2009

Carraig exit Junior A Championship after extra time defeat   East Cork Junior A Football Championship Quarter Final Sat 16th May, Lisgoold Carrigtwohill 0-13 Carraig na bhFear 0-08 (After Extra Time) Heartbreak for Carraig na bhFear Junior A Footballers, as Carrigtwohill advanced to the semi final of the East Cork Championship, with an extra time win in Lisgoold on Saturday night. Carraig will feel that this is one that got away. Although not a great performance, the team battled hard and with the game deep into injury time, Carraig lead by the minimum, but a last gasp point sent the match to extra time. Carraig opened the scoring in the first half, a Colm O'Reilly point from a free, but Carrigtwohill began to take control, withdrawing an extra man into defence and running well with the ball, causing the Carraig defence some problems and they levelled with a point from play soon afterwards. Carraig had the aid of the wind but created few chances in the opening half, but a great effort from Brian Hegarty put us back into the lead coming up to the mid way point of the half but again, Carrigtwohill replied with a minor of their own moments later. Carraig were coming to grips with the Carrigtwohill attacks, and neither side was finding chances easy to come by. Carraig took the lead again, with Paul Murphy, who was winning some excellent ball in attack, popping over a point. Carrigtwohill upped the pressure, while Carraigs play was not as fluent as it could have been and in the final minutes of the half, Carrigtwohill scored two points to take the lead for the first time. Carraig came out a different side for the second half, with better passing and movement carving open the Carrigtwohill defence. Colm O'Reilly, Paul Murphy and Aidan Sheehan all pointed in the opening ten minutes to put Carraig into a two point lead. The middle part of the half saw both sides hitting some poor wides, with both defences on top. Martin Hickey was having a great game at the heart of the Carraig defence, well assisted by Dee O'Driscoll and Bernard Murphy but Carrigtwohill closed the gap to one, before Colm O'Reilly scored another point to keep the gap at two with ten minutes remaining. Carraig were dealt a blow shortly afterwards when Shane Horgan was sent off for a second yellow card offence. The resulting free was brilliantly intercepted by Paul Murphy, but after a great run towards goal, his shot narrowly drifted wide of the upright and a good goal chance went abegging. Carrigtwohill pushed forward in search of a score, and they won a free 25 yards out which was pointed to close the gap to one. On the next attack, another free was conceded which lead to the equaliser, approaching full time. From the kickout, a great fetch by Bernard Murphy set up a Carraig attack, and after some great work by the forwards, Colm O'Reilly kicked a fine effort between the posts to put Carraig into the lead. There was time for one more attack however, and as Carrigtwohill drove forward, a somewhat questionable free was awarded, which was pointed sending the game to extra time, the sides level 0-08 a piece at full time. The opening half of extra time was all one way traffic, Carrigtwohill taking control from the off. They notched over two early points, and after soaking up some more pressure as Carraig tried to respond, they followed this up with two more points to give them a commanding four point lead, 0-12 to 0-08. On the turnover, Carraig drove forward in an attempt to get back into the game, but despite creating four scoreable chances, no scores were added and the gap remained. Try as they might, Carraig could no break down the resolute Carrigtwohill defence. Carrigtwohill added another point on the counter attack with time running out, to leave the final score Carrigtwohill 0-13 Carraig na bhFear 0-08. Team: Michael Geaney Tomás Sheehan, Diarmuid O'Driscoll, Stephen casey Richard Mullins, Matthew Browne, Timmy Geaney Martin Hickey, Shane Horgan Brian Hegarty, Bernard Murphy, Con Burns Paul Murphy, Colm O'Reilly, Aidan Sheehan Subs: 1st Half: Paul O’Keefe for Timmy Geaney inj 2nd Half: Ronan Spillane for Aidan Sheehan Extra Time: Eamon Bowen for Shane Horgan (red card replacement) Aidan Sheehan  for Brian Hegarty Timmy Geaney for Richard Mullins Scorers: C. O'Reilly 0-04 (0-01 frees), P. Murphy 0-2, B. Hegarty, A. Sheehan 0-1 each. A's edge out Aghada   09/05/2009 A good display from a depleted Carraig side saw our Junior A Footballers take the points from Aghada in this Division 1 football