Clonmel Commercials win their third South Tipperary Under 21 A football title in a row

Clonmel Commercials 1-10 Fethard 0-9

Clonmel Commercials made it three South Tipperary Under 21 A Football Championship titles in a row with victory over arch-rivals Fethard in a final that was slow to come to life on Saturday evening.

The game was the second of a South Board triple-header of finals at Fethard Town Park, moved to the 4G pitch because of the impact of Storm Bert on the grass pitches where the ties were originally scheduled.

However, a home venue didn’t help the prospects of Fethard, who failed to put any pressure on the holders until late in the game. Two points over the first 29 minutes, as well as a missed penalty, reflected their difficulties in front of goal, and it wasn’t until they hit three points in a row in a four-minute spell in the final quarter that they really challenged for victory.

That put them within a score of Commercials, 1-9 to 0-9, but the Clonmel side finished stronger and a late fisted point from substitute Darragh Landers proved to be the insurance score.

It wasn’t as if Commercials were holding on for victory at the end, but they really should have had the game wrapped up earlier, and that will give manager Danny Madigan and his backroom team food for thought before the county stages.

A 1-7 to 0-2 lead after 18 minutes gave them the platform to press on for victory, but they were outscored by The Blues seven points to three over the next 42 minutes and the final whistle brought as much relief as jubilation.

They started brightly, moving the ball around quickly on the artificial surface, with Peter McGarry setting up Oisin Forristal for the opening score in the third minute, and team captain Cian Smith adding a second from a free following an off-the-ball foul on James Power in front of goal.

Power was proving to be a handful for the Fethard defence, and when he shot to the net from close range for the game’s only goal, it put the holders 1-2 to no score ahead after five minutes. Fethard needed to settle and two points in a row in the space of a minute got them going – Charlie Walsh hit the first after a good build-up, and Conor Neville added the second in the 10th minute. But they weren’t to score again for another 19 minutes as the Clonmel side took a firm grip on the game.

The imposing presence of Joe Higgins at midfield was proving crucial and he burst through to hit two superb points, either side of a Cian Smith point from a mark.

Smith then pointed two frees, for fouls on Ross Slattery and Rory O’Dowd, to put Commercials in the driving seat.

Two minutes later Fethard were thrown a lifeline to get back into the game but they were unable to grasp it. A brilliant move up the standside, in which Liam Kiely was prominent, saw a ball crossed into the danger area and in the panic that ensued, the Commercials defence conceded a penalty.

After some delay, Dara O’Meara came up from centre back to take it, but his low shot was brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Shane Ryan with a great dive to his left.

Fethard were now playing with greater purpose, with Liam Kiely, Charlie Walsh, Mark Neville and Conor Neville to the fore, and in the three minutes before half time they doubled their score. In the 29th minute Kiely was fouled again after another good run and Mark Neville pointed the free, and then when Noah O’Flynn was fouled one minute into added time, Neville from another free made it 1-7 to 0-4 at the break.

The teams may have had a superb surface to play on, but driving wind and rain still made it a difficult evening for football, and it took seven minutes before the first score of the second half, another free from Mark Neville. He missed another following a foul on Matt Coen and Commercials had their first point of the half ten minutes in, when substitute Jamie O’Keeffe made an immediate impact with a lovely curling point in his first involvement.

Liam Kiely responded for Fethard after collecting a quickly-taken free following a foul on Conor Neville, but when Peter McGarry hit back with a fine point, it left Commercials with a comfortable-looking six points lead, 1-9 to 0-6, entering the final quarter.

However, cheered on by an enthusiastic home support, Fethard upped their performance again and threw the game into the melting pot with three unanswered points. Mark Neville hit the first from a free, Matt Coen followed up with a great score from play, and in the next move following the kickout, Gavin Neville sent Conor Neville through for a score that brought Fethard right back into contention, 1-9 to 0-9.

The belief was there that they had the time to get an equalising goal, but Commercials regrouped to seal the victory. Joe Higgins, in a man-of-the-match display, continued to drive through the heart of the Fethard defence, and good use of the bench proved crucial with substitutes Jamie O’Keeffe, Ruairi Leahy and Darragh Landers adding extra threat up front.

It was Landers who finished the scoring for Commercials, ensuring the three-in-a-row, when he cut in from the left to fist over for a four-points win.

On a difficult evening not suited to free-flowing football, Commercials had battling defenders in Mark Corcoran, Rory O’Dowd and Tadhg Sheehan; Joe Higgins excelled at midfield, with Peter McGarry, Cian Smith and Oisin Forristal impressing upfront, with James Power taking his goal well, while subs Jamie O’Keeffe and Darragh Landers hit crucial scores.

After a slow start, Fethard battled their way back into contention with big displays from Darragh Spillane, Dara O’Meara, Liam Kiely, Charlie Walsh, Matt Coen, Conor Neville and Mark Neville.

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Clonmel Commercials: Shane Ryan, Ross Slattery, Mark Corcoran, Thomas Charles, Rory O’Dowd, Tadhg Sheehan, Billy Tierney, Darragh O’Connor, Joe Higgins 0-2; Oisin Forristal 0-1; Peter McGarry 0-1; Niall Deely, James Power 1-0; Cian Smith 0-4, 3 frees, 1 mark; Declan Nee.

Subs: Jamie O’Keeffe 0-1 for Niall Deely, Ruairi Leahy for James Power, Dean Cagney for Declan Nee, Darragh Landers 0-1 for Oisin Forristal.

Fethard: Ben Allen, Michael James Phelan, Shane Neville, Darragh Spillane, Charlie Hackett, Dara O’Meara, Noah O’Flynn, Jack Quinlan, Andrew Connerton, Liam Kiely 0-1; Matt Coen 0-1; Charlie Walsh 0-1; Mark Neville 0-4 frees; Conor Neville 0-2; Gavin Neville.

Subs: Rory O’Mahoney for Andrew Connerton, John Lacey for Charlie Hackett.

Referee: Willie Fitzharris (Fr Sheehys).