Winning start for Ballyporeen in Tipperary County Senior Football Championship

Ballyporeen 1-13 Rockwell Rovers 0-9

A third quarter scoring blitz saw Ballyporeen overcome Rockwell Rovers in the FBD Insurance County Senior Football Championship clash at a wet Clonmel Sportsfield on Friday evening.

After a dour first half, played in torrential rain, the south Tipp side took control soon after the restart to run out deserving winners.

Playing without injured county captain Conor Sweeney, Ballyporeen still had too much in reserve for a disappointing Rockwell Rovers who had to play nearly all the second half with just fourteen players.

With Ballyporeen leading 0-6 to 0-5 at half-time, the second half was only four minutes old when influential Rovers forward TJ Ryan was sent off on a second yellow card by referee Sean Lonergan.

Ryan had picked up his first booking ten minutes before the break for a high tackle. The second came during a break in play in the 34th minute. With Darragh Brennan standing over a Ballyporeen free into the town end goal, the referee’s attention was drawn by the umpires to an incident at the far end, and following a consultation, Lonergan sent Ryan to the line.

The New Inn side, Tom Cusack Cup champions for the past two years, had already lost Luca Fitzgerald from their attack. Fitzgerald, an injury doubt before the start, lasted only fifteen minutes and his loss, coupled with that of Ryan, blunted the west Tipp side’s attack, as they scored only once from play in the entire second half.

Ryan’s dismissal kickstarted a purple passage for Ballyporeen in the third quarter, and in particular for their ace marksman, Darragh Brennan, who kicked 1-9 in total. He single-handedly put the game out of Rockwell Rovers’ reach with 1-3 from placed balls in those first fifteen minutes of the second half.

He pointed three frees in a row before slotting home a penalty past Eoghan Doyle in the Rovers goal midway through the half. Ballyporeen were rampant at the time and when Darragh Lyons cut through the centre and found Oisin Brennan free in the square, the Ballyporeen man was dragged to the ground for the spot kick that Darragh Brennan coolly put out of the reach of Doyle.

However, twice in the first half Eoghan Doyle had kept his side in the game with superb saves.

A seven-points lead, 1-9 to 0-5, put the game beyond the reach of the New Inn side who were overly dependent on the efforts of Alan Moloney and Joseph Lawrence to get them back into contention.

Ballyporeen had also started the game well and had raced into a 0-4 to 0-1 lead after the first quarter. Possession was pretty even, with Rovers perhaps shading it, but their shooting was off while Ballyporeen were more economical with their chances.

A Darragh Brennan free opened the scoring in the second minute following a foul on Anthony Crotty and Brennan pointed from play a minute later after he was set up by Tommy Sweeney.

Liam Fahey opened the scoring for Rockwell in the fifth minute but further Ballyporeen points from another Brennan free and John Martin from play pushed the score out to 0-4 to 0-1. It could have been worse for Rockwell after Tommy Sweeney put John Martin through on goal but his shot was brilliantly deflected away by Doyle in the Rockwell goal.

However, with Pat Halley coming on for the struggling Luca Fitzgerald, Rockwell moved up a gear in the second quarter, with TJ Ryan particularly impressive, and in the space of three minutes he hit three points to level the game. His first was from play, his second from a free after a foul on Lawrence, and when Kevin Cleary won the kickout and launched another Rockwell attack, it was Ryan again who finished in style. His costly first yellow card followed a minute later.

Brennan from a free restored the Ballyporeen lead but not before Eoghan Doyle had produced another brilliant save in the Rovers goal from Tommy Sweeney, who had been put through by Christy English. It was a great stop by Doyle but Sweeney should have scored.

Play switched quickly to the other end, where substitute Pat Halley won a mark, offloaded to Jack O’Kelly and received the return pass to kick a fine point and level the scores again. However, Ballyporeen regained a slender half-time lead when Darragh Brennan pointed following a great pass from Anthony Crotty.

What followed after the restart, with the rain still pouring down, was the combination of Rockwell Rovers being reduced to fourteen players, and Darragh Brennan’s brilliance from placed balls, with three frees and a penalty. They dominated that third quarter to turn a single point half- time lead into an unassailable seven-points margin, without Rovers laying a glove on them.

Rovers upped their performance in the final quarter without ever looking likely to change the outcome. Team captain Alan Moloney kicked four points, three from frees and the fourth from play from a short Joseph Lawrence free. Moloney’s third pointed free was a goal attempt that crashed off the crossbar and over.

Those four points in response to a Ballyporeen point from John Martin had reduced the margin to four points, 1-10 to 0-9, with three minutes left on the clock. However, Ballyporeen weathered the storm and hit the last three scores, two from substitute Glen Walsh, and a seventh pointed free from Darragh Brennan to seal a vital win in a group that also includes Moyle Rovers and JK Brackens.

On a miserable night for football, with light fading fast towards the end, it was Ballyporeen who went home happier, with Rockwell Rovers pondering what might have been if they had a full complement of players for the second half.

Ballyporeen: Mikey Sweeney, John Carey, Oisin Brennan, Noel Vaughan, James Barry, John O’Callaghan, Mikey Maher, Dean Finn, Riain O’Callaghan, Darragh Lyons, Christy English, Anthony Crotty, John Martin 0-2; Darragh Brennan 1-9, 1-0 penalty, 0-7 frees; Tommy Sweeney.

Subs: Glen Walsh 0-2 for Tommy Sweeney, Evan Hickey for Darragh Lyons, Kevin O’Mahony for John Carey.

Rockwell Rovers: Eoghan Doyle, Paul Halley, Robert O’Donnell, Peter Heaney, Liam Lonergan, Liam Fahey 0-1; Jack O’Kelly, Tom Downey, Tom Tobin, Kevin Cleary, Alan Moloney 0-4, 3 frees; Luca Fitzgerald, Joseph Lawrence, TJ Ryan 0-3, 1 free; Aidan Barron.

Subs: Pat Halley 0-1 for Luca Fitzgerald, Eoin Shine for Jack O’Kelly, Willie Flynn for Tom Tobin.

Referee: Sean Lonergan (Moyle Rovers).