Roscrea’s greater scoring ability from play proves decisive

By Liam Hogan

Minutes before Roscrea were about to become the first offical premier intermediate hurling champions, there was message from the public address requesting that nobody should cometo the pitch after the final whistle.

The vast majority of the supporters heeded the request but not so when it came to the very young supporters who raced on to the field with gusto as they had witnessed their team defeat Gortnahoe/Glengoole.

As for the adults, there were some tears of joy when the final whistle sounded, probably because of the last county success coming at senior level in 1980. It was a long time coming for such a proud club.

There were also an element of relief also after they watched their team win the final but only after Gortnahoe/Glengoole produced a stirring comeback which was denied by excellent goalkeeping performance by Daryl Ryan.

Roscrea had led 1-10 to 0-7 at half time after a half where they played their best hurling throughout the season. Helped by a very reliable halfback line of Michael Campion, Darragh Tynan and Darren O’Connor, they provided plenty ball into the attack for Luke Cashin, Shane Fletcher, Alan Tynan, Evan Fitzpatrick and Conor Sheedy who had potential to pick off the points and they increased their lead to seven by the 43rd minute after Dan Ryan put Alan Tynan though for a well-taken point.

But from there on, Gortnahoe began to fight back and four unanswered points in as many minutes and suddenly the Mid-men realised they could go toe to toe with the North-men.

Roscrea led 1-16 to 0-16 with five minutes left when the defence suddenly lost concentration, Darragh Maher raced through on goal, but Daryl Ryan made a point blank save, turning the low shot around the post, with the subsequent 65 going wide. It was a big moment.

Roscrea responded with an excellent Alan Tynan point thirty seconds from time to go four in front and that margin was key as in the 61st minute Ryan had to come to Roscrea’s rescue once more when he came off his line to smother Ronan Teehan’s shot. The very vigilant James Synnott cleared the danger.

The game was over two minutes later, and Roscrea were back in the big time, where they wanted to be in the first place as Roscrea manager Liam England explained.

“This is an unique moment. We spoke about it a lot as we have a very proud history in Roscrea and we want to get back to the top table again,” he said.

In the past, when Roscrea were the kings of club hurling they were always capable of pulling a rabbit out of a hat and England pulled one when Roscrea filled the middle third of the field in order to leave just three and sometimes two forwards up front and the move worked impeccably when Conor Dooley scored a great goal as Ros outscored Gortnahoe 1-5 to 0-1 in a twelve minute period between the tenth & 22nd minutes.

It took Gortnahoe a while to remedy the situation but in the final minutes of the half they pulled Davy Nolan back to fill the pocket and Gortnahoe were saved from humiliation as the lead was cut to six by half time, 1-10 to 0-7.

Six players had scored for Roscrea in that first half with Shane Fletcher, my man of the match, scoring three, matching that of Luke Cashin who scored three frees while he covered much ground in the middle third of the field. Conor Dooley supplied the goal while Alan Tynan, Conor Sheedy and Jason Fitzpatrick had scored a point each.

Gortnahoe had to depend on Keane Hayes to keep their scoreboard flowing as he scored four frees while Adrian Maher and Ronan Teehan had supplied a point each from play.

If Gortnahoe were looking for a leader than they should look no further than wing back Brian Maher. His excellent display must surely see him receive a call up to Liam Cahill’s panel. He moved to midfield for the last quarter which help inspire Gortnahoe to the best period of the game.

They relied heavily on Keane Hayes from placed balls. There little else on offer from the Gortnahoe attack as the Roscrea defence continued their good work.

Whether Roscrea took their eye of the ball or not but between the 44th & 48th minutes, Gortnahoe enjoyed their best spell with four unanswered points commencing with a Brian Maher score and followed by three from Keane Hayes. In the same period, Ronan Teehan was growing in stature but elsewhere the experienced Kevin Slattery was replaced.

The difference was Roscrea were able to get their scores a little easier, outscoring Gortnahoe 1-14 to 0-8 from play, with all of their second half scores coming from play. A notable statistic indeed, although their poor shooting kept Gortnahoe in touch.

In the end, it was a victory much deserved for Roscrea which sends them back into the Dan Breen Cup next year after a one-year absence. Meanwhile they have a Munster & All-Ireland intermediate championship to compete in next month, which would be nice to win fifty-one years after claiming their very first senior club final success.