Comfortable victory for Eire Og in west Tipperary hurling final
Sean Treacys well beaten in decider in Clonoulty
Eire Og Annacarty Donohill 1-20 Sean Treacys 0-12
Eire Og Annacarty Donohill went one better than twelve months ago at the same venue when they saw off the challenge of Sean Treacys to claim a first ever Arrabawn Tipperary Co-Op West Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship title at theDillon Quirke Grounds, Clonoulty.
The game never reached the heights expected. While the first half was a close affair, Sean Treacys always seemed to be working harder to make possession stick or getting a period of dominance. With just three points between the sides at the break, Eire Og held the advantage and were never drawn level.
The major stat of the second half saw Eire Og outscore Sean Treacys 1-9 to 0-4. Two of those Sean Treacys points came in the first four minutes of the second half and when Donal O’Dwyer goaled towards the end of the third quarter it all but confirmed the trend the game was taking. While both teams hit thirteen wides each, Eire Og for the most looked far more dangerous in attack finding their scores that bit easier.
A strong breeze blew down from the dressing room end for the duration of the game, which favoured Sean Treacys in the opening thirty minutes. Darragh Kelly was the main dangerman for Eire Og and he opened their account after just seventeen seconds.
Treacys took a few minutes to find the target and then hit three in a row in a three-minute spell between the fourth and the seventh minutes. James Butler opened the account before two in a row from Paddy Carey, including one from a placed ball,,put Sean Treacys three points to one ahead.
Both sides were playing with a spare man at the back and on numerous occasions over the sixty minutes the long ball seem to find the spare man on both sides. Colm Kennedy and Brian Fox were picking up a lot of ball. Eire Og always looked the more threatening, with Sean Treacys struggling to make the ball stick past the half forward line.
Darragh Kelly ended a ten-minute scoring drought for the Eire Og men when he pointed a free. Tom Fox, who had an influential performance, levelled before Darragh Kelly (free) and Paudie Bradshaw edged Eire Og ahead after about quarter of an hour.
Cillian Kennedy and Donal O’Dwyer traded points but Sean Treacys also missed a couple of chances. Their cause wasn’t helped by the withdrawal of Paddy Carey due to injury and he was replaced by Darragh Carr, who made an immediate impact with a point. Patrick Deegan was now brought back the field in an attempt give Sean Treacys a foothold. While this worked in the middle third, Sean Treacys now had less numbers in their forwards, with a certain amount of ball going astray.
Darragh Kelly continued to keep Eire Og two up, with Patrick Deegan and a second point from substitute Darragh Carr replying for Sean Treacys. By the break Kelly had stretched that lead out to three points, with Shane Stapleton denying him a goal just before the interval at the expense of a sixty-five. Eire Og were ahead 0-11 to 0-8 at half-time.
Sean Treacys hit the ground running in the second half. Patrick Deegan scored almost immediately after the restart while Patrick Dawson pointed from a free. They crucially failed to draw level in these early stages, despite having Eire Og in bother. Tom Hickey very impressive in this period. They missed 1-1 in the early stages, which also included two efforts at a point and Darragh Mooney saving what was a weak effort at goal.
Scores became scattered after this, with only two Eire Og points from Seanie Ryan and Donal O’Dwyer. The turning point arrived in the 13th minute following a diagonal ball from Paul Devlin into Darragh Kelly, who did a lot of the work running at goal before laying off to Donal O’Dwyer, who still had a bit to do before finishing to the net.
It was a crucial score, which put Eire Og six up but the next passage of play was even more crucial to the end result, with Sean Treacys failing to take a goal chance at the other end. With this any hope Sean Treacys had disappeared.
By the time Seanie Ryan and Tom Fox had added two more each, Eire Og led by ten with around four minutes to play. Cillian Kennedy had made a save from Darragh Mooney in the 22nd minute. However, by the time Dinny Crosse finished the scoring Eire Og had run out an easy eleven-point winners.
Following the game the Leahy Cup was presented to the winning captain Paudie Bradshaw by West Board Chairman Andrew Fryday, with Edward Carr and Noel Kennedy representing the sponsors, Arrabawn Tipperary Co-Op Society Ltd.
Scorers: Eire Og: Darragh Kelly (0-8, 0-5f), Donal O’Dwyer (1-2), Tom Fox (0-4), Seanie Ryan (0-3), Paudie Bradshaw (0-1), Conor O’Brien (0-1), Dinny Crosse (0-1).
Sean Treacys: Patrick Dawson (0-3, 0-2f), Paddy Carey (0-2, (0-1f), Cillian Kennedy (0-2), Darragh Carr (0-2), Patrick Deegan (0-2), James Buter (0-1).
Eire Og: Darragh Mooney, Darragh O’Brien, David Fox, Michael Bradshaw, Paul Downey, Brian Fox, Paul Devlin, Paudie Bradshaw, Connie Bradshaw, Donal O’Dwyer, Tom Fox, Dinny Crosse, Seanie Ryan, Darragh Kelly, Conor O’Brien.
Sub: Aidan Griffin for Connie Bradshaw.
Sean Treacys: Shane Stapleton, Tom Hickey, Sean Hickey, Paul Nolan, Colm Kennedy, Christy Egan, Andy Obrien, Stevie Carr, Brendan O’Dwyer, Michael Feehan, Paddy Carey, Patrick Deegan, James Butler, Patrick Dawson, Cillian Kennedy.
Subs: Darragh Carr for Paddy Carey, Sean Ryan R for Tom Hickey, Brian Carey for Stevie Carr, Tom O’Dwyer for Christy Egan.
Referee: Fergal Horgan (Knockavilla Donaskeigh Kickhams).