Strong finish secures County Tipperary Under 17 A football title for Moyle Rovers

Moyle Rovers 3-6 Aherlow/Lattin Cullen 0-12

Moyle Rovers came out on top after a challenging contest against the combination of Aherlow/Lattin Cullen in the Under 17 A County Football Championship final in Fethard Town Park on Sunday night.

The victory secured another underage football title for the Powerstown/Lisronagh club, after they won the South Under 21 A Championship the previous week.

The South side looked dangerous from the off, with strong running from the midfield pair of Conor Williams and Aaron McAndrew.

The first score of the evening came off the left boot of Cillian Morrissey from a free after seven minutes.

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It was a war of attrition in the first half, with Aherlow defending extremely well, and being led by captain Padraic O’Brien at centre back.

With numbers behind the ball, Aherlow/Lattin Cullen found it tough in attack but found joy when they went direct to their inside line, where they were kept within touching distance after full forward Aaron Brazil converted two frees, one of which was a powerful two-point shot.

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The West side will rue two goal chances that went astray in the first half after Moyle Rovers captain James O’Brien pulled off a great save from Charlie Brazil after 17 minutes, and another chance for Ciaran Hennessy went narrowly wide.

Moyle Rovers took the lead early in the second half when Fred Perry slotted a penalty past the diving left hand of Aherlow/Lattin Cullen goalie Dylan Guerin, when Joe Donovan won a penalty after two minutes.

This was quickly backed up by another green flag as Conal Egan was able to volley the ball first time into the back of the net to put them six points up.

This certainly kicked the West champions into life, as over the next ten minutes they scored the next six points. A second two-point effort from an Aaron Brazil dead ball put the sides level with ten minutes to go, to the rapturous applause of the Aherlow/Lattin Cullen supporters.

It looked as though they may have had it won with all the momentum going their way. With three minutes to go, Brazil once again sent the noise levels in the stand to a new high with his third and final two-pointed effort, putting them into the lead for the first time in the evening.

However, when a deflected Egan shot landed dangerously in the square, Moyle Rovers corner forward Joe O’Donovan was first to react, as he connected with the ball first-time to send it into the back of the Aherlow net.

Their composure in the final minutes as well, which resulted in a Cillian Morrissey point from play, saw the game go the way of Moyle Rovers.

Rovers were led well by Conor Hurley, Conor Williams and Fred Perry, while Aherlow/Lattin Cullen had strong performances from Christian Flanagan, Anthony Murphy and Oisin Pearl.

Moyle Rovers: James O’Brien (captain), Aidan White, Jack Boland, Liam Kelly, Joe Donovan, Conor Hurley, Fergal Bradshaw, Aaron McAndrew, Conor Williams, Cillian Morrissey, Fred Perry, Conal Morrison, Darragh O’Gorman, Conal Egan, Hugh Carolan.
Subs used: Oisin McCarthy, Alek Kelleher.

Scorers: Conal Egan (1-2), Fred Perry (1-0 penalty), Cillian Morrisey (0–3, 0-2f), Joe Donovan (1-0), Conor Williams (0-1 f).

Aherlow/ Lattin Cullen: Dylan Guerin, Aaron Peters, Killian Peters, Donnacha O’Shea, Colm O’Shea, Padraic O’Brien (captain), Ciaran Hennessy, Anthony Murphy, Eoin O’Connell, Eoin O’Shea, Christian Flanagan, Shane Kiely, Oisin Pearl, Aaron Brazil, Charlie Brazil.
Sub used: Rory McGuire.

Scorers: Aaron Brazil (0-9, 3tpf, 2f), Charlie Brazil (0-1), Anthony Murphy (0-1), Rory McGuire (0-1).

Referee: Seamus Delaney (JK Brackens).