Excellent hurling finals in Holycross as four U13 teams lift divisional honours

Centenary Agri Mid Tipperary U13 Group 1 Final 

Drom & Inch 6-10

Boherlahan Dualla 7-6

By Mark Dunne

The continued good form in U13 Group 1 finals continued this year with Drom & Inch edging out Boherlahan Dualla fronted by their sharpshooter Cathal Lillis as they recorded a one-point winner in a 13-goal thriller. 

The game was billed to be a thriller and lived up to the expectations. Drom were first out of the blocks with a Lillis goal before Cross quickly gave the sash the advantage, a goal to the top of the net. 

Niall Quirke added his first from-placed ball before Drom Inch settled into the encounter. Lillis again provided the scorer, this time to the back of the net from a close-in free. 

Lillis again added another three-pointer moments later to swing the game Drom’s way. Cian Fogarty quickly cancelled out the Drom goal with one of his own. 

The game was really firing into life. Tadhg Fitzpatrick added another for his side before Drom & Inch were awarded a penalty, which Lillis expertly converted. Boherlahan were unphased and had a penalty of their own minutes later, where Crosse made no mistake, 3-2 to 3-1. 

Crosse tied the game once more, with the break approaching. Lillis pointed another free before Boherlahan Dualla took the lead with Dara Crosse sublimely finishing a solo effort. 

Their lead was short-lived however as Ross Gleeson again scored the game’s eighth goal, Drom now one to the good. Lillis pointed another free before Dunnacha Harrington put the minimum between the sides at the break. 

Boherlahan Dualla got the second half’s opening score and tied the proceeding before Drom found a purple patch with Fitzpatrick once again the mainstay. They tagged on three quick scores before Boherlahan Dualla to their credit reeled them back in. 

Cian Fogarty and Harrington pointed to once again put one between the sides. Drom though were relentless in their approach and Fitzpatrick found his form scoring two good scores. 

This spell was paying dividends to Drom Inch and their eye for goal once more kicked in. Tadhg Long got on the end of a fine pass to score before Ross Gleeson got his second. 7-9 to 4-6 and the game heading toward its conclusion. 

Boherlahan Dualla though did not panic. They stayed playing the game that served so well and they reaped the rewards. Crosse once again was immense and a long-range free dropped into the Drom goal. 

He quickly backed this up with another moments later much to the delight of the large crowd. The game was now down to a one-score game. With time edging away, a Boherlahan free was played high into the Drom square and James Carthy was the man underneath it and he shot low passed Liam Butler to tie the game! 

With injury time approaching, extra time looked like an inevitability but Cathal Lillis had other ideas and an outstanding point over his shoulder gave his side the victory. 

Credit must be given to both sides for the standard and excitement that the game produced. Certainly stars for the future one and all. 

Drom & Inch: Liam Butler; Dylan Hicks, Eoin Sheridan; Logan Blake, Oisín Loughnane, Harry Scanlon; Sean Ryan, Cathal Lillis (3-4); James Barry (0-1), Tadhg Long (1-0), Tadhg Fitzpatrick (0-5); Jack Shanahan, Ross Gleeson (2-0), Luke Kennedy.

Subs: Micheál Maher; Tadhg Heaney; Daniel Coleman; Conor Stapleton.

Boherlahan Dualla: Luke Keane; Ben Maher, Jamie Maher; Cian O’Donnell, Niall Quirke (0-1), AJ Power; Albert Maher, Jack Maher; Dunnacha Harrington (0-3), Dara Crosse (5-1), Cian Fogarty (1-1); Gearoid Horgan, Philip Ryall, James Carthy (1-0).

Subs: Tom Purcell; Aidan Kennedy

Referee: Paddy Kenny (Durlas Óg)