Clonoulty/Rossmore advance to the last eight of Tipperary County Senior Hurling Championship

Clonoulty/Rossmore 1-23 Mullinahone 1-20

The old saying that a good start is half the battle certainly held true at Templetuohy on Sunday as Clonoulty/Rossmore held off a second half comeback by Mullinahone in the County Senior Hurling Championship preliminary quarter-final.

The west champions led by eight points five minutes into the second half and failed to raise a further flag until six minutes from full time, while conceding 1-3 to the south men during the same period.

This game started at a blistering pace, with Mullinahone’s Mikey O’Shea putting over after thirty seconds. Clonoulty came back in whirlwind fashion and hit six unanswered points, five from open play.

Full forward Robert Doyle was causing all sorts of problems for the Mullinahone inside back line from early on, with Mullinahone defender Conor O’Brien receiving a yellow card for persistent fouling in the tenth minute. They got the first big break after thirteen minutes when Conor Hammersley goaled after a ball came back off the upright. Mullinahone got caught on a couple of occasions with the short ball from defence being intercepted or the defender being dispossessed.

The west side finished the half with two injury time points to go in at the break leading by five, 1-14 to 0-12.

After the break they got the perfect start with five points in as many minutes, three coming from Robert Doyle, while going into an eight point lead, 1-19 to 0-14. Mullinahone came back into the game and for the next twenty minutes more or less dominated proceedings, although they only managed to put 1-3 on the board.

Mikey O’Shea found the net after nine minutes when a defender lost possession before goalie Eoin Kelly saved from Stephen Ferncombe, when a point would have settled Clonoulty.

With six minutes of normal time remaining the south side had cut the deficit to three points, 1-20 to 1-17, but Robert Doyle steadied the ship with a point. The final five minutes plus injury time were nail biting, as both sides traded points, but in the end Clonoulty held out for a place in this weekend’s quarter finals.

Early afternoon showers had cleared by throw-in time at Templetuohy and Mikey O’Shea got the scoreboard ticking when he flashed over a point inside thirty seconds. The next five and a half minutes saw Clonoulty at their best, moving the ball quickly, chasing down defenders and splitting open the Mullinahone defence. Stephen Ferncombe equalised before Conor Hammersley shot two points inside a minute.

Jack Ryan put over a huge point from all of eighty metres before Cathal Bourke opened his account after five minutes. Bourke was again on target within sixty seconds from a placed ball after Conor O’Brien was judged to have checked Robert Doyle. Doyle got the benefit of the referee’s clampdown on this type of foul on two further occasions in the opening half.

Mikey O’Shea and Michael Dunne chipped in with two points to leave three between the sides after eight minutes. Stephen Ferncombe hit his second of the afternoon before Cathal Bourke again punished the Mullinahone defence for a pull on Doyle, and this time defender Conor O’Brien was the recipient of a yellow card.

Jack Shelly opened his account from a placed ball after twelve minutes as Clonoulty continued to open up the defence. Their first break came when a long ball came back off the upright. The Mullinahone defence looked to have the situation in hand, but Robert Doyle dispossessed the defender and Conor Hammersley goaled from an acute angle to put his side seven clear. Cathal Bourke then intercepted a short puck out before firing over his fourth point.

The Mullinahone defence were at sixes and sevens and Conor Whelan was introduced to help curb the threat being posed by Robert Doyle.

Mullinahone were coming more into the game and with nine minutes of normal time remaining had cut the deficit to four following points from Mikey O’Shea, Enda Keane and Sean Curran with a long- range effort. Clonoulty were also guilty of some wayward shooting and the wides began to build up. Robert Doyle got in for his first point but again Mullinahone hit back. Conor Whelan converted a free from well inside his own half and Jack Shelly hit his second from play.

As the clock headed towards injury time, Cathal Bourke dispossessed a defender before splitting the posts. Michael Dunne and Martin Kehoe got on the score sheet either side of a good Mikey Ryan (Winnie) point before Enda Heffernan and Cathal Bourke closed out the first half scoring, three minutes into injury time. Clonoulty led by 1-14 to 0-12 at the interval.

Mullinahone, who had showed signs of a comeback late in the opening half, needed a good start after the break and Colin Shelly split the posts inside the opening minute. However, Clonoulty, and in particular Robert Doyle, got five of the next six scores; Doyle with three from play, Cathal Bourke from a placed ball and one from Mikey Ryan (Winnie). Suddenly Clonoulty were eight to the good after only five minutes.

Mullinahone staged the expected comeback, tightening up at the back and taking the game to Clonoulty. Mikey O’Shea, their best player in attack, took full advantage of a Clonoulty failure to clear their lines and blazed past Jason O’Dwyer.

At the other end Eoin Kelly then saved from Stephen Ferncombe when a point would have settled the west men. Mullinahone then hit the next three scores from open play through Eoin O’Dwyer and Jack Shelly (two).

With six minutes remaining Robert Doyle hit his fifth of the afternoon, before Jack Shelly reduced the deficit to two with five minutes of normal time to go. This led to a nail-biting finish. Aaron Ryan (Rody) put over with his first touch, before Cathal Bourke and Jack Shelly traded points. Conor Hammersley had the final say, three minutes into injury time, when he closed out the scoring.

Scorers: Clonoulty/Rossmore: Cathal Bourke (0-8, 5 frees), Conor Hammersley (1-3), Robert Doyle (0-5), Mikey Ryan (Winnie) (0-2), Stephen Ferncombe (0-2), Aaron Ryan (Rody) (0-1), Enda Heffernan (0-1), Jack Ryan (0-1).

Mullinahone: Jack Shelly (0-8, 3 frees), Mikey O’Shea (1-4), Michael Dunne (0-2), Eoin O’Dwyer (0-1), Colin Shelly (0-1), Martin Kehoe (0-1), Conor Whelan (0-1 free), Sean Curran (0-1), Enda Keane (0-1).

Clonoulty/Rossmore: Jason O’Dwyer, Tommy Ryan, Enda Heffernan, Danny Slattery, Ciaran Quirke, John O’Keeffe, Sean O’Connor, Ronan Heffernan (captain), Mikey Ryan (Winnie), Stevie Quinn, Conor Hammersley, Jack Ryan, Cathal Bourke, Robert Doyle, Stephen Ferncombe.

Subs: Jimmy Maher for Mikey Ryan (Winnie) (47 minutes), Aaron Ryan (Rody) for Tommy Ryan (53 minutes), James Hammersley for Stevie Quinn (58 minutes).

Mullinahone: Eoin Kelly, Danny Dunne, Paul Curran, Conor O’Brien, Eoin Fennelly, Sean Curran, Eanna Ryan, Colin Shelly, Daire O’Brien, Eoin O’Dwyer, Michael Dunne, Enda Keane, Martin Keogh, Mikey O’Shea (captain).

Subs: Conor Whelan for Paul Curran (19 minutes), Alan Curran for Conor O’Brien (35 minutes).

Referee: Kevin Jordan (Thurles Gaels).