Under 15's League Semi-Final

Saturday 18th February 2012

Venue:Templehill, Cork

Cork Constitution 8 - Bantry Bay 7

The under fifteen league semi-final was held in Cork Constitution grounds on Saturday the 18th February. Bantry Bay came into this match with a team that have been improving all year. Realistically they would have been considered underdogs against the might of Cork Con. However, anyone at the game went away with a very different opinion, as the Bantry Bay boys stretched the Cork Con side to breaking point.

            Bantry were wind assisted in the first half and pinned Con Back inside their half for much of this period. They really should have built a lead as they threatened the Cork Con line with line breaks and driving mauls. Con held out through a mixture of good defence and Bantry Bay passes going astray at the vital moment. Cork Con went in at half time 3 - 0 up.

            Cork Con started the second half with a different strategy, kicking a lot of ball in the first half, they realised they were going nowhere with Killian O’Sullivan running ball back at them and making great ground. So they ran everything in the second half and dominated the first ten minutes. Bantry’s defence was tremendous during this period, the entire team tackled manfully as con ran through everything.

            Bantry Bay then got up to the pace of the game and after great mauling by the Bantry forwards, and a break by Dylan Murphy, and offload to Kieran O’Sullivan and with Ian Hurley there to drive him in, Bantry Scored their try, Converted by Seán McCarthy. 7 - 3 to Bantry.

            Then the play went from end to end. The Bantry defence was excellent, with Michael Casey and Philip Walters very sound in the middle of the pitch. Then a controversial decision by the referee changed the course of the game. Bantry were out just short of their 22 with a scrum awarded to them. The referee then over-ruled his own decision and gave Cork Con a penalty. The Bantry boys couldn’t understand this and dropped their guard. Cork Con took a quick penalty and drove to the line to score 8 - 7 to Con.

            With eight minutes left, Bantry threw everything at Cork Con, but just couldn’t break down their defence. Con ran out winners in an action packed final five minutes.

            The refs decision had a big bearing on this match. The Bantry scrum had the upper hand all day and it is probable they would have won this scrum and cleared their lines. The overturning of his initial decision came because a Bantry mentor, 20 yards away from the action, was outside the technical area. Our investigation of the rules and bye laws lead us to understand that the sanction open to the ref is to put the person behind the safety barrier, not to penalise the team on the field of play for something they had no control of.

            This left a sour taste on what was an action packed sporting encounter. Needless to mention, Cork Con mentors were as guilty as the Bantry mentors for this offence!

Team:
01 - Joe Doyle, 02 - Kieran O’Sullivan, 03 - Dylan Murphy, 04 - Kevin Holland, 05 - Fineen Wycherly, 06 - Tadgh McCarthy, 07 - Liam Cronin, 08 - Ian Hurley, 09 - Owen McIllhenny, 10 - Seán McCarthy, 11 - Philip O’Shea, 12 - Shane Shannon, 13 - Phil Walters, 14 - Michael Casey, 15 - Killian O’Sullivan

Subs:
Thomas O’Donovan, Shane Harrington, Danny Hutchinson, James Murphy, Fergal O’Sullivan, Arthur Coakley, Tony Harrington, Jack O’Sullivan, Tristan Coakley, Paudie O’Sullivan

Coaches: Tony McIlhenny & James Hegarty.
Sponsor: Vincie McCarthy (The Anchor, Bantry)