Thurles Sarsfields finish impressively against Solohead to win Junior B county title

FBD Insurance Junior B Hurling Championship Final

Thurles Sarsfields 3-15

Solohead 1-16

Thurles Sarsfields produced a comprehensive second half performance to claim the Junior B county title after downing a spirited and combative Solohead outfit in a high quality encounter in Clonoulty earlier today.

Despite a very good opening quarter from Solohead in which the Dee brothers at midfield dominated the play, giving the west champions a deserved 0-7 to 0-2 lead, a Ger O’Grady goal on the 19th minute finally gave Sars the kick start they badly needed, and from here, they shaded the remainder of the half and beyond.

Further goals from Cathal McElgunn just before half time along with a lucky Cian Treacy effort from a long range free in the second half, gave Thurles the edge they needed, as they held firm despite some relentless assaults on their goalmouth late on.

Indeed, it was Solohead who started the game like a steam train after the initial throw in, with the ball rolling their direction instantly when Stephen Dee found the target with the opening attack of the game after some 30 seconds of play.

The first ten minutes were a stubborn battle of the defenses on show as neither rearguard were creaking under different attacks from both sets of forwards, but it was Solohead who would extend their lead in the 10th minute through a brilliant strike from James Dee after brother Stephen set him up well.

Sarsfields weren’t getting into their rhythm at all in the opening quarter, and that was due in large part to the pressure being exerted by the Solohead defenders, but they did find their opening score three minutes later through a placed ball from Cian Treacy to get their interest off the mark finally.

But the play was only going in one direction as Solohead continued to apply the pressure and reaped the rewards, firstly with a fantastic effort from the sideline from Anthony Owens finding the target, before the Dee brothers whipped over a further three points, two coming from James while Stephen’s came after brilliantly dis-possessing David Keogh to gather the loose ball and fire over.

That had Solohead in front by 0-6 to 0-1 after 17 minutes, as Thurles continued to live off scraps in the next few minutes, digging out another scorable free for Treacy to convert and reduce the gap, but the Solohead tails were up and they had that score responded to within 30 seconds through a first of the day from Chris O’Connor who floated over beautifully from some 40 yards out to open a 0-7 to 0-2 lead.

However, the big momentum shift which Thurles Sarsfields needed came just a minute later on the 20 minute mark, when a delivery into the Thurles full forward line found Cathal McElgunn who did brilliantly to gather the ball under pressure, before coolly finding Ger “Redser” O’Grady with a hand pass and the former Tipp senior hurler whipped on the ball to rattle the Solohead net.

This gave Thurles a huge push on and they did have the better of the remainder of the half, despite two more scores from James Dee placed balls, points from David Bourke, Ger O’Grady and a beaut’ from Jamie Stapleton - after a lovely flick over his markers head in the build up - had Sarsfields on level terms by the 29th minute.

Solohead looked like they would go in ahead at the break, which would have been deserved on the balance of play, after James Dee pointed another free, but a stroke of luck gave Sarsfields the advantage at the interval, when a long point effort from Peter Maher dropped just on top of the post, and when Philip O’Doherty in the Solohead goals brought it to ground, he lost his footing on the way down and this allowed Cathal McElgunn to run onto the ball and scramble the ball over the line to give the mid champions a 2-6 to 0-10 lead at half time.

It would be important for either team to get an early footing in the second half to get the initiative in a tight game, and it went in the direction of Sarsfields with Ger O’Grady continuing to look sharp with a huge effort from the throw in splitting the posts, but Solohead responded in kind with another well taken score from Stephen Dee to even the scales.

Thurles though, were finally getting on top in every sector, and with a hold on the midfield finally, their backs also became prominent which led to loads of ammo for the forwards to work with; Cian Treacy and Jamie Stapleton reaping the benefits in the 32nd of 36th minute with well taken scores to give their side a 2-9 to 0-11 lead.

Another pair of James Dee points up to the 40th minute kept Solohead in touch, but they were living off scraps now with Sarsfields in the ascendancy through another Treacy free and a first of the day for David Keogh, before they bagged the decisive third goal in fortunate circumstances, as a Treacy 65 effort somehow found its way to the net through the unfortunate grasp of O’Doherty in the Solohead goal.

That was the killing blow to the Solohead challenge, and despite their best efforts, particularly from the Dee brothers and Jack Redican in particular, they couldn’t breach a stubborn Sarsfields rearguard enough as further points from Cian Treacy and Ger O’Grady came to officially kill the game, if it wasn’t dead already.

Solohead did manage a late consolation goal from a James Dee 21 yard free with the last puck of the game, but it came far too late to bring the contest back to life as Thurles Sarsfields added yet another county title to their roll of honour.

Scorers: Thurles Sarsfields: Cian Treacy (1-7, 1-2f, 0-2 65), Ger O’Grady 1-2, Jamie Stapleton 0-3, Cathal McElgunn 1-0, David Bourke, David Keogh, John Lawlor 0-1 each.

Solohead: James Dee (1-10, 1-6f, 0-1 65), Stephen Dee 0-4, Anthony Owens, Chris O’Connor 0-1 each.

Thurles Sarsfields: Myles Fitzgerald; Stephen Mawe, Mikey Stakelum, Peter Maher; Jack O’Connell, Paddy Carroll, Conor Stapleton; Alex Moloney, Paddy Stakelum; Jamie Stapleton, Cian Treacy, David Keogh; David Bourke, Ger O’Grady, Cathal McElgunn.

Subs: John Lawlor for O’Connell (34); Jamie Stapleton for Stakelum (40).

Solohead: Philip O’Doherty; Brian Garvin, Noel Kennedy, Chris Ryan; Jack Redican, Brendan Collins, Shane Farrell; James Dee, Stephen Dee; Damian Ryan, Anthony Owens, Tommy O’Mahony; Chris O’Connor, Aaron Ryan, Aidan Riordan.

Subs: Denis O’Shea for D Ryan (HT); Eoin Riordan for A Riordan (45); Chris Kirby for Owens (48); Declan Riordan for Tommy O’Mahoney (59).

Referee: Paddy Ivors (Ballingarry)