league tie in Rostellan on Friday 8th May. Carraig started well and early points from Colm O'Reilly and Paul Murphy gave us an early lead. Aghada responded with two points from frees, before they got in for an early goal on ten minutes to put them 1-02 to 0-02 ahead. From here until half time though, Carraig were dominant. WIlliam Spillane, Shane Horgan and Colm O'Reilly caused the home side alot of problems, and points from O'Reilly, Eamon Bowen and Con Burns saw Carraig level the game again. As the half wore on Carraigs play became more direct, and a good break out of the back line, started by Daniel Coleman, saw Tony Dunne finish to the back of the net from close range to put Carraig back in front. Another point before the short whistle saw Carraig lead 1-06 to 1-02 at the interval. In the second half, Aghada started the better side, and had the first three points of the half in the opening 10 minutes. Carraig extended the lead with a point from Paul Murphy, but Aghada came back again to close the margin to the minimum. At this point, Carraig were down to 14 as Daniel Coleman had to depart with an injury, and a reshuffle was required.  Aghada piled on the pressure, but some excellent defending from the full forward line back denied them clear chances. Stephen Casey and Jason Noonan were strong in the heart of the defence, while Con Burns and Nicky Pike carried the ball well and put the pressure back on the home side. Aghada levelled the scores from a free, before a patient Carraig attack lead to a point to put us back in front. The closing five minutes saw Carraig extend the lead to two points, before a late Aghada attack saw a free drop just under the crossbar, where Tony Dunne deflected the ball clear and Tomás Sheehan gathered to take it away from the danger area. Carraig held on and at the final whistle the score read Carraig na bhFear 1-09 Aghada 1-07. Team: Cian Dorgan Tomás Sheehan, Jason Noonan, Richard Mullins William Spillane, Stephen Casey, Daniel Coleman Shane Horgan, Nicky Pike Con Burns, Tony Dunne, Aidan Sheehan Paul Murphy, Eamon Bowen, Colm O'Reilly Carraig overcome Castlelyons in first round   15/03/2009 Venue: Ballynoe East Cork Junior A Football Championship First Round: Carraig na bhFear 0-10 Castlelyons 0-09 The Junior A footballers recorded a narrow win over Castlelyons in the opening round of the 2009 East Cork Junior A Football Championship on Sunday. The match was played in perfect conditions in Ballynoe. Carraig got off to a good start and had the opening point after two minutes through full forward Eamon Bowen. Playing with the aid of the wind, Carraig, through Aidan Sheehan, added to this soon afterwards and some good work by the forwards lead to Colm O'Reilly pointing a free on five minutes to put us three points to the good. Castlelyons opened their account with a converted free on 10 minutes. The sides then traded a point each from frees in the middle period of the half, as both defences began to get on top. When Carraig did find their rythym, a good ball out of defence saw Paul O'Keeffe break clear of his marker and convert an excellent point off his right boot after a fine run. The same payer had another point soon afterwards, this time off his left foot, to extend Carraigs lead to four. Martin Hickey was having a big influence at midfield and after a driving run, he converted another well taken point coming up to half time. Carraig were on top approaching the break, another point from wing back Con Burns increasing the margin, but our opponents had the last score of the half, a well taken point from their corner forward leaving the score Carraig 0-08 Castlelyons 0-03 at the break. The second half saw an almost complete turnaround in fortunes for both sides. Castlelyons dominated from the off, denying Carraig time and space and making life difficult for our defence. This lead to a number of handling mistakes and Castleyons punished these with two early points to trim the margin. When Carraig did break forward, Paul O'Keeffe was dragged back while clean through and Colm O'Reilly pointed the resulting free into the wind. A long barren spell followed, during which both teams were guilty of some poor passing and shooting, but it was Castlelyons who were making inroads into our lead, two frees and a point from play saw the margin reduced to a point with ten minutes remaining. To the teams credit, Carraig bounced back and O'Reilly pointed another close range free to put us two in front with five minutes to go. Castlelyons