Late goal ensures Tullamore maintain senior status for another year

TULLAMORE 3-16

KINNITTY 2-14

A GOAL a minute from the end of normal time ensured that Tullamore secured a hard earned win over Kinnitty and thus guaranteed their place in the Offaly Senior Hurling Championship for next sseason while condemning Kinnitty to the relegation play off.

This was a hard fought encounter from the off and it was still very much in the balance in the closing stages as Kinnitty attempted to reel in their opponents, cutting a five point lead back to a single point with six minutes to go, but a fine finish from Shane Dooley a minute from the end gave Tullamore the cushion that they needed to see out an important victory.

A year after winning the Senior B title the win means Tullamore will stay in the top flight next season as even if Kinnitty win their final game to join them on two points, Tullamore will be above them on the head to head and will avoid the relegation play off.

Over the hour they showed a bit more sharpness than their opponents and took their scores well. They put in a strong finish to the first half to go in leading by five points at half time and while Kinnitty challenged them in the second half, they always managed to maintain their lead and there were very happy scenes in their camp when the final whistle sounded.

Kinnitty will be very disappointed with the outcome and will go into their final game against St Rynagh's knowing that even a win won't avoid sending them into the relegation play off against their neighbours Seir Kieran. They will be looking for a strong performance against St Rynagh's to send them into that relegation final with some momentum.

With so much at stake in this game this was a feisty affair. There was no quarter asked or given and both sides fought tremendously hard for everything. It was a very good contest and swung one way and then another at different times. The first half saw five yellow cards issued, such was the intensity, and that was indicative and how much both sides wanted to win.

Kinnitty enjoyed the better of the opening quarter and led 1-3 to 0-2 midway through the first half and although Tullamore levelled, a second Kinnitty goal had them two points ahead six minutes before half time. However Tullamore dominated the remainder of the half, outscoring Kinnitty 1-5 to 0-1 to lead 2-9 to 2-4 at half time.

Kinnitty started the second half brightly and cut the lead to three twice inside the first 10 minutes but Tullamore managed to hold them off until Kinnitty got it down to one with six minutes left but Tullamore finished strongly again to seal the win.

Tullamore showed great hunger throughout and while it was one of their elder statesmen who sealed the win with that late Shane Dooley goal, it was some of their younger starlets who made big impacts throughout with Cormac Egan and Niall Furlong making huge contributions while late sub Cillian Martin scored their final point. Their work rate was excellent throughout and Mike Fox on the inside line was very effective and as well as hitting 1-2 also won a number of frees.

Kinnitty will rue their indiscipline, particularly in the second half. Shane Dooley kept the scoreboard ticking over from frees in the second half to keep Tullamore ahead and a couple of those frees were carelessly given away by Kinnitty. But even moreso, twice late in the game Kinnitty lost frees awarded to them due to retaliation and that proved very costly as from the first of those incidents instead of having a chance to cut the lead to a point with a minute plus injury time left, the ball was thrown in and out of that Tullamore got the goal that sealed their win.

Niall Houlihan, Ger Crowe and Aaron Leavy all played well in defence for Tullamore with Niall Furlong and James Houlihan both performing well in the middle of the field. Cormac Egan, Cormac Martin and Mike Fox were sharpest in attack.

Paddy Delaney, Brian Coughlan and Danny Flanagan worked hard in the Kinnitty rearguard, James Hardiman had a good hour in the middle of the field, ably assisted by Colm Coughlan, while in attack James Dempsey, Cathal Robinson and Aodhan Kealey tried hard.

Tullamore were off the mark after just 19 seconds with a Mike Fox point but Kinnitty levelled when James Hardiman pointed. Cormac Egan scored a good point from the right wing to put Tullamore back in front but Kinnitty hit the front after 11 minutes when Paddy Delaney caught a sideline cut from Colm Coughlan and fired the ball to the net. Aodhan Kealey and Colm Coughlan (free) added points and it was 1-3 to 0-2 midway through the first half.

Tullamore got back into it when Niall Furlong made a terrific run from midfield, passed to Cormac Egan, who quickly transferred to Mike Fox and he shot to the net. James Houlihan then pointed from midfield to level matters after 17 minutes and Shane Dooley put them back in front from a free five minutes later.

However Kinnitty hit back and James Dempsey gathered a pass about 40m out, made ground and shot low to the net to put them back in front. Tullamore responded very well and Cormac Martin pointed followed by two Shane Dooley frees to regain the lead. Then Cormac Martin burst out of a bunch of players and shot to the net to put them four in front. Colm Coughlan pointed a free but Mike Fox and Shane Dooley (free) added further Tullamore points as they led 2-9 to 2-4 at half time.

