Cork football fans left with sour taste after Kerry clean sweep in Munster finals
Ballymacelligott's Niall Collins shoots from Buttevant's Diarmuid Galvin during the AIB Munster JFC final at Mallow. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
What started as a weekend full of hope for Cork club football ended in despair on Sunday after St Finbarr’s were denied victory in the Munster senior club final at the death.
Buttevant and Aghabulloghue had come up short on Saturday in the Intermediate and Junior deciders.
Last week, our glass was half full as we hoped that Buttevant and Aghabulloghue could repeat the heroics of the likes of Kilmurry and Cill na Martra, who both defied the grading gap discrepancies with Kerry in recent years to be crowned Munster champions.
The form guide from the semi-finals suggested they might both go close, but ultimately, they were blown away in the second halves of their respective provincial deciders when facing the strong breeze that was blowing down the Mallow and Rathkeale pitches.
It had started so brightly for Buttevant in the junior final when two of their big guns, Mark Lenahan and David Hanlon banged over a two-pointer each inside the opening three minutes. Four points to nil. It looked like game on.
Opponents Ballyacelligott took nine minutes to get off the mark, but scores from the Avondhu side dried up quickly, with them only registering two more points before the break.
Only two more points would be added in the second half as Buttevant started going for majors, but they could find no way past Ballymacelligott netminder Christy Leen, while the Kerry attackers rifled over 2-8 in that second period to put the game out of reach.
The intermediate final proved to be a similar affair, with Aghabulloghue being level at half time against Kerry side An Ghaeltacht, but they too were unable to resist their opponents while they had the wind advantage.
In the senior final on Sunday, St Finbarr’s and An Daingean both rocked up to Thurles and traded blows in an entertaining and absorbing contest Steven Sherlock was simply sublime in the opening half as he put an exhibition of two-point shooting down at the Town End of Semple Stadium to ensure the Barr’s enjoyed a 0-14 to 1-6 lead at the break.
Unfortunately, Paul Geaney had drilled in a classy goal in the 16th minute to keep Dingle in it. Despite leading by five one felt that the Barrs still had a lot to do, and the feeling was that they would have to raise a green flag of their own down in the Killinane End if they were to keep the Kerry champions at bay in the second half. It never came.
Dylan Geaney clipped over An Daingean’s first point of the half in the 32nd minute, and he added another just over 60 seconds later, which seemed a signal that it was going to be a long half an hour for the Togher troops.
But up stepped Sherlock and within a few minutes he had broken the Kerry side’s momentum with one close-in effort from play, followed by another party piece of a two-pointer from a free.
The Barrs were seven points up after 43 minutes. Dingle needed a score to stay in it and Dylan Geaney stepped up with a massive two-pointer of his own to spark a rarity in GAA circles, a Kerry-accented roar in the home of hurling.
Sherlock and Buckley had chances to push the lead out in the last few minutes and Geaney then slotted another superb two-pointer with the outside of his boot to put the minimum between the sides.
Buckley missed with another effort before the controversial late drama ensured the Barrs would leave with nothing bar heartbreak.
The 50-yard rule might be a positive addition to the rules of the game of football, but fans of the Blues may disagree after Sunday’s final ended.
To then punish the Barrs with 50 extra yards that gave An Daingean the opportunity to pluck victory from the jaws of defeat, seemed a case of the punishment not matching the crime.
Regardless of how the game ended, the Barrs will regret the chances they missed late on to finish the tie. They failed to add to the scoreboard after Brian Hayes’ 49th-minute point.
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