1946

Bantry regain the title

Kicked pass reigns supreme in final

=========================================================  

 

South-West Junior Football Draws

The gradings were changed from Junior A and Junior B to Division 1 and Division 2.

Division 1 – Castlehaven v Bandon, St. Mary’s v Carbery Rangers, Clonakilty Jnrs v Dohenys, Skibbereen v Bantry, Drimoleague a bye (v winner Castlehaven v Bandon in Round 2).

 

SW  Division 1  Junior Football Championship 1946

Round 1  -  Bandon 0-7   Castlehaven 1-1        March 31st  in Clonakilty

This was Castlehaven’s first appearance in the SW junior A football championship and even though they had some fine individual players, they lacked combination. Bandon were better and faster on the day and led by 0-5 to 0-1 at the break. The Haven improved greatly in the second half, dominating much of the play but their persistence in going for goals was to cost them dearly. Some great passages of play were witnessed by the large crowd, with both defences well in control. Hayes opened the scoring for the Haven, playing with the wind but points from J. McCarthy, Readon and Collins had the Bandon men in front by 0-5 to 0-1 at the break.

 

Round 1  -  Bantry Blues 2-3   Skibbereen 0-3         March 31st  in the Marsh, Skibbereen (Report)

In a game of too many fouls, Bantry had a good mixture of youth and experienced players, while Skibb relied almost completely on a team of inexperienced young players.

 

Round 1  -  Carbery Rangers 0-6   St. Mary’s 0-4       April 7th  in Dunmanway

Play was fast and football of a good standard. Rangers led by five points at half time and had to withstand a lot of pressure in the second half to record their first championship win in a number of years. Robert Buttimer, Dohenys, was the referee.

 

Round 1  -  Clonakilty 3-4   Dohenys 0-1           May 19th  in Burgatia, Rosscarbery

A strong wind and heavy showers militated against any good play and the game was dull and scrappy. Clon were well on top all through as Dohenys missed numerous chances. Clon played against the elements in the first half but still led at half time by 0-3 to 0-1, the Clon points coming from Paddy Murphy, Regan and Tim Downey, with D. McCarthy pointing a Doheny free. Dohenys pressed hard on the resumption but found Clon goalkeeper, O’Driscoll, in unbeatable form and when Tim Downey scored a great goal, the game was over as a contest. P.J. O’Sullivan and J. McCarthy kicked two further goals for the winners, with Connor adding a point. Final score was 3-4 to 0-1. The referee was Sgt John Holmes, Rosscarbery.  Beast for Clon were J. O’Driscoll (goalkeeper), J. McCarthy, P. Colbert, N. O’Driscoll, T. Regan, J. Regan, J. Santry, P. J. O’Sullivan and T. Downey, while L. Grainger, K. Collins, J. Murphy, D. McCarthy, R. Buttimer, J. Crowley and E. Kelleher tried hard for Dohenys.

 

Round 2  -  Bandon beat Drimoleague

 

Semi-final  -  Bantry Blues beat Bandon

 

Semi-final   -  Carbery Rangers 3-3   Clonakilty 2-5     June 30th  in Ardfield

Two “soft” goals in the first half were instrumental propelling Rangers to a rather fortunate win over Clonakilty in a game which saw Clon enjoying majority possession but failing to penetrate a solid Rangers’ defence, especially in the closing stages when the Clon men applied a lot of pressure. Rangers were very effective up front and competed well at midfield where Lane was particularly good. J. McCarthy, W. Lalor, F. Duffy, F. Calnan and J. Donovan, were also prominent. For Clon, Tim Downey, H. Duggan, Jackie Regan, P. Colbert and J. Irwin stood out. Rangers led at half time by 3-1 to 1-3. The goals coming from Kelly (2) and Lane while Duggan had Clon’s goal. Scores were scarce in the second half as Clon staged a major comeback but the Rangers’ defence held out. Sullivan scored the only goal of that half. Final score was 3-3 to 2-5. The referee was Seán Griffin N.T.

 

SOUTH-WEST JUNIOR A FOOTBALL FINAL 1946

August 18th       in Dunmanway

Bantry Blues 2-5   Carbery Rangers 1-3

Played in unfavourable conditions, the final turned out to be a very scrappy affair as both teams concentrated on blotting out the opposition rather than playing their own game. Bantry won because they had much more cohesion than the Ross men, who never seemed to get it together as a team and whose fielding was very poor. Nine times out of ten Bantry used the kicked pass to great advantage and only used the handpass in extreme cases. Rangers had some fine individuals but had not been molded into a team.

     Making a comeback for Rangers in this final was veteran Jimmie McCarthy, hero of many a battle for Rangers a decade previously, and he gave a display that stood above all his team-mates. For Bantry the veterans Tim Harrington and Tim Cotter used all their previous senior experience to lead the Blues to victory.

      Only two points were scored in a hard-fought first half, both for Bantry by M. Fitzgerald and it was 0-2 to nil at half time. Connor increased Bantry’s lead after the break and Ross finally opened their account with a fisted point. Lane narrowed the gap to a single point and Fitzgerald answered for the Blues. When Lane beat two backs to rattle the Bantry net excitement was at fever-pitch but it was Bantry who finished the stronger with a point from Duffy and a fisted goal from Donovan, following a fifty by Hazel.

       Final score was 2-5 to 1-3.

 

 

 

 

 

Timmy Cotter, Bantry Blues 

 

 

 

Dannie McCarthy, Bantry Blues 

County Championship

Bantry met neighbours, Bere Island, in the county championship in Glengarriff on September 29th , but the game had to be called off due to a water-logged pitch. “The actual players were rather relieved as some of them considered themselves only very poor swimmers.”   Bere Island were led by the All-Ireland footballer, “Weeshie” Murphy and contained two county footballers, Brendan Murphy and John Downey. With the veteran Donal O’Sullivan, they backboned a formidable junior fifteen. Bantry were unable to do any serious training due to adverse weather conditions and were also missing a few regular players.

      The game was played on October 20th and on the day a pair of early goals by Bere Island proved decisive. Again weather conditions were atrocious, heavy rain falling all through on a water-logged pitch. Much of the play was on the ground and there was no score for ten minutes as the players grew accustomed to the conditions. Then Brere struck for two quick goals from Brendan Murphy and Markie Sullivan. To their credit Bantry battled back but could only muster a single point by half time, with “Weesh” Murphy outstanding at full back for the westerners.

     Bantry dominated the second half and two quick points narrowed the gap to a goal. There was great excitement in the last quarter as Bantry launched attack after attack but a superb Bere defence held solid to win by 2-0 to 0-3.

      Best for Bantry were Timmy Harrington, Pat Daly and J. Keane in defence; a young Kerry Lad, Riordan at midfield; and McCarthy, Walsh and Fitzgerald in attack. The referee was Seán Vaughan N.T., Kealkill.

     Bere Island later drew with and beat Dromtarriff in the county semi-final but lost the county final to St. Vincent’s by 3-6 to 1-4.

==================================================================================

 

County Junior Football Final 1946

St. Vincent's 3-6   Bere Island 1-4,  December 15th  in Ballingeary 

================================================================================