Kinnitty started the second half well with Colm Coughlan pointing twice (one free) in just over a minute. Shane Dooley pointed a Tullamore free and with Danny Flanagan and James Dempsey (free) finding the target for Kinnitty and Aaron Leavy replying for Tullamore there were still three points in it nine minutes into the half. Shane Dooley then put the lead out to five and after James Hardiman reduced it by one at the midway point of the half, Colm Coughlan then pointed four in a row for Kinnitty (three frees and a '65') with Shane Dooley hitting one free for Tullamore to leave just one in it with six minutes left.

Shane Dooley's free pushed it out to two with five minutes left and then with a couple of minutes to go Kinnitty were awarded a free in midfield but after retaliation the ball was thrown in. From an ensuing throw in, the ball came to Aaron Leavy who lofted a long ball forward in the direction of Shane Dooley and although he didn't get his first shot off, he pulled first time on the loose ball to send it to the net. James Hardiman did pull one point back for Kinnitty but Tullamore had the last say when Cillian Martin made a great catch and fired over a point to give them a five point win.

MATCH ANALYSIS

THE TEAMS

TULLAMORE: Adam Cleary; Kevin Waters, Niall Houlihan, Dylan Hensey; Brian Hogan, Ger Crowe, Aaron Leavy; James Houlihan, Niall Furlong; Diarmuid Egan, Cormac Egan, Cormac Martin; Dan Fox, Shane Dooley, Mike Fox. Subs. Jack Daly (for Dylan Hensey, 55 mins), Cillian Martin (for Diarmuid Egan, 55 mins), Jack Dooley (for James Houlihan, 59 mins).

KINNITTY: Niall Corrigan; Willie Molloy, Paddy Delaney, Brian Coughlan; Conor Meaney, Shane Kinsella, Danny Flanagan; James Hardiman, Colm Coughlan; Eoghan Callaghan, James Dempsey, Aodhan Kealey; Cathal Robinson, Conor Hardiman, Odhran Kealey. Subs. Patrick Dooley (for Conor Meaney, 41 mins), Bryan Donnelly (for Eoghan Callaghan, 41 mins).

REFEREE: Adam Kinahan.

MAN OF THE MATCH

There were some strong contenders on both sides but in the end I've plumped for Mike Fox. He was particularly involved in the first half and got important early scores for Tullamore but he won some important frees in the second half and was always showing for the ball into the corner.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Tullamore's late goal finally sealed victory for The Blues. Kinnitty were still in it at that point when awarded a free that could have reduced the lead to one but retaliation led to the free being overturned and the ball thrown in and after a series of throw ins, Aaron Leavy lofted the ball forward and Shane Dooley won it and fired to the net to secure top tier hurling for Tullamore for next season.

REFEREE WATCH

This was a testing contest for Adam Kinahan, particularly in the first half, when it was a fiery contest but he dished out cards and managed to keep a lid on things in the main. There was a lot of backchat but a yellow card seemed to reduce much of that. He consulted with his umpires before one of the cards and was correct in overturning two late Kinnitty frees for retaliation and could have given a second yellow card but possibly refrained as the game was nearly over.

WHAT’S NEXT

It's the end of the season for Tullamore as they have finished their group games and are assured of senior hurling again for next year. Kinnitty face St Rynagh's in their final group game.

VENUE WATCH

The Seir Kieran club hosted the game very well. The pitch was in excellent condition after all the recent rain. They had parking well organised with plenty of stewards and there were plenty of people controlling traffic coming out onto the road after the game.

STATISTICS

Wides; Tullamore 9 (5 in first half) Kinnitty 7 (4 in first half)

Yellow Cards: Tullamore 3 (Cormac Egan, Niall Furlong, Mike Fox) Kinnitty 3 (Aodhan Kealey, Paddy Delaney, Brian Coughlan)

Red Cards: None

THE SCORERS

Tullamore; Shane Dooley (1-9, 0-9 frees), Mike Fox (1-2), Cormac Martin (1-1), Cormac Egan, James Houlihan, Aaron Leavy, Cillian Martin (0-1 each).

Kinnitty; Colm Coughlan (0-8, 0-6 frees, 0-1 '65'), James Dempsey (1-1, 0-1 free), James Hardiman (0-3), Paddy Delaney (1-0), Aodhan Kealey and Danny Flanagan (0-1 each).