Uibh Laoire Triumphs Over Bantry Blues in McCarthy Insurance PIFC

Uibh Laoire are safely through to the knock-out stages of the McCarthy Insurance PIFC, and they did it the hard, emphatic way in Ballingeary.

Last year’s runners-up, already buoyed by a win over Glanmire, brushed aside Bantry Blues with a ruthless attacking display that leaves them eyeing a possible semi-final spot if they can finish the group with another victory. Bantry, by contrast, are staring straight at the relegation playoffs after back-to-back defeats, still without a point following their opening loss to Rockchapel.

This was Uibh Laoire at full tilt. At the heart of it all, Cork forward Chris Óg Jones ran the show, finishing with a superb 1-8 and dictating the tempo in the final third. His brother Ian Jones and the sharp-moving Cathal Vaughan backed him up, constantly stretching a Bantry defence that never quite got to grips with them.

Bantry arrived shorn of Cork man Dara Sheedy through injury, and they could have done with his composure once the game turned frantic.

Goals from the off

The afternoon exploded into life inside 40 seconds. Bantry struck first, Arthur Coakley reacting quickest when Billy Sheehan’s shot was parried by Joe Creedon, smashing the rebound to the net.

Jack Sheedy, brother of the absent Dara, tacked on a point and Uibh Laoire suddenly trailed by four before they had even settled. They didn’t panic.

With three minutes on the clock, Sean O’Leary sliced through and slipped a pass to Ian Jones, who buried Uibh Laoire’s first goal. The response lit a fire. Points from Chris Óg and Vaughan soon had it level at 1-2 apiece after just five breathless minutes.

The momentum had swung. A minute later, Sam Pickering carved open Bantry again and teed up Chris Óg for Uibh Laoire’s second goal. Bantry hit back through Sheedy, but Pickering answered with a two-pointer at the other end to keep the Muskerry men in the ascendancy.

Scores from Kevin Casey and Ruairí Deane dragged Bantry back into it, 2-4 to 1-5 after a quarter of an hour. Uibh Laoire pushed on once more, two more points from the unerring Chris Óg stretching the lead, only for Sheehan and Coakley to keep Bantry within touching distance.

The game kept swinging. On 24 minutes, Bantry surged again. Mark Óg O’Sullivan played a sharp one-two with Sean O’Leary and crashed home their second goal, nudging them 2-7 to 2-6 in front. Briefly, the West Cork side were back on top.

Not for long. Chris Óg levelled, Ian Jones nudged Uibh Laoire ahead, and then Coakley, so dangerous all afternoon, nailed the final point of the half to send the sides in level at 2-8 each. It was chaotic, compelling, and wide open.

Uibh Laoire pull clear

On the restart, Uibh Laoire tightened their grip. J Sweeney clipped the first score of the second half, and Pickering, thriving in the pockets of space, struck his second two-pointer to open daylight between the teams.

Bantry refused to fold. Coakley and Conor Cronin fired back, and with 37 minutes gone Uibh Laoire’s lead was down to two, 2-12 to 2-10. The contest still hung in the balance.

Then came the turning point.

Two minutes later, Vaughan drove at the heart of the Bantry defence and let fly. His effort took a deflection off a Bantry defender and flew in for Uibh Laoire’s third goal, stretching the gap to 3-12 to 2-10. From that moment, the hill in front of Bantry looked too steep.

They did create the chances to make it interesting. Twice they carved out goal openings, both falling to the Coakleys. Arthur’s opportunity, the clearer of the two, drifted narrowly wide, while Kevin’s effort also missed the target. Those misses drained belief.

Uibh Laoire showed no such wastefulness. Two more points from the relentless Chris Óg widened the margin again. Arthur Coakley and Paddy Cronin kept Bantry’s tally moving, but they were trading points while chasing goals.

Ian Jones pushed it out to 3-16 to 2-12 as the clock wound down, and fittingly it was Chris Óg who had the final say, clipping the last two points of the game to close his 1-8 haul and seal Uibh Laoire’s passage to the knockouts in style.

Bantry now face a fight to preserve their status, while Uibh Laoire, with their attack humming and their Cork star in full flow, look like a side intent on going one better than last year.