Holycross Ballycahill outclass Sarsfields in a powerful performance to reclaim U19 crown
Mid Tipperary U19A Hurling Championship Final
Holycross Ballycahill 2-22
Thurles Sarsfields 2-11
Holycross Ballycahill retained their U19 Mid Tipperary Hurling crown with unexpected ease last Wednesday evening, as they had too much firepower for Thurles Sarsfields in a dour and wet evening in front of a big crowd in Drombane.
A dominant second-half performance in which the current county champions outscored their rivals 2-12 to 0-5 sent the men in green to yet another divisional crown, which was a welcomed addition for Holycross after winning the U17 title last Sunday against Durlas Óg.
Underage hurling is in rude health in Holycross Ballycahill with some incredibly good teams coming through the ranks in the last few years as they continue to impress and look to gain back-to-back county titles in both the U17 and U19 grades in the weeks to come.
The result will be hugely frustrating for Thurles Sarsfields who were defeated by the same opposition in last year’s decider.
Still, they did start the game at pace with Jock Fogarty giving them an early push with a goal inside a minute with some luck involved, as a long ball ricocheted off the big full forward into the net for a lightning start for the Blues.
Conditions were dour in Drombane with a constant drizzle of rain coming down for the whole game as Holycross wasted no time in responding to that goal with the elusive Robbie Ryan bagging three points in a row (one free) to wipe out that early Fogarty major after nine minutes of play.
Play was very well contested as the players put themselves about with a lot of pride at stake given the recent history of results at this age group with Holycross edging in front by the 15-minute mark by a single point thanks to two Robbie Ryan frees and scores from play from Liam Doyle and Audie Lohan, while Robbie Stapleton hit his first from play in this exchange along with a pair of Tommy Maher frees.
Thurles though were starting to get on top of proceedings and with Tommy Maher and Jock Fogarty prominent, they hit the front in the next ten minutes with 1-2 without reply in that period; kicked off by a lovely one-two from a sideline between Tommy Maher and Aidan Stakeulum ending in the latter firing over a beauty.
The goal came in the 27th minute and it was in the form of a mistake from the Holycross goalkeeper and hard work from Jock Fogarty that the sliotar ended up scurrying over the line; James O’Dwyer fielding a Tommy Maher free which dropped short of its target but the ‘Cross number one decided to cut back across his goalmouth into traffic and dropped possession as Fogarty gleefully whipped the loose ball home to give his side a 2-5 to 0-8 advantage.
Holycross were struggling to get their forward line into the game but they did finish the first half with a brace of points from the sticks of Robbie Ryan (free) and Jimmie Lahart a late, late Tommy Maher free gave Sarsfields a narrow but deserved 2-6 to 0-10 lead at the interval.
The second half started in a similar vein to the form of the first half with the teams sharing the opening four points of the half, but after Ciaran Woodlock fired over a fine score in the 37th minute, Holycross took control of the game for the following ten minutes to establish a three-point lead as points from Robbie Ryan, (3), Eoin Craddock, Jimmie Lahart, and a long-range Jim Ryan free had them purring nicely as Sarsfields were starting to look jaded from the physical and attritional exchanges in the match to date.
Jock Fogarty was one player who was continually bringing the fight to Holycross and he ended an 11-minute scoring drought with a fantastic aerial take from a puckout before a powerful run gave him room to point from close range, and by the 49th minute, the score was back to the minimum from a Tommy Maher free as the sides looked to finish strongly.
However, when the chips were down it was Holycross who showed the champions mentality which has been carved out in this group in recent years and the substitutes were major contributors with Tiarnan Ryan bagging a goal in the 56th minute - after scoring 2-3 in the U17 final last Sunday - along with a hard-earned goal from Pierce Briody a minute from time to put them in the driving seat.
They finished the game in style from here with some savage scores from the excellent Robbie Ryan putting the cherry on top from a Holycross Ballycahill perspective as they retained their U19 crown at Sarsfield's expense for the second successive year and will now look to defend their county title in the coming weeks.
Holycross Ballycahill: James O’Dwyer; Cathal O’Reilly, Evan Morris, Cian Ryan; Jack Lahart, Jim Ryan (0-1f), Liam Doyle (0-1); Seanie McGrath, Tadhg Gould; Audie Lohan (0-1), James Doyle, Tony Maher (0-1); Eoin Craddock (0-2), Robbie Ryan (0-14, 0-9f), Jimmie Lahart (0-2).
Subs used: Tiarnan Ryan (1-0) for Lohan (45); Pierce Briody (1-0) for Maher (59); Sean Ryan for Nolan (59).
Thurles Sarsfields: James Woodlock; Paul Noonan, Ciaran Woodlock (0-1), Evan Nolan; Keith Loughnane, Kieran Purcell, Leelan Donoghue; Tommy Maher (0-5f), Aaron Moore; Darragh Minogue (0-1), Jock Fogarty (2-1), Aidan Stakelum (0-2); Cillian Minogue, Daniel Rossiter, Robbie Stapleton (0-1).
Subs used: Tristan Kelly for D Minogue (41, inj); Alex Moloney for C Minogue (52); Fiachra O’Gorman for Rossiter (57).
Referee: Joe Leahy (Moyne Templetuohy)