Clonmel Commercials capture Tipperary County Football League title after closely-fought encounter

Clonmel Commercials 2-10 JK Brackens 2-7

Clonmel Commercials made it four FBD Insurance division one county football league titles in a row at Cashel on Sunday, but they were pushed all the way by a battling JK Brackens side who caused the hot favourites many anxious moments.

Brackens played a fast-flowing brand of football that tore through the heart of the Commercials defence and their two goals were the best of the four scored on the day.

The Clonmel side were missing some of their regular stars, including brothers Jack and Colman Kennedy, dual star Seamus Kennedy, who played on the record-setting Tipperary hurling team a day earlier, and Kevin Fahey.

However, the presence of Michael Quinlivan at wing forward meant they weren’t short of big names up front, as they set about winning the first silverware of the season.

Despite trailing by two points, 0-5 to 0-3, three minutes before the break, Commercials had it back to a drawn game, 0-6 each, at half- time, and were never headed again once Deckie Nee had their first goal midway through the second half.

A second from Oisin Forristal extended the lead to 2-7 to 0-7. But the Templemore side hit back with two of their own, one from Adrian Bourke and an absolute piledriver from Jordan Moloney, to keep the tie alive right to the end.

The game was far from a classic and remained scoreless until the 10th minute when Conal Kennedy pointed a free for Commercials following a foul on Thomas Charles. Both sides were guilty of poor shooting in those opening minutes but Brackens eventually got off the mark with a good point from Jack Kennedy, who was a major threat to the Commercials rearguard with his incisive running.

Deckie Nee restored the Clonmel lead but then the mid Tipp side started to ask serious questions of the league and championship holders when they went a point ahead, following a Jack Kennedy free and a point from Lyndon Fairbrother in the next move.

A Shane Power free tied the scores again but Commercials were not playing with the same fluency expected of them and it was no surprise when JK Brackens upped the pace once more, with Dean McEnroe pointing from a tight angle and Jack Kennedy pushing the lead out to two with a clever dummy and shot.

Commercials responded quickly with three in a row, starting with Sean Kennedy putting Shane Power through for a point that could easily have been a goal. This was followed by the first significant input from All- Star Michael Quinlivan. First, he was fouled for a free that he converted himself and then delightfully cut in from the left wing to curl over a trademark point to restore his team’s lead.

Yet Brackens were fully deserving of parity at half- time when Jack Kennedy hit a lovely score in injury time.

Sean Kennedy set up Peter McGarry to restore the Commercials lead three minutes into the second half but the next ten minutes or more took the same course as the first half, with scores drying up. Much credit for that must go to Brackens goalkeeper Tom Burke, who brought off two great saves, first from Quinlivan and then from substitute Cathal Deely.

However, he could do nothing about Commercials’ first goal midway through the half when a Michael Quinlivan free dropped short and in the following scramble, Deckie Nee poked the ball home.

Brackens substitute Luke Ormond hit an immediate response with a fine point, but again play switched to the other end and a flowing Commercials move ended with substitute Padraic Looram cutting in from the left and passing to the unmarked Oisin Forristal to shoot to the net.

That put Commercials 2-7 to 0-7 ahead and it looked like game over. But Brackens had other ideas and set out their stall as championship contenders later in the year.

Their first goal, following a great move involving Jack Kennedy and Dean McEnroe, saw Adrian Bourke shoot past Michael O’Reilly, with the shot taking a deflection to deceive the ‘keeper.

Commercials’ response to the goal was impressive, knowing that they had to kill off the Brackens revival. They upped the tempo again and hit three points without reply in three minutes. Quinlivan pointed a free following a foul on Nee; he did the same following a foul on Conal Kennedy; and they made it three in a row with Tadhg Condon shooting over.

And still JK Brackens wouldn’t let them rest on their laurels and run out easy winners. Their resilience was hugely impressive, as they continued to take the game to the champions. Five minutes from time they hit the goal of the game, with McEnroe setting up Jordan Moloney and his bullet into the top corner left O’Reilly rooted to the spot.

With the margin back to just three points, it meant a nervy last five minutes for Commercials but they managed the time well until the final whistle. Team captain Michael Quinlivan was presented with the cup and the expectation among the supporters is that it won’t be the last piece of silverware heading to Clonmel this season.

With big names to return, the side can only get stronger and the test for all the challengers will be to reach Commercials’ level.

JK Brackens showed that it can be done with a battling display, full of fast running and high pressing. Roll on thechampionship.

Clonmel Commercials: Michael O’Reilly, Cathal McGeever, James Morris, Jamie Peters, Tadhg Condon 0-1; Aldo Matassa, Thomas Charles, Dean Cagney, Conal Kennedy 0-1; Michael Quinlivan 0-4, 3 frees; Sean Kennedy, Oisin Forristal 1-0; Peter McGarry 0-1; Shane Power 0-2, 0-1 free; Deckie Nee 1-1.

Subs: Cathal Deely for Shane Power, Darragh O’Connor for Deckie Nee, Padraic Looram for Dean Cagney, Donal Lynch for Aldo Matassa.

JK Brackens: Tom Burke, Patrick Moloney, Michael Egan, Martin Delaney, Jordan Moloney 1-0; Tom Murphy, Stephen Cahill, Adrian Bourke 1-0; David O’Shea, Eanna McBride, Cathal Scully, Lyndon Fairbrother 0-1; Jack Nevin, Jack Kennedy 0-4, 1 free; Dean McEnroe 0-1.

Subs: Luke Ormond 0-1 for Eanna McBride, Darragh Doyle for David O’Shea, Martin Bergin for Adrian Bourke; Eoin Fitzpatrick for Lyndon Fairbrother.

Referee: Seanie Peters (Aherlow).