When Larry Tompkins lined up for a `fifty' in front of the posts in the last second of this well-contested Cork county hurling final at Pairc Ui Chaoimh yesterday, the irritating cacophony which had earlier been provided by the accursed klaxon horns all around the ground, mercifully fell silent. Here we had the makings of drama as one of the best `deadball' kickers in the game could have won the match for Castlehaven. Mercifully, also, from a neutral point of view that is, the kick, though well struck, drifted wide of the left hand post with the result that Beara survived to fight another day.
It was no more than they deserved although it can be said as well that neither side deserved to win.
In perfect conditions the match never really lived up expectancy. Here we had two teams from the deep heartland of Gaelic football not only in Cork but in Ireland as a whole and much was expected of them but sadly not a great deal was delivered. We have to accept, of course, that occasions like this have their own imperatives. This sentiment was expressed clearly by a veteran supporter with no distinguishable colours to identify him as the 15,000 crowd drifted away afterwards.
"Well, I suppose we didn't lose anyway," he said philosophically.
After a lively first half, in which Beara seemed to have the edge, the teams reached the interval with Beara leading by a mere points, 7-5. In truth, they deserved to be further ahead. They had managed to curb the influence of Tompkins and there was a fluidity about the way they worked the ball forward through the field with constant support for the man in possession. Ciaran O'Sullivan was central to most things that they did and Tompkins was being policed by whoever was nearest to him when he got the ball, which was frequently. Most of the teamwork of both sides fell apart after the break and many players revealed a rather naive attitude for such an important fixture, with a lot of racing after the ball regardless of positions or team plan. In this, Beara were more disorganised and their attackers seemed vent on falling back to help out their beleaguered colleagues when what those same colleagues needed was a target to aim at as they sought to clear their lines.
It was Alan Crowley the Castlehaven midfielder, however, who emerged as the most impressive player on the field in these exchanges. And yet it was Beara left corner back Sean Walsh who made the biggest impression of the day with a miraculous stop and clearance in the fourth minute of the second half. Edmund Cleary had replaced Brendan Deasy at half time and he had scarcely broke sweat when he found himself in front of a yawning net with, apparently, only Beara goalkeeper Padraig Crowley to beat. However, Walsh appeared out of nowhere to grab the shot and clear the ball to safety.
It wasn't the only occasion that the Beara defence was in trouble in the second half but there were a number of other seemingly impossible blocks by the vigilant Beara defence by such as Paudie B O'Sullivan, Donagh Wiseman and Walsh himself, while Crowley in goal was immaculate in his handling of the high ball.
It is just that the teams have another day to contest the issue and Beara, who last won the championship 30 years ago, will be grateful for that.
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