Castlehaven 1-17 Kilbrittain 0-07

Wednesday April 8th Div 1 Football League For all images from the match see Match Photos here > Kilbrittain hosted Castlehaven in their third match of the league on a dry bright evening in Clashavanna. A light breeze greeted both teams and favoured Kilbrittain in the first half. Castlehaven had the better opening quarter with five points on the board to Kilbrittain's one from wing-forward Ronan Crowley. Then the tide turned and while Castlehaven had a lot of possession, Kilbrittain made good use of the breaks they made and so began their purple patch. Conor Ustianowski (Usti) stood over the ball for Kilbrittain's only scored free of the match which he took well from 45 meters out. Next, the opposite corner-forward Mark Hickey veered in from the sideline, passing to Josh O'Donovan who mastered the ball well and pointed over. Another point, from O'Donovan, could've made it's way onto the scoreboard moments later, after a quickly taken sideline by Shaye Ustianowski (Shusti) found O'Donovan free and running deep into Castlehaven territory. Finding his way blocked he passed off to Crowley who drew O'Donovans mark. Crowley tapped it back to the now free O'Donovan who fisted the ball for a point. It hit the bar and rebounded. In a tussle with the goalkeeper, he gave away a free before he belted the ball over the bar. The point was withdrawn and a free given.

Josh O'Donovan gallantly races into Castlehaven territory.

Despite Castlehaven winning back possession, Kilbrittain's defence did well and Charlie Kenny brought the ball out of the backline to Crowley on the wing. He raced forward and offloaded to Usti who boldly ran at the Castlehaven defence, his frame hard to get a handle on, Charles Atlas himself, drawing multiple blue and white striped bodies to try and stop him. Crowley, now running freely inside, accepted Usti's pass and converted for Kilbrittain's fourth point of the night. There was now just a point between the teams and a well deserved scoreline for Kilbrittain given how hard they had to work to get it.

Conor Ustianowski keeps possession for Kilbrittain. Castlehaven managed a reply through their corner forward down the other end to keep two points between the teams but then O'Donovan was back on the rampage. He was one of whom, it might be noted, did well not to step back from any man during the match and instead attacked every ball to his credit, perhaps sometimes he attacked a little too hard, but his gall at running at Castlehaven paid dividends throughout, turning over ball and winning possession or more importantly scoring points. Crowley and Colm Sheehan also did well in this regard.

Colm Sheehan drives through his mark ball in hand.

O'Donovan, being hounded, passed to Mark O'Shea on the wing who brought the ball further toward the square before passing back to the talisman who made good on the offload, popping the ball neatly over the bar. Kilbrittain were now just a point down with minutes left in the first half. Castlehaven were not going to let this challenge go unfought however. It was one of their backs who managed to break through Kilbrittain's lines next and he ran the ball almost all the way to the square unchallenged before he lobbed it through the uprights. Another point followed from a free.

We had it that the westerners had another point here, which at this stage would have had them ahead 0-09 to 0-05, however when the referee would blow his whistle minutes later, he had them marked for just 8. Before that though, Kilbrittain made one final push for the half. This time Aaron Holland marshalled possession from the backline, finding Crowley who passed back to Holland as they ran forward together. He found O'Shea who spotted O'Donovan available again and he sent this ball high through the uprights. At the break, Castlehaven for all their possession only led by two points, 0-08 to 0-06.

Mark O'Shea moves to offload the ball. HALFTIME Castlehaven 0-08 Kilbrittain 0-06

The visitors took over in the second half. Two quick points from play, plus a free, set them up out of the blocks with a nice lead from Kilbrittain. Kilbrittain needed to make a move to stay within reach of their opponents. Colm Sheehan was the first to make an impact for the black and amber. Driving through the Haven midfield, his was another body that took a brace of Castlehaven men to pull back. A free awarded, Sheehan took it quickly but Castlehaven were more prepared and won possession back. Three points from play followed. The next big break for Kilbrittain came all the way up from the backline. Steadfast Darragh Considine used some skill and his natural speed to break away from his mark and bring the ball to Holland. Holland found Usti who passed on to his brother Shaye. The younger Ustianowski made a neat pass to another defenceman, Ivan Burke, who had ran the length of the field to the right hand corner. From there he chanced a point but the wind was against him and it veered wide. A minute later and Kilbrittain were awarded a free which Crowley kicked. It dropped down in the square where Hickey almost made good on a goal but for some good defending from the goalkeeper and full-back line. Hickey was on hand again to collect a ball from Eóghan Byrne, the villageman racing toward goal taking six Castlehaven men to crowd him out. As if spurred on to make their own goal chance Haven worked hard to bring possession back down the field where their corner forward clinically rattled the net, making it 1-14 to 0-06 points.

Darragh Considine races up the wing. With fifteen odd minutes left to play in the half a melee around midfield saw players on both sides lucky not to be carded. Kilbrittain are nothing if not loyal and rallied well to their men involved, but the newly motivated Castlehaven used their senior club skill and match focus to work the ball through the team straight back down into Kilbrittain territory, firing through the uprights and garnering a galvanising point for their team. Not a minute later and the ball came deep into Kilbrittain's half again where one of their forwards made an excellent point from the tightest of angles, essentially from the corner flag. Kilbrittain needed to regroup and Sheehan was the man to bring the ball back into Haven territory. Unlucky to point wide, the respite from Castlehaven attack was still welcome.

Ronan Crowley reaches high to secure possession for Kilbrittain.

It wouldn't last long however, as with five minutes to go Castlehaven broke through the black and amber ranks and rifled their last point of the evening through the uprights. The fresh legs of Séamus O'Sullivan, on for Holland, almost made good on a dugout bet that he'd get a goal. He was on hand, free around the square when young Darragh Crowley lobbed a ball in on top of him. Alas, Castlehaven's goalkeeper was as primed as he was and he secured the ball, protecting it from the Maryboro man. As the minutes ticked down and the daylight faded sharply, Kilbrittain's leader, O'Donovan drove on with one final attack at the Haven defence. Managing to outmanoeuvre his mark he raced at goal and settled for a tap over of a point. As the referee called time on the match Castlehaven took the win 0-17 to Kilbrittain's 0-07. They'll play Kilmeen this coming Sunday while Kilbrittain's next outing is set for April 26th at 3pm against Goleen, in Goleen. Prime the buses. Scorers: J O'Donovan (0-04), R. Crowley (0-02), C. Ustianowski (0-01F)

Team: Owen MacCarthy, Darragh Considine, Ivan Burke, Charlie Kenny, Gavin Kenny, Tomás Sheehan, Eóghan Byrne, Colm Sheehan, Shaye Ustianowski,Aaron Holland (Sub: Séamus O'Sullivan), Ronan Crowley (Sub: Darragh Crowley), Josh O'Donovan,  Mark O'Shea (Sub: Keith Hunt), Mark Hickey, Conor Ustianowski,