Commercials finish brilliantly to stave off Upperchurch Drombane in Junior B semi-final

FBD Insurance Junior B Football Championship Semi-Final

Clonmel Commercials 2-14

Upperchurch Drombane 0-9

By Michael Dundon

Clonmel Commercials finished with a two-goal flourish to secure their place in the FBD Insurance County Junior B Football Final but were rather flattered by the eleven points winning margin over Mid rivals Upperchurch Drombane at Morris Park on Monday evening.

Upperchurch Drombane were just two points behind (0-11 to 0-9) with nine minutes to play and were doing all the attacking, Commercials having been reduced to fourteen men with the black-carding of Luke O’Donnell at the three-quarter stage. 

A grandstand finish was in prospect but then Alan Lonergan profited from Alex Creed’s good work to score a Commercials goal. Ben Browne followed with two points and Lonergan had another point to put the game beyond Upperchurch's reach with 58 minutes gone.

In the final minute of actual time, Adam Ward netted Commercials’ second goal to seal their win and earn them a place in the final against Shannon Rovers.

Commercials had a clear edge in terms of football nous but Upperchurch worked their socks off to stay in the game and had they been more efficient in front of goal might have taken the honours. In the first six minutes, they had two chances for a goal that came to nothing. Against that Commercials won a penalty in the 11th minute when Martin Kennedy was fouled but Upperchurch goalie Paul Ryan made a fine save to deny Alex Creed the goal.

Creed was the most impressive player in a competitive first half, kicking five of Commercials’  points as they surged ahead 0-8 to 0-5 by half-time. The sides were level 0-3 each after the first quarter, but, as they were to do later, Commercials produced a strong finish to the half to move clear.

They extended the advantage to 0-11 to 0-5 after 38 minutes and looked to be heading for a comfortable win but then had Luke O'Donnell black-carded. Upperchurch made the most of the temporary dismissal and with Andy Kinane, who had come on, leading the way with two points, and Pat Shortt and Jim O'Dwyer adding others, they were just two behind 0-11 to 0-9 with 10 minutes to play.

That’s as good as it got for The Church. Commercials’ backs were to the wall but they responded to the challenge with an impressive finish that yielded 2-3 without reply in eight minutes.

This is Commercials’ third team and features a nice blend of young players and seasoned campaigners and they look well capable of adding the county title to their divisional trophy. There is a lot of talent in the side with Alex Creed and Jamie Ahearne particularly impressive in attack, Shane Taylor, Adam Cooney, and Darragh O’Keeffe were others to do well.

Upperchurch did not deserve to suffer an 11-point defeat. They gave as good as they got for much of the game but did not have the cutting edge of their rivals near goal. Paul Ryan made an excellent block from the penalty in the first half while Eugene Bourke, Oisin Treacy, Jim O’Dwyer, Matt Ryan, Eanna Ryan, and Andy Kinane when introduced, also led by example.

Clonmel Commercials: Cian Corcoran; Shane Taylor (0-2), Richie Carroll, Luke O Donnell (0-1); Stephen Kelly, Darragh O’Keeffe, Adam Cooney; Mark Corcoran, Matthew O Ceallaigh; Jamie Ahearne (0-2), Richie Gunne, Dean Van Der Wal; Peter O’Dowd, Martin Kennedy, Alex Creed (0-6).

Subs used: Alan Lonergan (1-1), Ben Browne (0-2), Danny Hogan, Alan Ward (1-0).

Upperchurch Drombane: Paul Ryan; Patrick Bourke, Matt Ryan, Patrick Clancy; Padraig Stapleton, Tom Purcell, Eugene Bourke; Oisin Treacy (0-1), Kieran Shortt; Jim O’Dwyer (0-4) Pakie Bourke, Pat Shortt (0-1); Eoin Shortt, Eanna Ryan (0-1), Conor Ryan.

Subs used: Andy Kinane (0-2), Seamus Armstrong, Eoin Noonan, Patrick Lowry.

Referee: David Grogan (Aherlow)