Roscrea fall short to impressive Gortnahoe

GAA: Tipperary Coiste na nOg Minor (Under 17) ‘B’ Hurling Final

Gortnahoe/Glengoole 3-21

Roscrea 2-15

Report: Ronan Loughnane in Templetuohy

Gortnahoe/Glengoole captured the County Minor ‘B’ Hurling title on Saturday evening last as they completely outclassed Roscrea.

The writing was on the wall for the North champions right from the throw-in as Christopher Dunne pointed after just ten seconds.

The Roscrea defence adopted a sweeper to deal with the threat of Dunne, but this allowed time and space for the Gortnahoe defenders at the opposite end who used the ball intelligently and generally kept well away from the spare man.

Lorcan Bourke was a constant menace at wing forward for Gortnahoe and was central to most attacks, while Mark O’Shea was also lively on the other wing. They landed two points apiece from play in the opening eight minutes while Dunne tagged on two frees in a very lively start.

Liam Dunphy replied with two points for Roscrea, but the Gortnahoe onslaught continued when Dunne set up Michael Campion for the game’s opening goal in the tenth minute.

Dunphy’s third and a lovely point from play from Declan Walsh gave Roscrea some respite but another Dunne free left the Mid champions 1-8 to 0-4 ahead at the end of the opening quarter.

A number of Roscrea switches made little difference as the Gortnahoe dominance continued. Further goals from Bourke and Dunne in the 20th & 27th minutes were complimented with points from Campion, Bourke, and Dunne (2).

Aaron Moloney was introduced for Roscrea after 25 minutes and he landed a nice point from play while Dunphy landed two more placed balls to leave Gortnahoe well clear at the short whistle, 3-12 to 0-7.

A Roscrea comeback looked highly unlikely and with the sides sharing just eight points in the third quarter their chances of county glory were long gone.

Christopher Dunne continued to be accurate from frees as he converted three while the ever-dangerous Michael Campion landed another fine point from play.

Liam Dunphy converted two placed balls for Roscrea while Aaron Moloney added two more from play, leaving one wondering why he wasn’t involved from the start.

The final quarter was a march to victory for Gortnahoe as they emptied the bench while Bourke (2), Campion, Dunne and David Stanley all chipped in with points from play.

To Roscrea’s credit they never gave up the fight with Dunphy (3), Jack Walsh and Calum Mitchell all adding points. And they finished with a flourish as they added two goals in injury time courtesy of Mitchell and Oisin O’Shea, but the day belonged to Gortnahoe/Glengoole as captain Jack Gleeson raised the cup aloft to the delight of their supporters.

They were in control right from the off and had fine displays from Adam Hogan in goal, Adam Norton, Aaron O’Dwyer and Jack Gleeson in defence. Lorcan Bourke was the star of the show upfront while he was ably assisted by Michael Campion, Christopher Dunne, and Mark O’Shea.

Roscrea have had many good days and will have many more, but Saturday is one they will want to forget. Try as they might they simply never got to the pitch of this one and once Gortnahoe were up and running the was no coming back.

They fought valiantly to the end and had solid displays from Calum Mitchell, Liam Dunphy and Jack Walsh while substitutes Aaron Moloney and Jack Hayes impressed when introduced.

Player of the Match: Lorcan Bourke (Gortnahoe/Glengoole).

Gortnahoe/Glengoole: Adam Hogan; Eamon Hayden, Declan Teehan, Adam Norton; Billy Gleeson, Aaron Dwyer, Jack Gleeson (Capt); Billy Hogan, Thomas Coady; Mark O’Shea (0-2), David Stanley (0-1), Lorcan Bourke (1-5); Darragh Heffernan, Christopher Dunne (1-10, 0-8f), Michael Campion (1-3).

Subs: Ronan Gleeson for B Gleeson (52); Shane Gleeson for O’Shea (54); Cian Dwyer for Campion (56), Patrick Brophy for Heffernan (59), Gavin O’Shea for Coady (59).

Roscrea: Aaron Tooher; Jack Byrne, Michael Loughnane, Charlie Carroll; Matthew Moore, Aaron O’Donoghue, Jack Moloney (Capt); Luke Murphy, Calum Mitchell (1-1), Liam Dunphy (0-10, 8f), Oisin O’Shea (1-0), Sean Nolan; Michael Dooley, Declan Walsh (0-1), Jack Walsh.

Subs: Aaron Moloney (0-3) for Nolan (22); Jack Hayes for Moore (HT); Matthew Moore for Loughnane (48), Billy Kennedy for Dooley, Jayden Loughnane for J Walsh (60+1).

Referee: Martin Ryan (Moyne/Templetuohy).