Moycarkey Borris and Roscrea can't be separated in tight opening round stalemate

FBD Insurance Senior Club Hurling Championship - Round 1 - Group 2

Moycarkey Borris 0-21

Roscrea 1-18

The opening shots of the 2023 County Senior Hurling championship were fired across a shining Pairc Shileain in Templemore on Friday night last as Moycarkey-Borris and Roscrea played out an exciting draw.

The rain clouds dangled overhead all evening but thankfully never burst while a tricky wind blew across the field towards the Athletic track.

Roscrea opened brightly with Evan Fitzpatrick pointing inside 15 seconds before landing another in the third minute following good work from Dan Ryan and Conor Dooley.

Sloppy defending from Roscrea gifted the ball to Kyle Shelly a minute later to open Moycarkey’s account before their Captain Tom Hayes was pulled for over carrying in the sixth minute. Luke Cashin duly obliged from the free.

An excellent puckout from Rhys Shelly found brother Kyle a minute later for his second point while another free from Cashin following a foul on Alan Tynan left the North boys 0-4 to 0-2 ahead. Eoghan Hayes was free in the half back line for Moycarkey and he was exerting quite an influence on the game.

They hit five of the next six points thanks to Kieran Morris (3), Liam Corcoran and Kieran Cummins with only Alan Tynan replying for Roscrea who had become wasteful in possession.

Kenny Lee steadied the ship for them in the 17th minute with an excellent strike from long range before Dan Ryan’s long run resulted in a free which Cashin pointed to tie it up.

A monster free from Rhys Shelley restored Moycarkey’s lead before Cashin delivered the game's only goal in the 21st minute, running on to the breaking ball and giving Shelly no chance. Morris was proving a constant menace for the Roscrea defence and great work in the 23rd minute set up Niall Heffernan for a lovely point. A beautiful, crisp strike of the ball from Alan Tynan restored Roscrea’s two-point advantage but Moycarkey were still dominating possession.

However, they will rue a number of bad wides in the closing stages of the first half with points from Eoghan Hayes and Corcoran their only return from a half dozen attempts.

An excellent catch and strike from Conor Dooley and another Cashin free left Roscrea 1-10 to 0-11 ahead at the short whistle.
Morris opened the second half scoring from a free and from the resulting puckout Evan Fitzpatrick landed the score of the night from way out on the wing.

A fine Conor Sheedy strike from distance put Roscrea three up, Moycarkey messed up the puckout, Alan Tynan nipped in, and the lead was four by the 35th minute.

Their good work was undone through some silly fouling and by the 47th minute they found themselves behind despite only conceding one point from play during that period, courtesy of Kieran Cummins.

A ‘65 and three frees from Morris along with another free from Rhys Shelly had nudged Moycarkey ahead (0-18 to 1-14), Cashin replying for Roscrea from a free.

The tension was palpable by now with the pressure of trying to get that elusive opening round victory beginning to tell.
A Moycarkey defender was guilty of touching the ball on the ground in the ruck, while Kenny Lee saw his goal attempt easily blocked by Rhys Shelley, who was then pulled for lying on the ball. Cashin duly converted both to put them ahead once more.

They had a number of chances to extend that lead but poor shooting let them down. Kyle Shelly had a golden chance of a goal smothered by Daryl Ryan before another Morris free tied it up in the 56th minute. A well-worked move saw substitute Jack Fallon point in the 58th minute before Evan Fitzpatrick reeled Moycarkey in once more with his fourth point of the night.

A beauty from play from Morris looked to have finally grabbed victory, but with referee John Cormack’s cheeks puffed and ready to blow the final whistle Rory O’Regan took too many steps and Cashin gleefully tapped over the final score of an entertaining game leaving the sides tied at 1-18 to 0-21.

Both teams will lament a missed opportunity but defeat for either would have been a bitter pill to swallow. All in all, a fair result.

Moycarkey Borris: Rhys Shelly (0-2f; Kevin Hayes, Rory Ryan, Rory Darmody; Rory O’Regan,Tom Hayes, Eoghan Hayes (0-1); Kieran Cummins (0-2) Niall Heffernan (0-1); John Bergin, Kyle Shelly (0-2), Stephen Walsh; Joe Egan, Kieran Morris ( 0-10, 0-7f, 0-1 65), Liam Corcoran (0-2).

Subs used: Joe Maher for Bergin (30, inj); Jack Fallon (0-1) for Walsh (41); Tom Ryan for Rory Ryan (42); Bill Flanagan for Kyle Shelly (55); Max Hackett for Egan (60).

Roscrea: Daryl Ryan; Glen Loughnane, Shane Davis, Luke Seacy; Dan Ryan, Darren O’Connor, Conor Sheedy (0-1); Darren Tynan, Kenny Lee (0-1); Alan Tynan (0-3), Jason Fitzpatrick, Evan Fitzpatrick (0-4); Shane Fletcher, Conor Dooley (0-1) Luke Cashin (1-8, 0-8f).

Subs used: James Synott for Davis (23, inj); Sam Conlon for Jason Fitzpatrick (48).

Referee: John McCormack (Knockavilla Kickhams)