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Congratulations to Scoil Phobail Bhéara who beat Salesian College, Pallaskenry, in the Muster U19 Schools football final in Limerick.

The Beara team started brightly and were up 4 points inside the first 10 minutes despite playing against the breeze. With, Pallaskenry scoring a goal against the run of play, the team dug in for a long battle and by half time the teams were level. .

Great to see Garnish Gals back kicking footballs at Páirc Gairnis so early in the year. A great to get fresh air, stay fit and have the craic.  All welcome!

Garnish GAA wishes to acknowledge the outstanding dedication and commitment of the outgoing committee who guided the club’s renaissance over the past two years.  Despite the challenges of operating during COVID’19, 40+ players donned green and gold jerseys last year. Two big fundraisers yielded valuable financial contributions towards the development of facilities at Cahermore and for Castletownbere Community Hospital. Most importantly, underage coaching resumed with training in Allihies Hall.

Particular thanks to outgoing committee members, Eric O’Neill (chair) , Cáthraigh O’Driscoll, (secretary), Ruairi Mensink. (treasurer), Gary O’Sullivan (Cultural Officer) and Éanna Murphy (Development Officer) Go raibh míle maith agaibh! 

Garnish’ final game of 2021 was the Carberry league final against Goleen on 4th December under torrential conditions.

A depleted Garish squad held Goleen for most of the match but a Goleen goal in the third quarter gave them a decisive lead. With Paul O’Neill switching to full-forward, for the last 10 minutes, Garnish clawed their way back to level terms on 60 mins.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be. A soft free conceded in injury time, gave Goleen the win by the slenderist of margins. Some noteable performances from Danny Harrington, Brian Walsh and great to see Cáthraigh O’Driscoll return to play after a long battle against injury.

The club would like to acknowledge the commitment of players and management over the year. Garnish played 20 games in 2021, including 7 championship games, an extraordinary feat for our small club.

Ar aghaidh linn go 2022!

Congratulations to the Béara minor football team who defeated Ballincollig in tough conditions at Dunmanway.  After two difficult years of Covid’19, particular acknowledgment to the management team for moulding this group of footballers into a formidable outfit. 

The game began with Béara looking the stronger side with the wind.  A foul on Ben O’Sullivan inside the square yielded a penalty, which Fintan Fenner duly converted . Ballincollig replied with a brace of points before Lee Kelly and 16-year old Ben O’Sullivan, restored advantage.

Pete Kelly kept Ballincollig in touch in the second quarter but points from Sean O’Shea, Tom O’Connor and O’Sullivan gave Béara a 1-7 to 0-5 half-time lead . However, Ballincollig grabbed control from the restart, with Liam O’Connell winning the mid-field battle.  Although Dylan Henshaw made a strong impact on 43 minutes, Ballincollig struck then net, levelling the match going into the final quarter.

In a dramatic finish, Ballincollig were one in front before a late point from McElhinney levelled the match. In the 64th minute, Béara snatched the title with one last effort!  

Beara: K Murphy (CTB); Darren Harrington, (Glengarriff), Darragh Harrington (Urhan), S Power (Glengariff); D O’Sullivan (Adrigole), S O’Shea, D Crowley (Urhan); F Fenner (CTB), A O’Sullivan (Urhan); T O’Sullivan (Adrigole), L Harrington (Glengarriff), G O’Shea (Adrigole); T O’Connor (Adrigole), L Kelly (CTB), B O’Sullivan (Adrigole),  D Henshaw (Garnish), S. Power (CTB), C McElhinney (CTB) 

After three days of torrential rain, the conditions for County JFB semi-final were always going to be soft at St Colum’s. Determined to bounce back from a narrow defeat to a strong Urhan side, the Garnish players were well primed for the encounter.

However, despite an excellent opening score from Paul O’Neill, it was Randal Óg who got off to the better start leading 1-4 to 0-1 after the first quarter. Aided by a stiff breeze, Randal’s full-forward of Conor O’Neill and Sean Daly wreaked havoc in the Garnish defence. Whilst Garnish gradually got to grips with the Randal’s inside forward line in the second quarter, Darren Deery was the only inside forward at the opposite end showing form. Scores from Fintan JL and Sean Terry kept Garnish in touch but by half-time the lead was out to 7 points.

After the break, Daniel Rue and Brian Walsh’s introduction steadied the ship. With the wind at their backs, Garnish began a revival of sorts. Fintan JL pointed from a free and excellent long-range effort from Paul O’Neill closed the gap to 5 points. But the killer-blow came from Sean Daly, who despite best efforts from Rory O’Driscoll turned on a six-pence and shot to the corner of the Western goal. Garnish kept plugging away with points from play from Brian Terry and Fintan JL.