continued to press and had another point from play, and there followed six frantic minutes of injury time where our opponents bombarded our goal. The Carraig defence, lead by Dee O'Driscoll, Bernard Murphy and Stephen Casey, was not found wanting and at the final whistle, a relieved Carraig had held on for a narrow win. Final score Carraig 0-10 Castlelyons 0-09. The team will know that they will have to up the ante considerably in the coming weeks if they are to advance further in this competition. We now enter the draw for the third round, while Castlelyons now take the backdoor route. Team: Michael Geaney, Jason Noonan, Dee O'Driscoll, Stephen Casey Richard Mullins, Bernard Murphy, Con Burns Shane Horgan, Martin Hickey Aidan Sheehan, Colm O'Reilly, Ronan Spillane Paul O'Keeffe, Eamon Bowen, Barrie Casey Subs used: Paul Murphy for Barrie Casey, Daniel Coleman for Richard Mullins. Scorers: C. O'Reilly 0-04 (frees), P. O'Keeffe 0-02, M.Hickey, C.Burns, A.Sheehan, E. Bowen 0-01 each. Carraig in control against Carrigtwohill   04/03/2009 Carraigs Junior B's travelled to Carrigtwohill on Monday night in the third round of the Junior Football League division 3. Boosted by the availability of a number of players returning from injury, Carraig fielded a strong line up with most of last years championship winning side available. Carraig got off to the perfect start and within two minutes Brian Twomey had the ball in the back of the net following good work by John O'Sullivan and Bryan Galvin. A pointed free from Bertie Sheehan moments later extended the lead as Carraig were making all the running and Nicky Pike was dominating matters at midfield. Another goal soon inside the first five minutes from Bryan Galvin set Carraig on their way as the Carrigtwohill challenge failed to materialise. John Vaughan and Noel Mullins were on top in the half back line, well assisted by Conor Hegarty. Carrigtwohill did add a frew points before Carraig added further goals from Twomey and O'Sullivan, along with points from Galvin, O'Sullivan, Aidan Sheehan and the hardworking William Spillane to leave the half time scoreline 4-7 to 0-03. The second half continued in a similar pattern, with Carraig making a number of substitutions but continuing to control the game. A number of good early chances were wasted but points from O'Sullivan, Twomey, Hegarty and Spillane, together with three more goals via Twomey, Noel Bowen and a penalty from Bertie Sheehan meant the result was never in doubt. Carrigtwohill did score a late penalty, the ball just getting beyond the outstretched dive of keeper Noel Finneran. The final score read Carraig na bhFear 7-13 Carrigtwohill 1-07. This was a good performance from the team and with the league now taking a break, this team will be focusing on the opening round of the Championship, in late April or May, when they will begin the defence of their title against Ballinacurra. Team: Noel Finneran John Walsh, Pat Walsh, Stephen Cahill Tomás Sheehan, John Vaughan, Noel Mullins Nicky Pike, Conor Hegarty Bertie Sheehan, Aidan Sheehan, John O'Sullivan William Spillane, Brian Twomey, Bryan Galvin Subs: Jason Noonan, Darren Noonan, Mark Crowley, Noel Bowen, Tony Dunne,Andrew Pike, Barrie Casey Carraig bow out to Glanmire   28/03/2009 East Cork Under 21 A Football Championship semi final Venue: Glenville Glanmire 2-12 Carraig na bhFear 1-04 A strong second half performance saw Glanmire qualify for the East Cork Under 21 Football Championship final as they overpowered Carraig na bhFear in the semi final in Glenville last Saturday. Playing against the strong wind in the first half, Carraig made the better start of the two sides and took an early lead with a point from a free. Glanmire began to come into the game and with their full forward line looking dangerous, they kicked four unanswered points in a ten minute spell to leave them three points to the good after fifteen minutes. But lead by Timmy Geaney, Martin Hickey and Paul O'Keeffe, Carraig found their feet again. A second point of the match, scored by the lively Brian Twomey, cut the lead to two before the move of the match saw Carraig take the lead. A quick free found midfielder Michael Minihane on the forty, his well time layoff opened up the Glanmire defence for Paul O'Keeffe, and he finished brilliantly past the outstretched reach of the keeper from 20 yards to give Carraig the lead again. Carraig were now on top and passing well, created more chances but did not convert all of them. A point a piece from O'Keeffe