Relieved Cappincur relegate Ballycumber in real survival of the fittest test

A TOUGH uncompromising Offaly Senior “B” Football Championship relegation play off in Clara on Sunday saw a relieved Cappincur find a head of steam late on to relegate Ballycumber.

Tullamore Court Hotel Senior “B” Football Championship relegation play off

Cappincur 1-15

Ballycumber 3-7

The result was no surprise but Cappincur were made fight every inch of the way by a highly motivated Ballycumber who go down with their heads held high.

Sucking air the whole year, Ballycumber were not far off a great win but ultimately they go back on merit and that may serve them best in the short term.

Relegation would have been a disaster for Cappincur who were favourites to make the semi-final but saw their season unravel as it progressed. A key factor here was Bill Carroll playing a full game for the first time this year and they certainly needed him to survive as he scored seven points and showed real quality at times.

However, it won't be lost on Cappincur that the results have not lied this year and at the moment, they are much closer to an intermediate standard than senior team. They fielded a team with a few players in the tailend of their careers, a couple short of full fitness and they needed all of these to win. Without an injection of quality young blood, they will be only deferring a return to the third tier but it was important for them to stay up and they will be very happy with the outcome.

It wasn't simple though as they produced a shambolic first half display. Their work rate wasn't high enough and the quality of their football left a lot to be desired as harmless wides were kicked, ball carelessly ballooned away to no one.

The intensity of the first half was matched by the mediocrity of the football and Ballycumber gave themselves a fighting chance with a 2-2 to 0-4 half time lead. Their football wasn't quite as poor as Cappincur's but that was more because they had way less possession.

Goals from Colm Egan in the 10th minute and Jamie Cornally two minutes later separated the sides at the break. Egan's goal was a quality strike but Cornally's was a calamity for Cappincur as they just didn't defend a Gary Larkin punt at a two pointer and Cornally punched to the net.

Bill Carroll's excellent two pointer got Cappincur going early in the second half but they conceded a third goal in the 35th minute, Cathal Guinan driving to the net. That gave Ballycumber a 3-2 to 0-7 lead but the fact that they had more goals than points scored showed that they were in serious bother.

Joe Lowry's free put them on an even split of points and goals in the 44th minute and kept them ahead, 3-3 to 0-11 but Ballycumber died a death for the next ten minutes. The introduction of effective subs helped Cappincur and by the time Ballycumber got their fourth point in injury time, the winners had their status secure.

Ballycumber did have one great chance to perhaps break Cappincur's spirit when Colm Daly raced throygh on goal in the 49th minute with the sides still level. It looked like the right man in the right place as Egan is generally a deadly finisher in this position but he shot a bit early as well as not getting full power behind it and Cappincur breathed again.

With the gun to their head, Cappincur did produce as Ger Treacy (free), Peter Norris, Bill Carroll (free) and Sean Courtney got them 0-15 to 3-3 ahead with four minutes left. The goal they had been threatening finally arrived in the 59th minute, Eoin Carroll making a great fetch and off loading to Igor Daly, just on the field a few seconds, and he stroked to the net.

That meant that Ballycumber's late injury time rally with points from play from Gary Larkin and Colm Egan and an Egan two point free was futile and Cappincur did not have to panic as they retained a two score gap until Egan's last strike, which was the penultimate kick of the game.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Eoin Carroll (Cappincur): Bill Carroll provided the X factor for Cappincur and they may not have survived without him but older brother Eoin is the man of the match selection. Alternating between full forward and midfield, he played a real leadership role. He was strong and forceful, on and off the ball. He told team mates where to go and his desire was instrumental to team mates in the second half in particular.

Their first cousin Diarmuid Carroll was also immense in defence while Conor Daly was a man of the match contender for Ballycumber, carrying a lot of ball forward and Cathal Guinan was excellent in the first half.

THE SCORERS

Cappincur: Bill Carroll 0-7 (1 x 2p, 1 x 2pf, 2f), Ger Treacy 0-3 (2f), Igor Faly 1-0, Diarmuid Carroll, Sean Courtney, Jason Gethings, Peter Norris, Brian Norris 0-1 each.

Colm Egan 1-3 (1 x 2pf), Cathal Guinan 1-2, Jamie Cornally 1-0, Joe Lowry (f) and Gary Larkin 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

CAPPINCUR: Peter Daly; Ollie Hayes, Diarmuid Carroll, Tommy Leavy; Sean Flynn, Brion Carroll, Sean Graham; Jason Gethings, Adam Galvin; Hubert Healion, Ger Treacy, Michael Fitzgerald; Brian Norris; Eoin Carroll, Bill Carroll. Subs – Sean Courtney for Flynn, inj. (28m), Peter Norris for Gethings (46m), Ciaran Farrell for Treacy (50m), Igor Daly for Fitzgerald (58m).

BALLYCUMBER: Oisin Carroll; Harry Champ, Ethan Keena, Adam Daly; Clive Keena, John Egan, Conor Daly; Cathal Guinan, Sean Creevy; Marcus Keena, Colm Egan, Keith Lawlor; Gary Larkin, Jamie Cornally, Joe Lowry. Subs - Cormac Quinn for Creevy (46m), Aaron Daly for Cornally) (55m).

Referee – Fergal Smyth, Kilclonfert.

REFEREE WATCH

Fergal Smyth refereed it well and with no issues. Once again, he let play run, allowed physicality and applied it consistently. If he blew for every foul, it would have been an extremely stop start game. He did engage with the Ballycumber mentors a couple of times early on and maybe, he could have just ignored it – a couple were vociferous but it was just passion, didn't descend into abuse and they didn't do much wrong.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Igor Daly's 59th minute goal settled the issue.

VENUE WATCH

Clara GAA have developed a fantastic ground. It is a hive of activity with playing pitches and facilities that are the envy of most others. They have full floodlights and work on a new stand at their main pitch is progressing. They have set the template for what a club with ambition and the right personnel driving things on can achieve. As usual, they hosted this fixture perfectly with plenty of stewards in attendance, even though their senior footballers had a big quarter-final looming at 3pm in Tullamore – some of those footballers were among the attendance, and were there to help out if needed.

WHAT'S NEXT

This game ended the season for both clubs.

STATISTICS

Wides: Cappincur – 10 (5 in first half); Ballycumber – 5 (4 in first half).

Yellow cards: Cappincur – 0; Ballycumber – 1 (Keith Lawlor).

Black cards: 0

Red cards: 0