Portroe shake off Lorrha after titanic Junior 'B' extra time struggle

GAA: Watch Centre North Tipperary Junior ‘B’ Hurling Championship Final

Portroe 0-17

Lorrha 0-13

(after extra time)

Report: Thomas Conway in Nenagh

MATCH DIGEST

Player of the Match: James Ryan (Portroe)

SCORERS – Portroe: James Ryan 0-13 (12 frees), Callan Cottrell 0-2; Paddy O’Flaherty, Niall Gleeson 0-1 each.

Lorrha: Barry Moran 0-7 (6 frees, 1 ‘65), Donnacha O’Meara 0-2; Cormac Houlihan, Daniel O’Donoghue, Jimmy Dunne, Darragh Guinan 0-1 each.

Junior ‘B’ hurling is often perceived as a boisterous display of scraps and melees, a game where the post-match pint is more important that the post-match protein shake, but never doubt its capacity to entertain and enchant.

Sunday's North Final will go down in the annals as a divisional epic, a long drawn-out battle in which Portroe and Lorrha wounded one another through points from placed-balls, with the former eventually emerging to capture their sixth North title in the grade.

James Ryan was the hero. The full-forward whisked over thirteen frees, including a maximum-pressure equaliser in the last moment of normal time, rescuing his side following a somewhat stunning Lorrha revival.

The losing side had trailed 0-9 to 0-5 several minutes into the second-half and seemed to be losing their grip on a game which, although physical and gritty, was sprinkled with moments of sublime quality. The speed of the turnaround was remarkably quick, placing Lorrha whiskers away from claiming what would have been their second North Junior ‘B’ crown. Ultimately however, it wasn't to be for Ken Hogan's outfit. They faded in the second-half of extra-time, spurning a golden last-ditch goal-scoring opportunity and conceding four late points.

Ryan's free-taking was, without exaggeration, impeccable. He knocked over his first four almost effortlessly, then added a sweet contribution from play in the 18th minute, snapping a breaking ball before pulling the trigger from fifty metres. At the other end, Barry Moran wasn't quite as consistent, struggling to find the distance on occasion, but he would still account for more than half of Lorrha’s total - a significant body of work from the corner-forward.

Port had steered 0-8 to 0-5 ahead by half-time, but their opponents had still created a plethora of chances. Lorrha failed to execute on numerous occasions, bar a sublime three-part move in the early stages, which was finished by Cormac Houlihan.

But something happened minutes into the second-half. Ryan missed a scorable free and it seemed to ignite a fire in Lorrha. They started to seize the initiative and play with conviction. Suddenly the scores began to flow - Moran struck another free, Daniel O'Donoghue sent one rasping over from the wing, Donnacha O'Meara slotted the first of his two points. His second, in the 56th minute, would power Lorrha ahead for the first time. Seconds later they could have sealed it but Martin Gorman sent his goal-bound effort fizzing inches past the far post.

At this stage, the drama had reached fever pitch. Paddy O'Flaherty raised the roof with a gem from the side-line, before Lorrha's Jimmy Dunne quickly restored his side's lead although Darren Gleeson did well to divert the ball over the bar, before Ryan stepped up valiantly to land that last-ditch free, levelling the game at 0-12 apiece.

Perhaps Lorrha ran out of energy in extra-time, or perhaps Port just summoned that extra bit of resolve. As well as collective grit, they were aided by feats of individual brilliance. The sides remained locked at the interval, with each having registered a point in the first period of extra-time, but it was in those last ten minutes that some of Port’s key characters emerged as match winners.

Niall Gleeson, who had been a model of consistency at wing-back, worked his way up the field to slot a vital score. Callan Cottrell, whose mercurial pace had troubled Lorrha all afternoon, contributed his second. Two more Ryan frees would help to extend the winning margin to four.

Of course, the narrative could have been very different. Lorrha, while chasing a two-point lead, managed to carve the Port defence apart and produce the best goal-scoring opportunity of this game. The crowd inhaled as Ronan O’Meara, only moments earlier having come out from the goalkeeping position, won the ball, turned, the trigger was pulled, but the ball zipped inches wide at the far post.

Granted, there would have been time for Port to find an equaliser. Instead, they tagged on two more insurance scores, and set off to celebrate another title in a grade which never ceases to enthral.

TEAMS – Portroe: Darren Gleeson (8), William Flood (7), Noel O’Halloran (7), Shane Keating (6), Adrian O’Halloran (6), Jimmy Creamer (7), Niall Gleeson (8), Conor Byrne (7), Ben O’Connor (7), Callan Cottrell (8), Paddy O’Flaherty (8), James Ferris (7), Oisin O’Connor (7), James Ryan (9), David Gleeson (7).

Sub: Eoin Maher (7) for Keating (52).

Lorrha: Ronan O’Meara (8), Kevin Cahalan (7), Richard Bourke (7), Jack Ryan (6), James Guinan (7), Darragh Guinan (8), Graham Houlihan (7), David O’Sullivan (7), Jimmy Dunne (7), Cormac Houlihan (7), Daniel O’Donoghue (7), Neil Houlihan (6), Donnacha O’Meara (8), Martin Gorman (6), Barry Moran (7).

Subs: Willie Hough (6) for Ryan (HT); Padraig Kennedy (7) for C Houlihan (47); Donal Kennedy (7) for N Houlihan (51 inj); Brandon Kennedy for Dunne (15 ET).

Referee: Pat O’Mahoney (Kiladangan).