and full forward Barrie Casey put Carraig three points in front at the short whistle and in a strong position. When the match resumed Carraig, with the aid of the wind, had some early pressure but failed to convert some good chances. Glanmire were beginning to dominate around the middle sector of the field however and the pressure on the Carraig defence increased. Five minutes into the half, the game was level when a break from Glanmire saw a shot from their corner forward come back off the upright but the ball fell straight to a Glanmire man who finished low to the net. The momentum had now swung back to Glanmire and they kicked over three quick points in succession as Carraig struggled to pick up any breaks from kickouts. Another point for Glanmire was followed by a goal on the break when a long ball beat the Carraig defence, to leave the score 2-08 to 1-04 with just over ten minutes to go. Carraig tried hard to get back into the game but despite the best efforts of Martin Hickey, Tyrone Kennedy and Richard Mullins they could not break through the Glanmire rearguard. Glanmire kicked four points in the closing stages to seal their win, and they move on to the East Cork final where they face either Aghada or Youghal. Final Score Glanmire 2-12 Carraig na bhFear 1-04 Team: Cian Dorgan Richard Mullins, Daniel Coleman, Jason Noonan Darren Noonan, Tyrone Kennedy, Timmy Geaney Martin Hickey, Michael Minihane Paul O'Keeffe, John O'Sullivan, Brian Twomey Mark Crowley, Barrie Casey, Ronan Spillane Subs: Daniel Foley for Mark Crowley Referee: Ger McSweeney (Glenville) Clinical Carraig advance to semi final   21/03/2009 Carraigs Under 21 footballers got their 2009 campaign off to a great start with a comprehensive eight point defeat of Carrigtwohill in the opening round at Ballynoe on Saturday 21st March. Carraig opened brightly and an early free was converted from close range by Brian Twomey. Carrigtwohill fielded a physically strong team and they levelled from a free after four minutes, before they took the lead soon afterwards with a good point from play as they broke through the Carraig defence. This was cancelled out almost immediately as a good break from the back lead to midfielder Michael Minihane converting a point from 20 yards in front of the posts to level the scores once again. With our defence getting on top, lead by the excellent Tyrone Kennedy at centre back, the forwards began to create more chances, with Barrie Casey, Daniel Foley and Ronan Spillane showing well inside. The latter found Timmy Geaney breaking forward from wing back and he finished expertly to give Carraig a lead they were not to surrender. Shortly afterwards, Paul O'Keeffe, who was in great form,  won a ball on the right wing, his angled run opened up the Carrigtwohill defence, before he passed to Ronan Spillane who found the extra man in Barrie Casey who rattled the back of the net despite the attentions of the onrushing keeper to give us a crucial goal on ten minutes. On the next attack, O'Keeffe found himself in space and he finished well to get his first point of the match. Another quick Carraig break on fifteen minutes lead to a point for Barrie Casey, as a gap began to open between the teams. This gap however, was cut when a long free out of the Carrigtwohill defence deceived the defence and allowed the full forward to steal a march on everyone, before he finished well past the outstretched Cian Dorgan in goal, to bring them right back into the game. A scoring drought followed for the next ten minutes, as both teams put in a massive effort to wrestle control of the match from each other. When a point did come, it came for Carraig with a point from a free by Barrie Casey, after Paul O'Keeffe was brought down on his way to goal. Midfielder Martin Hickey finished a good move for Carraig shortly before half time, to leave the scores Carraig na bhFear 1-07 Carrigtwohill 1-02 at the interval. Carraig started the second half as well as they finished the first. Paul O'Keeffe broke forward and scored his second point of the game, before substitute Mark Crowley, introduced at the break, picked up a loose ball and finished smartly over the bar soon afterwards. Carraig were doing all the early pressing and Barrie Casey found the target again to give us an eight point lead, but Carrigtwohill took advantage on the counter attack to pull a goal back and keep the game alive with ten minutes gone in the half. The response was instant though, within five minutes, the goal had been cancelled out, with