Kiladangan leave Roscrea wilting in the heat
GAA: FBD Insurance Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship Group 1
Kiladangan 2-19
Roscrea 0-14
Roscrea 0-14
Report: Shane Brophy in Cloughjordan
Kiladangan roared back into contention in the County Senior Hurling Championship with this dominant victory over Roscrea on Sunday afternoon.
After their unexpected draw with JK Brackens in the opening round, a highly motivated and focused Kiladangan was expected and that’s what we got, despite a slow start with Roscrea suggesting they could put things up to last years defeated finalists.
However, once Kildangan got into their flow after a quarter of an hour, there was only going to be one winner and but for fourteen wides and some fine saves by Daryl Ryan, this defeat could have been a lot worse for Roscrea, whose hopes of a quarter final berth are now over with their only focus now being on getting a win against JK Brackens to preserve their tier 1 status for another year.
It was disappointing that Roscrea didn’t have more of a go in the second half and push their extra man in defence up the field to try and take on Kiladangan. Alan Tynan and Shane Fletcher suggested early on they could give Kiladangan some trouble but once the trend of the game was set, the presence of the extra man in the Kiladangan defense was too much to deal with.
Kiladangan are so well set-up, they know what to with and without the ball, and by giving them an extra man in defense, they were always able to find a teammate in space. Alan Flynn, in particular was able to sit back and sweep up a lot of possession while Tadhg Gallagher was also hugely effective in a deep lying midfield role.
With their defense mopping up copious amounts of possession, Kiladangan are hard to stop as they rarely give it away cheaply and work it into a forward line where all six starters scored from play.
Played in blistering afternoon heat, the game started off at a blinding pace with Roscrea setting the early agenda with former Tipperary minor dual star Alan Tynan landing two points from play to a Luke Cashin 65 as Roscrea raced into a three point lead in as many minutes.
However, once Kildanagan settled they quickly began causing problems and thrown ball by Joe Gallagher and some good swarm defending on Dan O’Meara and Billy Seymour prevented the concession of a goal before Sean Hayes opened their account on seven minutes.
Joe Gallagher followed quickly before the lively Tynan added a third with Paul Flynn and Tadgh Gallagher bringing Kiladangan on terms by the water-break. They made the crucial break on 21 minutes when Tipperary footballer Dan O’Meara used the boot to find the back of the net after being set-up by Bryan McLoughney.
McLoughney added the crucial second goal right on half time to take the wind out of the Roscrea sails. It was an impressive finish from the corner forward who missed three early frees but responded well to that adversity with help his side into a 2-8 to 0-7 half time advantage.
Roscrea opted to stay with their adopted tactics for the start of the second half to stay on Kiladangan’s coat-tails and it worked to a certain degree with points from Darragh Tynan, Glenn Loughnane and a third from Alan Flynn, but Kiladangan were revelling in the perfect hurling conditions as they kept the umpires busy at the other end with Paul Flynn, Billy Seymour and Bryan McLoughney keeping the scoreboard ticking over.
Decky McGrath and Willie Connors also got on the scoresheet from play as they stretched the lead out to nine points by the three quarter mark when Daryl Ryan saved superbly from Bryan McLoughney.
Ryan also denied substitute Andy Loughnane but the third goal didn’t come but they didn’t require it as they stretched clear to an eleven point victory with Billy Seymour having an excellent second half with Kiladangan’s only concern on the day being their wastefulness in front of goal, with their fourteen wides bringing their total to 29 in two games, something they’ll need to address for the knockout stages if they get there.
They need at least a draw from their final game against Drom & Inch and even if they fail to get it, JK Brackens need to win, as well as overcoming a fifteen point deficit in the score difference column which will be difficult indeed. However, Kiladangan will be intent on beating Drom and heading into the quarter finals with momentum.
MATCH DIGEST
Player of the Match: Tadgh Gallagher (Kiladangan)
Kiladangan: Barry Hogan (6); Darragh Flannery (7), James Quigley (7), Fergal Hayes (7); David Sweeney (6), Alan Flynn (8), Decky McGrath (0-1, 7); Willie Connors (0-4, 1f, 1 65, 1 s-cut) 7), Tadgh Gallagher (0-1, 9); Sean Hayes (0-2, 7), Joe Gallagher (0-1, 7), Billy Seymour (0-4, 1f) 8); Dan O’Meara (1-0, 7), Paul Flynn (0-2, 7), Bryan McLoughney (1-4, 0-3f) 7).
Sub: Andy Loughnane (6) for McLoughney (45 inj).
Roscrea: Daryl Ryan (8); Darren O’Connor (7), Shane Davis (6), Joe Carroll (6); Glenn Loughnane (0-1, 7), Michael Campion (6), Keith McMahon (7); Darragh Tynan (0-1, 7), Jason Fitzpatrick (6); Evan Fitzpatrick (0-1, 6), Conor Booth (6), Conor Sheedy (6); Luke Cashin (0-7, 6f) 7), Alan Tynan (0-3, 8), Shane Fletcher (6).
Subs: Dan Ryan (6) for Carroll (HT); Fearghus Hannon (6) for Booth (38); Aidan Booth (6) for Campion (42); Joe Carroll for D Tynan (60).
Referee: Peter Carroll (Burgess)
Player of the Match: Tadgh Gallagher (Kiladangan)
Kiladangan: Barry Hogan (6); Darragh Flannery (7), James Quigley (7), Fergal Hayes (7); David Sweeney (6), Alan Flynn (8), Decky McGrath (0-1, 7); Willie Connors (0-4, 1f, 1 65, 1 s-cut) 7), Tadgh Gallagher (0-1, 9); Sean Hayes (0-2, 7), Joe Gallagher (0-1, 7), Billy Seymour (0-4, 1f) 8); Dan O’Meara (1-0, 7), Paul Flynn (0-2, 7), Bryan McLoughney (1-4, 0-3f) 7).
Sub: Andy Loughnane (6) for McLoughney (45 inj).
Roscrea: Daryl Ryan (8); Darren O’Connor (7), Shane Davis (6), Joe Carroll (6); Glenn Loughnane (0-1, 7), Michael Campion (6), Keith McMahon (7); Darragh Tynan (0-1, 7), Jason Fitzpatrick (6); Evan Fitzpatrick (0-1, 6), Conor Booth (6), Conor Sheedy (6); Luke Cashin (0-7, 6f) 7), Alan Tynan (0-3, 8), Shane Fletcher (6).
Subs: Dan Ryan (6) for Carroll (HT); Fearghus Hannon (6) for Booth (38); Aidan Booth (6) for Campion (42); Joe Carroll for D Tynan (60).
Referee: Peter Carroll (Burgess)