News from the Bantry Blues

Fifteen minutes into this Saturday evening, Evening Echo sponsored quarterfinal, I was prepared to enter the game under what is a fairly packed mediocre file of County senior football championship for this season. Then Bantry raised a gallop to reduce to the minimum a four-point Doheny lead before their ‘keeper Des McAuley saved a Ger McCarthy penalty to keep it that way in first half injury time. Seventeen seconds after the restart Philip Clifford had the sides level and this contest was about to enter the realms of classic encounters.

The closing half was choc-full of incident as Daniel O’Donovan and Jeremy Canty swapped goals inside a minute before Dohenys came again and built up a five-point advantage. That’s how it was with three minutes of normal time remaining and Bantry out on their feet – or so it appeared. They seemed to have given their all and without Graham Canty, looked set to sink but the mariners, with the help of a Shane Drummey goal, turned this game around entering a prolonged period of extra time that had ticked over into six minutes when young Drummey drove over a free to nose the blues a point clear.

Surely the final whistle must sound when a seemingly last ditch Doheny attack was spoiled by a silly free and relief for Bantry who subsequently gave away possession and there was one dying kick still left in the Dunmanway men. They seemed to have finally shot themselves in the foot however when a Micheál O’Donovan effort looked destined to add to their wides total until wing forward Patrick McCarthy redeemed a hopeless position by beating the ball in a race for the end line. The youngest player on the team displayed remarkable composure to not alone keep the ball in play, but manage to place it into the path of full-forward Daniel O’Donovan who wisely opted to fist over the Doheny equaliser entering the eight-minute of injury time in a championship encounter that was just that. It throbbed with excitement in a pulsating climax that will ensure it will live long in the memory of those fortunate enough to witness a West Cork local derby that was played without rancour and not a trace of a card, yellow or red, and with enough errors to make for a serious after match pub discussion on what team left it slip. Dohenys will have to hold their hands up and admit that they should have held out at a time Bantry looked to be on the ropes and the blues will wonder why they couldn’t protect their advantage at a time the referee was inhaling, ready to blow the final whistle.

For the neutral however it was the right result and when the teams return to a perfect Aughaville venue for the replay the crowd is sure to be a lot bigger. It is doubtful if they will ever again witness a game such as this and to think it began sedately enough as Gerard McCarthy converted the frees to make it five-one, in Dohenys favour, with nine minutes to go to halftime. Then Declan Barron took centre stage with a double hit before Philip Clifford, always a threat, converted a long range free. Thus matters had taken a decidedly rosier hue for the blues entering first half injury time but all could have changed had not Bantry ‘keeper Des McAuley pulled off a great save to prevent a Ger McCarthy penalty from entering the top corner of his net in the last piece of action, which was to provide the catalyst for a change to up-tempo second half activity. It opened with Damien O’Neill finding Philip Clifford with a well directed free and Bantry were level when the current Cork senior split the posts just seventeen seconds after the resumption. It was game on in earnest when some confident Doheny defensive play led to a thirty-fourth minute counter attack that had Daniel O’Donovan planting the ball in the Bantry net.

From the kick-out the Blues cancelled this score when Clifford was sent through by Jimmy Griffin and when the corner forward’s shot was saved by Darragh Farr the rebound was latched on to by Jeremy Canty who tapped it home from close range. It was now a contest set to leave its imprint on the sands of time as Bantry inched a point clear before a second Doheny goal, scored by Ger McCarthy, gave them back their momentum that enabled them to slip five-points clear. Still they failed to close the door on a gallant Bantry who were resurrected when young Shane Drummey prevented the guillotine from falling with his late goal that set in train a series of events that would have even stretched the imagination of Hitchcock.

Like all those present both managers were breathless after a nail-biting finale where the blink of an eye would have meant missing something meaningful. “We weren’t consistent enough and allowed Dohenys pull away twice but we showed tremendous spirit to come back in what was a pulsating encounter where I thought we might have stolen it when Shane Drummey converted the very late free,” declared Bantry manager Pat O’Donovan. “ We were slow to start and the penalty save by Des McAuley was crucial against a Doheny team that moved the ball well at times and stretched us on occasions during a game where we didn’t get out of traps for a long time probably because of the tension, but credit the lads for battling to the end and a draw was probably a fair result,” stated the blues manager who complimented both teams for their sporting attitude.

Doheny manager Jerry O’Mahony had mixed views after a game where he said, “We left a five-point lead slip and gave away an easy goal in the process and that’s disappointing but the lads fought against adversity to pull out a draw when many another team would have given up.” He also commented on the Bantry wides in the opening half but commended the blues on how they coped without their best player Graham Canty who was unable to start because of injury. “We knew Bantry weren’t going to give up and if the game went on for another fifty-minutes they would still be there or thereabouts. However we have learned a lot from this evening and we are still in the championship so it’s all to play for again and it will probably be just as close next time as both teams are fine footballing sides,” concluded the Doheny manager.