points from John O'Sullivan and two from O'Keeffe, one off either foot, putting Carraig back in the driving seat. Carrigtwohill added their first point of the half on 17 minutes, but any hope of a comeback was quenched soon afterwards. Timmy Geaney ghosted up from wing back and a great team move saw the ball arrive to him 10 yards out from goal, and he finished emphatically to the roof of the net for our second goal. Carraigtwohill responded with a pointed free, but Paul O'Keeffe capped off a man of the match display with his fifth point of the evening, before Brian Twomey scored a point from close range after a goal chance had come back off the upright for Carraig. Credit to Carrigtwohill who never gave up, and they had the last score of the game as they goaled in the last minute. But there was no doubting the result, Carraig winning on a scoreline of 2-15 to 3-04. The team now move on to the semi final stage, where they will face a repeat of last years match against Glanmire, in what is sure to be a close affair again. Team: Cian Dorgan Richard Mullins, Jason Noonan, Daniel Coleman Darren Noonan, Tyrone Kennedy, Timmy Geaney Martin Hickey, Michael Minihane Paul O'Keeffe, John O'Sullivan, Brian Twomey Daniel Foley, Ronan Spillane, Barrie Casey Subs: Mark Crowley for Daniel Foley John Walsh for Jason Noonan Scores: B. Casey 1-03 (0-1 frees), P. O'Keeffe 0-5, T.Geaney 1-01, B.Twomey 0-02 (0-01 frees), J.O'Sullivan, M.Hickey, M.Minihane, M.Crowley 0-01 each Minors defeat Scarriff Gaels 08/03/2008 Carraig na bhFear 1-11 Scarriff Gaels 1-8 The Minor footballers continued where they left off against Killeagh last week with another win in the league, this time against Scarriff Gaels (Cloyne & Ballinacurra). The game was played in Colaiste an Chroi Naofa after the wet weather of the last week, and both sides had to make the best of windy conditions in what was a close competitive game. The sides went in level at the interval, at 0-4 a piece, Carraigs scores coming from a John O'Sullivan free, Brian Twomey and Cian Dorgan, who scored 2 points from full forward in the opening half. Carraig only got the edge on their opponents in the second half, with John O'Sullivan adding another free early on, Brian Twomey added a point, Scarriff responded with 2 points of their own to keep it in the balance. Then both sides exchanged goals. Carraigs came from the boot of Rory McCarthy, who finished well following some good team work. From here to the finish, Scarriff only added one more point, while Carraig added 5 points in the closing stages, from Brian Twomey (3) and Cian Dorgan (2), to run out winners on a scoreline of 1-11 to 1-8. Team: Edward Tynan Joseph O'Donovan, Shane O'Reilly, Paul Geaney John Walsh, Jason Noonan, Seamus Murphy Noel Mullins, John O'Sullivan Kieran Crowley, Brian Twomey, Redmond Geaney Rory McCarthy, Cian Dorgan, Aaron Dorgan Subs: Robert O'Driscoll for Kieran Crowley John Healy for Seamus Murphy Owen Keating for Aaron Dorgan James Cahill for Paul Geaney Tom Hegarty for Rory McCarthy Scorers: Brian Twomey 0-5 (0-1 free), Cian Dorgan 0-4, Rory McCarthy 1-0, John O'Sullivan 0-2 frees. First league win for Minors 01/03/2008 Carraig na bhFear 2-14 Killeagh/Ita's 0-4 A confident performance from the Minors saw them run out deserved winners against Killeagh/Ita's in the second round of the Minor A football league played in Killeagh. Carraig dominated the game against their understrength hosts and picked up their first win of the campaign with the win. Hopefully they can build on this performance for their next match. Defeat for Minors in opening match 24/02/08 Carraig na bhFear 1-5 Carrigtwohill 2-8 The minors began the defence of their league title on sunday last with defeat against Carrigtwohill. Carraig na bhFear started the better of the two sides and aided by the wind led at half time on a scoreline of 1-4 to 1-1. However, Carrigtwohill started the second half strongly and took control of the game when they scored 1-2 inside the opening 10 miinutes of the half. Carraig fought back well but found the visitors defence hard to break down and in the end, Carrigtwohill ran out winners by 6 points. Carraig had good performances by Brian Twomey, Robert O'Driscoll, John Walsh and Noel Mullins and despite the loss they can take many positives from the performance. Next up for the minors is a trip to Killeagh to take on Killeagh/Itas in the league next weekend. Scorers: Brian Towmey 1-1, John O'Sullivan, Kieren Crowley, Rory McCarthy  and Redmond Geaney 0-1 each