Mid Tipperary U-17 A Football Final
JK Brackens 3-7
Moyne/Templetuohy 3-3.
When these sides met in the round-robin game Brackens had a comfortable nine-point victory and most pundits predicted a similar outcome on Sunday. Moyne-Templetuohy had different ideas however and they took the game to their more fancied opponents right from the off. In a strange opening quarter, we had no points, but we did get three goals. A great run from full forward Finn Jones caused consternation in the Brackens defence in the opening minute which resulted in Josh Quinlan putting through his own net. Brackens got lucky in the 9th minute when Jamie Ormond’s attempt for a point found an unmarked Ciaran O’Shea who palmed the ball to the net for the equaliser. Backed by a vocal support Moyne continued to attack and landed their second goal in the 11th minute when Eoghan Sumner was on hand to finish to the net. They were very unlucky not to grab a third a minute later as Jones was denied by a smart save from goalkeeper Cian Sheedy. Conor Campion scored the first point of the day in the 16th minute, but disaster struck a minute later when Jamie Ormond’s shot deceived goalkeeper Kevin Ryan and dropped into the net. Ciaran O’Shea, Tom Corcoran and Jamie Ormond all added points before the break to leave Brackens 2-3 to 2-1 ahead at the break.
Brackens had a strong start to the second half and added three further points through Ciaran O’Shea, the impressive Kieran Martin and Billy Collier to surge five clear. It seemed like the home side would pull away but once again Moyne-Templetuohy showed great heart. A cracking point from play from David Doyle in the 38th minute was followed by a goal from a Jones penalty in the 42nd minute and suddenly it was game on again at 2-6 to 3-2. They had a couple of chances to equalise, but they tailed agonisingly wide before Cormac Foy settled Brackens nerves with a good point in the 47th minute. The crucial score came in the 50th minute when a Moyne attack broke down. Brackens countered quickly and man-of-the-match Ciaran O’Shea fed his brother Padraic to leave them 3-7 to 3-2 ahead. A great run from Eoghan Sumner resulted in a point in the 53rd minute but this proved to be the final score of the day as Brackens claimed the Fr. O’Rourke cup.
Brackens certainly looked laboured at times and wasted quite an amount of ball, but the pressure exerted by a very determined Moyne/Templetuohy side made life difficult. Cian Sheedy, Kieran Martin, Ciaran O’Shea, Jamie Ormond, Josh Quinlan and Tom Corcoran were always to the fore and they can look forward to the county quarter-final with plenty of optimism knowing they have plenty to work on. Having graduated from the B grade Moyne/Templetuohy can be very satisfied with their years work to date. They brought plenty to this game and with a little bit of luck could have been even closer at the finish. Jimmy Campion, David Doyle, Eoghan Sumner, Chris Dunne and Finn Jones fared best on the day.
JK Brackens: Cian Sheedy, Tommy Bourke, Niall Delaney, Kieran Martin (0-1), Cian Broderick, Josh Quinlan, Tom Corcoran (0-1), Jamie Ormond (1-1, 1f), Dayle Hogan, Billy Collier (0-1), Sean Purcell, Ciaran O’Shea (1-2), Cormac Foy (0-1), Jack Marnell, Padraic O’Shea (1-0).
Subs: Sean Stone for Purcell (40), Dylan Quinlan for Collier (44), Aodhna Barrett for Marnell, inj, (53), Robert Lee for Martin (58).
Moyne/Templetuohy: Kevin Ryan, Jimmy Campion, Sean Lyons, Jack Reddan, James McBrearty, David Doyle (0-1), John Cleere, Cathal Guilfoyle, Eoghan Sumner (1-1), Ben Moore, Chris Dunne, Leo Cleere, Paul Maher, Finn Jones (1-0, pen), Conor Campion (0-1).
