Toome greats to the fore one more time in Junior C' success

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

Toomevara 0-22

Roscrea 0-9

Report: Thomas Conway in Templederry

Travel the length and breadth of Ireland, and you are unlikely to encounter a Junior ‘C’ hurling team as illustrious and decorated as this Toomevara outfit. With their surfeit of county medals and senior inter-county caps, they belong in some kind of celebrity legend’s competition, not the third tier of the Tipperary junior hurling championship.

On Saturday, they coasted to the North title, brushing aside an inferior Roscrea unit which tried hard throughout, but offered little in the way of a proper challenge. The game, played out amid wild winds on a chilly Templederry afternoon, was less of a final and more of a procession. Toome simply walked it, from start to finish.

Ken Dunne - so often the chief marksman for many a senior championship winning side - launched Toome off the mark within seconds, collecting the ball from the throw-in and using the breeze to gently guide his first effort over from 65 metres. He would add another free several minutes later, plus a few more, before finally passing on the baton to Paddy O’Brien, who was equally accurate from placed-balls.

In truth, Toome had most of their work completed within the first half-hour, crushing Roscrea with an avalanche of well-taken points. By the twentieth minute they were 0-7 to 0-1 in front, and the pick of the scores had arrived via Pairic Shanahan. Comparatively speaking, Shanahan belongs to the younger generation within this Toome side, but here he was every bit as impressive as some of the elder statesmen. Both of his first-half points were sublimely crafted efforts, each of them angled over from the far wing. His third, deep into the second-half, was different but similarly praiseworthy - he rose high to snap a high ball, then swept the sliotar over on the turn, all in one swift movement.

Each of Shanahan’s scores were pinged over from close-range, but the majority of Toome’s first-half damage was inflicted from out the field. John O’Brien was on target. So too was midfielder Brian McCormack. Dunne and Paddy O’Brien took care of the frees. Toome entered the dressing room 0-15 to 0-3 in front, the game effectively wrapped up.

And yet they took an age to re-emerge. They might have been preparing for a second-half onslaught from their opponents, but it just never materialised for Roscrea on Saturday. They pushed hard to secure possession and did create chances, but their conversion-rate was lacking. Aside from Glen Loughnane, they lacked conviction in attack. In defence, they were thoroughly dismantled.

It was the Toome substitutes (more elder statesmen) who finished the job. Eoin Brislane arrived on the scene and added a brace of points, but the most entertaining cameo of the day was that of Tony Delaney. The veteran defender was unveiled on 55 minutes, and within seconds he had registered a point, prompting jubilant cheers and applause from the Toome supporters. Had his career evolved differently, perhaps Delaney could well have made it as a forward. Perhaps he still has time. After all, it is difficult to see any team stopping Toome on the road to county success.

Player of the Match: Pairic Shanahan (Toomevara)

Toomevara: Willie Ryan (7); James Browne (7), Thomas O’Farrell (7), Ted Evens (7), Paul McGrath (7), Benny Dunne (7), Tom Brennan (7), Brian McCormack (0-3, 8), Kieran Boyle (7), Eoin Grace (7), Ken Dunne (0-4, 2f, 8), John O’Brien (0-3, 8), Pairic Shanahan (0-3, 8), Mark Harty (7), Eoin Healy (0-2, 8).

Subs: Paddy O’Brien (0-4f, 8) for Grace (17 inj); Terry Delaney (7) for McCormack (40 inj); Eoin Brislane (0-2, 1f, 7) for Harty (46); Tony Delaney (0-1, 7) for Ken Dunne (55); Anthony O’Neill (NR) for Brennan (58).

Roscrea: Eoin Harte (7); Fionn Ryan (6), Conor Bergin (6), Nathan Cummins (6), Jamie Ryan (6), Eoin Fitzpatrick (7), Graham Horgan (6), Glen Loughnane (0-7, 5f, 8), Tom Ahearne (7), Darren Doyle (6), Vladislav Bodrov (0-1, 7), Dylan Carroll (6), Ruairi Murphy (6), Eoghan Bergin (0-1, 7), Jake Thompson (6).

Sub: Ian Spencer (6) for Murphy.

Referee: John Cleary (Knockshegowna).