8 advantage by the 40th minute.

Castlelyons continued to battle, though, and managed to swing the momentum, ensuring a second night out. Both will feel they can improve enough to take victory.

Scorers for Bride Rovers: P O’Flynn 0-4 f, S O’Connor, A Walsh (0-3 f) 0-3 each, C Ryan, B Roche 0-2 each, E Roche, K Kearney 0-1 each.

Castlelyons: A Fenton 0-8 (0-7 f), J Kearney 0-2, C Spillane, D Morrison, A Spillane, K O’Leart 0-1 each.

BRIDE ROVERS: C Hogan; J Peters, D Cashman, E Roche; C Tobin, C Hazelwood, S O’Connor; K Kearney, D Barry; C Ryan, B Roche, P O’Flynn; A Walsh, R O’Connell, J Ahern.

Subs: C Barry for O’Connell (44), C O’Sullivan for Kearney (47), L Roche for Ryan (56).

CASTLELYONS: J Barry; C Spillane, C Barry, D Spillane; S Moroney, N O’Leary, C McCarthy; S Cotter, J Kearney; A Fenton, D Tobin, K O’Leary; A Spillane, L Doocey, D Morrison.

Subs: E Maye for Tobin (20, injured), B Spillane for Cotter (46), O Lenehan for K O’Leary (49).

Referee: I McCarthy (Bandon).