Galtee Rovers are crowned west Tipperary Under 19 B football champions

Galtee Rovers 1-12 Golden/Kilfeacle 0-9

A strong opening half, coupled with the all-round accuracy of centre forward Conal Grogan, secured victory for Galtee Rovers in the Bridge House Golden West Under 19 B Football Championship final played at Cappawhite.
In a game played in ideal conditions, Galtee were much slicker on the ball, had the ability to draw frees in attack, were much tighter at the back and overall deserved this victory.
It didn’t help Golden’s cause that Ben Currivan was carrying an injury, which limited his options when on the ball.
Galtee led by 1-7 to 0-3 at the break, with all of their points kicked from the boot of Conal Grogan, the goal coming from the penalty spot after sixteen minutes from Daniel O’Dwyer.
Golden needed something on the scoreboard quickly after the resumption and they attacked with pace.
Two goalscoring chances went abegging in the opening three minutes, the ball coming back off the crossbar on both occasions.
One can only surmise what the final outcome might have been had even one of those chances been converted.
However they kept up the momentum and had the deficit down to three points with five minutes of normal time remaining.
But in those closing minutes, Galtee regrouped and late points from Grogan and Daniel O’Dwyer ensured that the Ryan Shield was heading back to Bansha.

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Galtee Rovers got the scoreboard ticking over in the opening minute when Conal Grogan converted his first free of the night.
Four minutes later this advantage had doubled as they ran at the Golden defence, again drawing a free. Two points in quick succession from Jason Morey and Jack Bergin had the sides level for the only time in the game by the eleventh minute.
This really was as close as Golden would get, as two further converted frees by Grogan set the trend.
Aaron Colohan pulled one back for Golden before Daniel O’Dwyer was on target from the penalty spot following a foul after sixteen minutes.
Galtee kept up the pressure in this second quarter, not only holding their opponents scoreless, but adding three more to their own tally to lead by seven at half-time.
Golden came out for the second half all fired up and attacked from the throw-in. However, two gilt-edged goal chances were spurned with the ball on both occasions, coming back off the crossbar.
They continued to keep up their workrate, with Sam Hall and Jack Bergin getting scores on the board. An Eoin Halpin point on the three-quarter mark ensured the Bansha lads had a six-point advantage heading down the home straight.
Golden continued to take the game to their opponents and three unanswered points, between the 16th and 25th minutes, from Sam Hall and Jack Bergin (two) had Galtee’s lead cut to a goal.
This appeared to be a wake-up call for Galtee, as they took control of the game for these latter stages, with top scorer Grogan kicking two points and Daniel O’Dwyer also getting on the scoreboard.
Galtee Rovers now await the mid winners in the county semi-final.
Scorers: Galtee Rovers: Conal Grogan (0-10, 9 frees), Daniel O’Dwyer (1-1, 1-0 penalty), Eoin Halpin (0-1).
Golden/Kilfeacle: Jack Bergin (0-4, 2 frees), Sam Hall (0-3, 1 free), Aaron Colohan (0-1), Jason Morey (0-1).
Galtee Rovers: Robbie McGrath, Eoghan Byrnes, Ciaran McCarthy, Tadhg Gubbins, Alex Harold Barry, Evan Kennedy (captain), Sean Gubbins, Bill Quirke, Liam Finnane, Cian O’Dwyer, Conal Grogan, Eoin Halpin, Jack Crowe, Callum McCarthy, Daniel O’Dwyer.
Subs: Emmett Bonner for Eoghan Byrnes (55 mins), Joe O’Callaghan for Callum McCarthy (55 mins).
Golden/Kilfeacle: Tyler Barry, Colin Tuohy, Brian Marnane, Michael Coman, Eanna Ormond, Cian Ryan, Jack Dalton, Jason Morey (captain), Aaron Colohan, Jack Lonergan, Ben Currivan, Ciaran Byrnes, Sam Hall, Jack Bergin, Aidan Tuohy.
Subs: Padraig Dalton for Jack Dalton (40 mins), Kevin Hogan for Aidan Tuohy (50 mins), Gavin Dalton for Ciaran Byrnes (53 mins), James McLoughlin for Brian Marnane (53 mins), Ryan McNight for Jason Morey (56 mins).
Referee: Tom Dawson (Eire Og Annacarty/ Donohill).