In the final quarter, Garnish threw caution to the wind. The unbroken Olllie Rue was introduced at mid-field and Brian Terry moved to the edge of the square. Dylan Henshaw’s introduction, despite carrying an injury, brought immediate dividends, with a well taken shot into Ciaran Murray’s net. Randal Óg’s nerves began to falter. On 60 minutes, the lead had been cut to a single score, Randal Óg leading 2-10 to 1-10.

As Paul O’Neill and Sean Terry launched a raid of high balls in on the square, Garnish were unlucky not to convert more. In the dying minutes, Randal’s counter-attack brought the lead back out to 5 points. Final Score Randal Óg 2-12 Garnish 1-10.

Despite coming up short, we can very proud of this monumental effort by our players. Paul O’Neill had a man-of-the-march performance and Brian Terry demonstrated his enduring qualities in the middle of the park. A disappointing result must be put in perspective in what has been an excellent year from the club, both on and off the pitch. The energy and commitment from the committee and players in rebuilding a resilient club should applauded. Maith Sibh go Léir!

Ross Murphy, Matthew O’Leary, Eanna Murphy, Tommy O’Sullivan, Jack Andy, Rory O’Driscoll, Darragh Henshaw, Brian Terry, Jerome O’Dwyer, Paul O’Neill, Cian O’Neill, Sean Terry, Fintan JL, Darren Deery, John O’Driscoll. Subs: Daniel Rue, Brian Walsh, Jamie O’Driscoll, Dylan Henshaw, Ollie Rue.

All GAA clubs rely on the support of their communities during their playing seasons. For 2021, Garnish GAA received generous support from O’Neill’s Bar and John Terry O’Sullivan‘s shop in  Allihies as well as Ballincollig based Active Leisure and JFK Building Services

More recently, Allihies Coppermines Lodge sponsored our new winter tops from McKeever Sports!

For more on our sponsors, click here

Garnish has proud a track-record of producing some outstanding players for Cork LGFA and even the occasional superstar of the game.  It was great to see many of them enjoying a kick-a-around at Cahermore today.

Despite the weather, great fun had by all!

As Autumn turns to winter, every year a Béara final becomes the yard-stick by which teams west of the Coomhola river measure their progress. For a club that considered folding just over 18  months ago, it is a remarkable story of community that Garnish mobilised 30+ footballers to compete in green and gold with pride in this year’s final, dispatching impressively of Castletownbere and Glengarriff en route.

However, a youthful and talented group of players (many of which will go on to play at a higher grade) from the neighbouring parish over the mine road was always going to be a tough encounter.

Urhan looked the livelier from the throw-inbut Garnish weathered the earlier storm, with Sean Terry and the in-form John O’Driscoll trading scores with two Urhan frees, conceded well within scoring range. Recent Cork minor, Joe O’Shea, showed his quality in initiating the attack that led to the final score of the quarter, Urhan leading 0-03 to 0-02. Whilst Dylan Henshaw levelled after the break, Urhan asserted their dominance in the middle third of the pitch with the impressive Alan O’Sullivan disrupting the Garnish attack. Urhan could have been a few points clear by half-time only for reliable free-takin from Fintan JL and Sean Terry. Garnish came out of the blocks with Rory O’Driscoll running at the Urhan defence. By the 40^th minute the advantage had switched, Garnish leading 0-09 to 0-07. Yet, Urhan took advantage of a debilitating injury to Sean Terry, reducing the gap to a minimum.

The key moment in the game came on 52 minutes when a long-range free was spilled in front of the Garnish goal. Whilst a case could have been made to the referee to better protect the Garnish defenders, a game of ricochet ensued with the ball eventually finding way past goal-keeper Ross Murphy. Although Garnish had time to recover (and eventually pulled one back), Urhan played a possession game for the last few minutes. In the dying seconds,  Sean Terry, turned possession over but a snap-shot left of the near post meant that Urhan were deserving winners by the slimmest of margins.

A disappointing day in which the team really never found its mojo. Yet, some excellent individual performances warrant a mention. Whilst John O’Driscoll has been sharing duties with Darren Derry in recent matches, he put in an excellent first-half display. Likewise, when Garnish were under pressure, it was two of the least experienced, Matthew O’Leary and Tommy O’Sullivan that kept the defense in-tact. Cian O’Neill, too, made a big impact as did the inspirational Brian Terry.

The possibility of redemption now looms closer with the defining match of this season just under two weeks away.  This panel of players has given the Western parish plenty to cheer and cause for optimism. Perhaps, it can make itsown history in the coming weeks.

Ross Murphy, Matthew O’Leary, Eanna Murhpy, Tommy O’Sullivan, Darragh Henshaw, Paul O’Neill, Jack Andy, Brian Terry (0-2), Jerome Dwyer, Sean Terry (0-4), Brian Walsh, Rory O’Dwyer, Fintan JL (0-3), John O’Driscoll (0-1), Dylan Henshaw (0-1). Subs: Cian O’Neill, Dean Henshaw, Hugh O’Sullivan, Darren Deery, Ollie O’Sullivan.