Mullinahone hit the ground running in Tipperary County Senior Hurling Championship

Mullinahone 2-16 JK Brackens 0-15

Two Mikey O’Shea goals proved decisive as Mullinahone got their challenge for the Dan Breen Cup off to a winning start at Leahy Park, Cashel on Sunday with a well-deserved win over JK Brackens in the FBD Insurance County Senior Hurling Championship Group 1, Round 1 clash.

Team captain O’Shea hit his first midway through the first half and the second just thirty seconds into the second half as the south Tipp side got their campaign off to the perfect start.

It doesn’t get any easier from here, with games against Drom/Inch and Nenagh Eire Og to follow, but a win in the bag is the start they wanted.

It was a day to forget for JK Brackens, finishing the game with thirteen players. They played the entire second with just fourteen, after Eoin Fitzpatrick received a straight red card in first half injury time, and in the closing minutes of the second, Jordan Moloney was sent off on a second yellow.

Fitzpatrick’s loss was the most crucial, with Sean Curran the extra man in defence for Mullinahone in the second half, and he mopped up a huge amount of ball.

The Templemore side had to change their approach for the second half, with Conor Cadell, who didn’t start, replacing Adrian Bourke, but even he wasn’t able to reignite the side’s attacking threat – four of the mid side’s six second half points came from Lyndon Fairbrother frees.

Mullinahone, the only south Tipp team in the Dan Breen Cup, will be well pleased with the outcome. Mikey O’Shea led by example, with a superb display capped off by the two goals; Conor Whelan was immense at wing back, accurate from frees and with a huge point from play; while Enda Keane and Jack Shelly also impressed.

They showed their intent from the start, winning a free in the first attack that Jack Shelly knocked over. However, within the next three minutes, JK Brackens had gone ahead with good scores from team captain Andrew Ormonde and Eoin Fitzpatrick.

Shelly equalised from another free and the sides were also level at 0-3, 0-4 and 0-5 each in the first quarter – Shelly and Conor Whelan pointing frees for Mullinahone, with O’Shea scoring from a brilliant crossfield pass from Sean Curran, and Fairbrother pointing two frees for Brackens and Luke Ormonde scoring from play.

However, the tit-for-tat scoring was interrupted in the 16th minute with O’Shea’s first goal. He brilliantly gathered a ball in from the right wing, turned and shot past Jack Kennedy to make it 1-5 to 0-5.

Brackens replied immediately with a point from Eoin Fitzpatrick – his two first half points reflected the loss he was in the second half – but Mullinahone were never headed again.

Conor Whelan hit a big free from halfway, with Shane Doyle replying with a point from the touchline. Eoin O’Dwyer, from play, and Fairbrother, from a free, exchanged points before Brackens had their first goal chance. Andrew Ormonde broke through the centre and was bearing down on goal but his progress was stopped illegally and Fairbrother pointed the free to reduce the margin to a single point, 1-7 to 0-9.

The margin was two soon afterwards when Enda Keane put Eoin Fennelly through for a superb Mullinahone point and that was the margin at half-time.

But before the short whistle, the game took a decisive turn. A loose clearance from star forward-turned goalkeeper Eoin Kelly set up a Brackens attack involving Luke Ormonde, Adrian Bourke and Shane Doyle, that was only stopped by a Mullinahone foul in a scoreable position. But in a melee that followed, the free was overturned and referee John Dooley showed Eoin Fitzpatrick a red card.

Brackens would have known that the second half would be difficult when a man down and their fears were confirmed when within thirty seconds of the throw-in, Mikey O’Shea burst through the centre of the Templemore side’s defence and shot past Jack Kennedy again.

A point a minute later from Enda Keane saw Mullinahone’s half-time lead of two points pushed out to six, 2-9 to 0-9, within ninety seconds of the restart.

Two pointed frees from Fairbrother in the space of a minute brought the margin back to four but that was as close as it got for Brackens. They couldn’t cope with the extra Mullinahone defender, struggling to make any inroads in attack, while at the back their indiscretions proved costly, with Mullinahone frees.

The south side hit four points without reply between the 5th and 14th minutes - a massive point from deep in his own half from Conor Whelan, who knew it was over the bar once it left his hurley; another Whelan point from a free following a foul on O’Shea; a superb sideline cut from Enda Keane on the halfway line; and another Whelan free.

Those scores pushed the margin out to eight points, 2-13 to 0-11, but in fairness to JK Brackens, they never gave up the battle and hit two in a row from a Fairbrother free and an Andrew Ormonde score from a Dean McEnroe pass.

However, the game was over a contest by then. The hugely impressive Enda Keane hit his third point of the day, with Fairbrother replying with his eighth pointed free. Keane then hit a great crossfield pass to O’Shea who set up Shelly to finish.

After Jordan Moloney was sent off on his second yellow, the scoring was completed, with Andrew Ormonde and Eoin O’Dwyer exchanging the last two points.

Mullinahone now sit at the top of their group with Drom/Inch, who had two points to spare over Nenagh Eire Og in their Saturday evening clash.

Mullinahone: Eoin Kelly, Danny Dunne, Paul Curran, Conor O’Brien, Eoin Fennelly 0-1; Sean Curran, Conor Whelan 0-5, 4 frees; Colin Shelly, Daire O’Brien, Eoin O’Dwyer 0-2; Michael Dunne, Enda Keane 0-3, 1 sideline; Martin Kehoe, Jack Shelly 0-4, 3 frees; Mikey O’Shea 2-1.

Subs: Eanna Ryan for Michael Dunne; Alan Curran for Eoin O’Dwyer.

JK Brackens: Jack Kennedy, Jamie Bergin, Tom Murphy, Martin Delaney, Jack Bergin, Cathal Scully, Jordan Moloney, Dean McEnroe, Adrian Bourke, Luke Ormonde 0-1; Neil Quinlan, Eoin Fitzpatrick 0-2; Andrew Ormonde 0-3; Shane Doyle 0-1; Lydon Fairbrother 0-8 frees.

Subs: Conor Cadell for Adrian Bourke; Jack Nevin for Neil Quinlan.

Referee: John Dooley (Thurles Gaels).