Tipperary Under 19 county football title is a real boost for Arravale Rovers

Arravale Rovers 2-17 Fethard 2-15

“These lads are a brilliant bunch and they are going to be the pillar of our club for the next ten years,” said a delighted Arravale Rovers manager Tommy Lowry after he had seen his side beat Fethard after extra-time in the FBD Insurance County Under 19 A Football Championship final at New Inn on Sunday.

It took eighty minutes to decide the outcome but the Tipperary Town side proved to be worthy two points winners of an outstanding final that featured high quality, end-to-end football.

Lowry remarked that Rovers had winners all over the field, including brothers David and Adam Ryan, who added county football titles to the Munster and All-Ireland Under 20 hurling medals won earlier this year with Tipperary.

“We had a tough time in the club this year with the relegation of our seniors, but this win is a huge boost to us. Anytime that a brilliant Fethard team came back at us, we responded to that, we are asking the lads to go to the trenches all the time.

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“The boys have been at this all year, and last year we had 13 or 14 games between hurling and football and they were the building blocks for what we saw here today. However, it was a whirlwind of emotions on the sideline,” said Lowry.

Rovers were a point down at the interval, then three points behind before going three ahead early in the second half, and looked to have the game won in normal time until a late Gavin Neville point for Fethard forced extra-time.

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However, five points without reply in the first half of extra-time proved to be the springboard for success. And despite a spirited response from Fethard, including a well-converted penalty from Charlie Walsh, they held on for a win that was greeted with great delight by their supporters.

They had heroes all over the field, including David Ryan, who was immense at the heart of the defence, where Mikey Bowes and Darragh Bresnan also impressed; Adam Ryan and David O’Brien at midfield; Sean O’Mahoney, who drove at the heart of the Fethard defence throughout; as well as Alex Webster, Ciaran Kelly and Shane Quigley.

Fethard will be disappointed that their remarkable divisional success in recent years hasn’t been repeated at county level. Manager Tommy Sheehan will be pleased that they battled to the end, but maybe not so happy that some good scoring chances were not taken.

Noah O’Flynn won an amount of possession and turnovers that set up dangerous attacks, with Gavin Neville and Michael Dempsey also starring in defence, with Mark Neville, Charlie Walsh and Ryan O’Sullivan providing the greatest threat upfront.

An indication of what was to follow came in the early stages with two goals in the first three minutes. A great run from Adam Ryan set up Darragh Bresnan for an Arravale goal after two minutes, and then Mark Neville put Liam Kiely through for a Fethard reply in the next minute.

By the end of the first quarter, Arravale led 1-5 to 0-2 as they were sharper in attack, with quick transition and recycling. Their scores came from a Ciaran Kelly free, Donnacha Quigley, Sean O’Mahoney after a great run through the centre, Darragh Bresnan and then a 45 from team captain and goalkeeper Evan Ryan, after his Fethard counterpart Ben Allen had made a brilliant save from an O’Mahoney shot.

Fethard’s only response in that time was converted frees from both Mark Neville and Ryan O’Sullivan, but they were the better side in the second quarter to turn around at half-time 1-7 to 1-6 in the lead.

Noah O’Flynn scored a great point following a run through the centre and in the next move Andrew Connerton put Neville through to score.

Denis Cremins interrupted the Fethard flow with a Rovers point. However, the Blues responded with a Neville 45 after Evan Ryan had made a great save from the Fethard captain, and they followed up with points from Charlie Walsh and Jack Davey, the last one created by another Noah O’Flynn intercept.

Fethard extended the lead to three in the first minute of the second half when Mark Neville converted a two-point free. They should have built on that lead further over the following seven to eight minutes but were untypically wayward with their shooting. They were punished when the Tipp Town side exposed the Fethard defence and Alex Webster had the easiest chance to shoot home into an unguarded net, to level it at 1-9 to 2-6.

Arravale then hit three points in a row from two Ciaran Kelly frees and an Evan Ryan 45. Mark Neville from a free and Shane Quigley swapped points before Fethard finished with three in a row to force extra time – Mark Neville from a free, Ryan O’Sullivan and Gavin Neville with the leveller.

Arravale had the chance to win it in normal time but a miscommunication appeared to cost them. They were awarded a free following a foul on O’Mahoney, and as goalkeeper Evan Ryan was making his way forward to take it, O’Mahoney took the free himself and it was well off target.

However, Arravale made up for that lapse in extra-time. They tore into Fethard from the throw-in, Adam Ryan and Sean O’Mahoney combining to put Darragh Bresnan through after twenty seconds, followed by points from O’Mahoney, Ciaran Kelly, Shane Quigley and Kelly again for a five-points lead.

However, Fethard had it back to four following a Neville free and then when Liam Kiely was fouled in the square, Charlie Walsh expertly converted the penalty. A quick reply from Ciaran Kelly in the next move gave Rovers a 2-16 to 2-14 lead at the interval.

And that remained the gap at full-time, Ciaran Kelly and Gavin Neville points the only scores in the second half. Fethard pressed to the end for a goal or a two-pointer but time ran out, as Arravale Rovers celebrated a coveted success.

Arravale Rovers: Evan Ryan 0-2, 2x45s; Robert O’Brien, Denis Cremins 0-1; Mikey Bowes, Brendan Delaney, David Ryan, Darragh Bresnan 1-2; David O’Brien, Adam Ryan, Jaye Cilvinas, Sean O’Mahoney 0-2; Alex Webster 1-0; Shane Quigley 0-2; Ciaran Kelly 0-7, 3f; Donncha Quigley 0-1.

Subs: Luke Walsh for Donncha Quigley, Cian O’Connell for Denis Cremins, Conor Kelly for David O’Brien.

Fethard: Ben Allen, Rory O’Mahoney, Gavin Neville 0-2; Jonah McCarthy, Noah O’Flynn 0-1; Michael Dempsey, Luke Lacey, Andrew Connerton, John Lacey, Ryan O’Sullivan 0-3, 2f; Jack Davey 0-1; Liam Kiely 1-0; Charlie Walsh 1-1, 1-0 pen; Mark Neville 0-7, 3f, 1x2pt f, 1 45; Danny Barry.

Subs: Oisín Ryan for Danny Barry, Jack Stokes for Jonah McCarthy, Jonah McCarthy for Andrew Connerton.

Referee: Ger Fitzpatrick (Roscrea).