Newcestown U. 21s hang on to overcome Bantry

Newcestown 1-9, Bantry 0-10

'There was a goal in the game !' It was the late, great commentator Micheal O'Hehir who coined this famous phrase. Well, had the doyen of the airwaves been in Sam Maguire Park, Dunmanway, on Tuesday evening last, for the clash of Newcestown and Bantry Blues in the South West under-21 A football championship, then he would have waited until four minutes from the long whistle before uttering the famous words.

Level six times up to this juncture, it looked as if nothing was going to separate the Siamese football twins. Then Alan O'Neill pounced like a cat to squeeze the ball home past John Tobin from an acute angle, after Sean Condon and Pat Twohig did all the approach work. It signalled a late dose of the Blues for Bantry. Two frees by the hard-working Declan Barron, son of a famous father, made for a tension filled last few minutes of injury time, but midfielder Eoin Twomey sent the Newcestown following into raptures of delight just on the blow of full time, when he powered over the insurance score.

This was far from a classic encounter. Close and exciting it certainly was, but there were too many mislaid passes, simple mistakes and at times poor shooting to rank it highly. Incredibly, despite all the early action, we had to wait fourteen minutes for the first score and then they came in a flurry. Declan Barron collected a neat pass from the high-flying Graham Canty to draw first blood. Bantry extended the lead following a great four man movement, only for a neat brace by the elusive Newcestown mid-fielder Eoin Twomey to level up matters.

The following sequence of play was of a scrappy variety with defences well on top. Finbarr and Niall O'Sullivan in the pivot spots provided the back up for Eoin Twomey ,who got good second half support from Mark Kelly. At the other end, Niall Canty was having a solid hour in the left corner for Bantry, with Padraig Cremin breaking quickly to avert any dangerous situations. Kieran O'Sullivan and John Harrington both pointed only for Tadhg Twomey and Mark Kelly to bring a low scoring half to an end, all tied up at 0-4 each. The second half was a real nip and tuck affair.

Noticeable was the fine play of Tadhg Twomey on the wing for Newcestown, the sallies of Barron up field, supplemented by the magnificent fielding of Canty. Padraig Coholan and Coppinger swapped early points on resuming, only for Alan O'Neill and Donal McGrath from a free to restore the status quo. Again, Tadhg Twomey did the trick, only to see Bantry sweep downfield and Barron make it 0-7 each at the end of the third quarter. Kieran O'Sullivan edged the Blues in front again, but a beauty from the boot of sub Brian Holland made it all to play for.

There was a smell of a draw in the air, until Alan O'Neill emerged as the hero to set up a meeting with Castlehaven. Man of the Match, Tadhg Twomey, Newcestown. Referee. Donie McCarthy, Dohenys.

Scorers - Newcestown: Alan O'Neill 1-1, Eoin Twomey 0-3, Tadhg Twomey 0-2, Mark Kelly 0-1, Padraig Coholan 0-1, Brian Holland 0-1. Bantry: Declan Barron 0-5, 0-2 from frees, Kieran O'Sullivan 0-2, John Harrington 0-1, Martin Coppinger 0-1, Donal McGrath 0-1 from free.

Newcestown: Pat White, Jason Crowley, Finbarr O'Sullivan, Brian Moloney, Padraig Moloney, Niall O'Sullivan, Pat Twohig, Mark Kelly, Eoin Twomey, Gavin Kelly, Conor O'Donovan, Tadhg Twomey, Padraig Coholan, Sean Condon, Alan O'Neill. Sub, Brian Holland for Gavin Kelly.

Bantry: John Tobin, Kieran Lynch, Ted Hurley, Niall Canty, Ger Hegarty, Padraig Cremin, Colm Healy, John Harrington, Graham Canty, Martin Coppinger, Kieran O' Sullivan, Rory Hennessy, Declan Barron, Donal O'Shea and Donal McGrath.