Bride Rovers impress as they comfortably make step up to Premier Senior against Newcestown
Newcestown's Daire McAree and Bride Rovers' Brian Roche battle for the ball during the Co-Op Superstores SAHC game at Ballincollig. Picture: David Creedon
Bride wasted no time settling into married life at Premier Senior.
Against a Newcestown outfit that caught Midleton in last year’s championship – and much of the same team that toppled Nemo Rangers in the football last weekend – Rovers were ruthless in the periods before and after half-time, and had the game wrapped up before the three-quarter hour mark at Ballincollig.
They landed six of the first seven points on the restart to power 1-14 to 0-7 ahead, while their opponents would not score from play again until the 52nd minute. And by that stage, the Carbery club had been reduced to 14-men following a second yellow card for substitute Ciaran O’Donovan.
But even that had occurred long after the contest had been settled.
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Brian Roche and Adam Walsh were excellent, but there was far more to their performance than the headliners. Cormac Barry – debuting as a pre-throw in swap – put in a good shift, scoring one and assisting one, while their defensive efforts restricted Newcestown to only seven points from play across the hour.
When Newcestown did finally get the next from play, it was a thundering effort out wide from former Cork senior Luke Meade.
Cillian Tobin and Walsh (free) added Rovers’ next as their lead peaked at 12, 1-18 to 0-9 but they would not score for the remaining five minutes plus added time. Frees from Richard O’Sullivan and one from play through David Buckley did little more than reduce Newcestown blushes, but the bigger worry was the loss of Meade to injury late on.
Both sides had their purple patches in the first half – Rovers dominating the start and finish – while Newcestown’s control was sandwiched in the middle.
They profited from the work of Daire McAree and O’Sullivan, but opting for Luke Meade as the sweeper left them with only two in the inside line. Rovers had Tobin hoovering up at the other end, and so goal chances were few and far between for Newcestown.
Still, they made the most of the space around the middle, and clawed back from a 0-5 to 0-1 deficit after 13 minutes to lead by one on 22. O’Sullivan scored all but one of their five points unanswered, notching two from play, while Colm O’Donovan teed up Colm Dinneen for the other.
But, when Bride regained the upper hand, they struck swiftly. Brilliant efforts from Ronan O’Connell and Tobin nudged them back in front, and then Walsh fizzed to the net in trademark fashion.
Conor Hazelwood floated one in beautifully from distance, looking for the target of Adam Walsh, who plucked the sliotar, shook off the challenge of Eoghan Collins, and buried to the roof of the net. Frees from Cian Hogan and Walsh increased their advantage to six, leaving it 1-9 to 0-6 at the break.
Bride picked up where they left off on the restart, each white flag ensuring Newcestown would be left floored by the end of the third-quarter. Tempers began to flare in that period too, and Ciaran O’Regan would end up flashing a total seven yellows to go with the red.
Now, a honeymoon with St Finbarr’s awaits Bride, while Newcestown will hope to have Meade back for when they take on Midleton in three weeks’ time.
A Walsh 1-7 (0-7 f), B Roche 0-4, R O’Connell 0-3, C Tobin, C Hogan (2 fs) 0-2 each, Cormac Barry, P O’Flynn 0-1 each.
R O’Sullivan 0-9 (0-7 f), D Buckley 0-2, L Meade, C Dineen, N Kelly 0-1 each.
C Hogan; E Roche, D Cashman; C Tobin; J Ahern, K Kearney, C Hazelwood; Cormac Barry, R O’Connell; C Ryan, B Roche, P O’Flynn; D Barry, A Walsh, L Roche.
C O’Riordan for B Roche (42-43 temp), O’Riordan for Ryan (56), Conor Barry for D Barry (60 inj).
C Wilson; M McSweeney, E Collins, J Kelleher; L Meade; Colm O’Donovan, D McAree, C O’Neill; G O’Donovan, J Meade; S O’Donovan, C Dinneen, R O’Sullivan; D Buckley, P Collins.
N Kelly for P Collins (HT), J Kenneally for O’Neill, Ciaran O’Donovan for C Dinneen (both 36), E Kenneally for McAree (47), McAree for L Meade (60+1 inj).
C O’Regan (Ballyhea)
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