On a wet and windy bank holiday Monday night in Aghada, our footballers took on a strong Aghada team, which featured a number of their intermediate hurlers and footballers.
With the wind at our backs, we set to the task quickly with club minors Conor O'Riordan and Cormac Barry proving a lively handful for the Aghada backs. With Jamie Buckley, fresh fromq his Cork City Marathon exploits, and Murat Abdullah winning both good turnover ball and forcing frees in the early stages, it gave us a strong platform.
Veterans Pa O'Driscoll (in a roving role), and Michael Carey (not retired, but fresh from re-tyreing a silage pit hours earlier) supported the young side. Indeed, with James Bermingham as manager snarling at his Aghada counterparts on the sideline, comparisons were drawn to victorious Rovers football teams of yesteryear. All three (Pa, Mike and James) were involved in the epic U21 East Cork football final win over Lisgoold nearly a quarter of a century ago in 2001.
As the rain dribbled down, Adam Hynes at centre back dribbled forward and laid off some great ball. The notable scores of the opening half came from the very busy Ryan O'Callaghan and a phenomenal two-pointer free from Conor.
At the other end, Ben Hogan was unleashing his inner Caoimhín Kelleher (without the signing-on fee) with a string of top-class reaction saves. He would finish the game with a hard-earned, yet well-deserved, clean sheet.
The sides finished level at 0.5 to 0.5 at the short whistle, and facing the wind in the second half, it would be a case of all hands on a slippery deck.
Jake Tobin, Ciarán O'Dowd, and Jacob Powell took to the task admirably. Their experience in reading situations and being productive in possession has grown with each game and training session.
John O'Sullivan was again pivotal in working the ball out of defence while his midfield partner, Darragh O'Sullivan, was simply everywhere. From fielding high balls in midfield to settling a dust-up in the forward line on a night of no dust. From gel fueling flagging 42-year-olds at half-time to playing a delightful yet illegal pass to bring goalkeeper Ben Hogan into play, Darragh continues to be a towering and positive presence in the centre of the field.
Equally effective was Jordan Mannix. As well as intercepting Aghada attacks, his attitude to move forward and attack was key to our second half story. We clocked on a further two points against the wind and conceded six. This score did not reflect the flow of the game with the Rovers in the ascendancy in the balance of play. Final score of Aghada 0.11 Bride Rovers 0.07
Well done to all who pulled on the green white and gold across the seven-game league campaign. Next up is the East Cork JBFC from early/mid July, where we will face St. Catherine's, Fr O'Neills, Glenville, and Ballinacurra.
Team:
Ben Hogan
Jake Tobin
Jordan Mannix
Ciaran O'Dowd
Michael Carey
Adam Hynes
Jacob Powell
John O'Sullivan
Darragh O'Sullivan
Murat Abdullah
Cormac Barry
Jamie Buckley
Ryan O'Callaghan
Pa O'Driscoll
Conor O'Riordan
Management
James Bermingham
Michael Carey
With the wind at our backs, we set to the task quickly with club minors Conor O'Riordan and Cormac Barry proving a lively handful for the Aghada backs. With Jamie Buckley, fresh fromq his Cork City Marathon exploits, and Murat Abdullah winning both good turnover ball and forcing frees in the early stages, it gave us a strong platform.
Veterans Pa O'Driscoll (in a roving role), and Michael Carey (not retired, but fresh from re-tyreing a silage pit hours earlier) supported the young side. Indeed, with James Bermingham as manager snarling at his Aghada counterparts on the sideline, comparisons were drawn to victorious Rovers football teams of yesteryear. All three (Pa, Mike and James) were involved in the epic U21 East Cork football final win over Lisgoold nearly a quarter of a century ago in 2001.
As the rain dribbled down, Adam Hynes at centre back dribbled forward and laid off some great ball. The notable scores of the opening half came from the very busy Ryan O'Callaghan and a phenomenal two-pointer free from Conor.
At the other end, Ben Hogan was unleashing his inner Caoimhín Kelleher (without the signing-on fee) with a string of top-class reaction saves. He would finish the game with a hard-earned, yet well-deserved, clean sheet.
The sides finished level at 0.5 to 0.5 at the short whistle, and facing the wind in the second half, it would be a case of all hands on a slippery deck.
Jake Tobin, Ciarán O'Dowd, and Jacob Powell took to the task admirably. Their experience in reading situations and being productive in possession has grown with each game and training session.
John O'Sullivan was again pivotal in working the ball out of defence while his midfield partner, Darragh O'Sullivan, was simply everywhere. From fielding high balls in midfield to settling a dust-up in the forward line on a night of no dust. From gel fueling flagging 42-year-olds at half-time to playing a delightful yet illegal pass to bring goalkeeper Ben Hogan into play, Darragh continues to be a towering and positive presence in the centre of the field.
Equally effective was Jordan Mannix. As well as intercepting Aghada attacks, his attitude to move forward and attack was key to our second half story. We clocked on a further two points against the wind and conceded six. This score did not reflect the flow of the game with the Rovers in the ascendancy in the balance of play. Final score of Aghada 0.11 Bride Rovers 0.07
Well done to all who pulled on the green white and gold across the seven-game league campaign. Next up is the East Cork JBFC from early/mid July, where we will face St. Catherine's, Fr O'Neills, Glenville, and Ballinacurra.
Team:
Ben Hogan
Jake Tobin
Jordan Mannix
Ciaran O'Dowd
Michael Carey
Adam Hynes
Jacob Powell
John O'Sullivan
Darragh O'Sullivan
Murat Abdullah
Cormac Barry
Jamie Buckley
Ryan O'Callaghan
Pa O'Driscoll
Conor O'Riordan
Management
James Bermingham
Michael Carey
