Slow second half start costly as Roscrea lose out in Munster final to Monaleen

AIB Munster Intermediate Hurling Championship Final

Roscrea 0-18

Monaleen 1-22

Roscrea fell at the provincial championship final hurdle as they succumbed to a brilliant second half display by Limerick champions Monaleen in Pairc Ui Rinn, Cork earlier this afternoon.

The game was well contested and evenly poised at half time as Roscrea trailed by a single point at half time, but the opening quarter of the second half belonged to Monaleen who blew away their Tipperary opponents, with their centre forward Mark O’Dwyer producing a brilliant display of shooting in what was a deserved win for the Limerick city team.

Both sides started the game in a nervy fashion in the crisp and cold, but definitely playable conditions in Pairc Ui Rinn, with wides a real feature of the opening ten minutes of the game, as the teams needed settlers to steady the ship.

Monaleen very nearly roared into the game with an early goal chance after five minutes, with centre forward Mark O’Dwyer breaking onto a loose ball in the half forward line before having a clear line in on goal, but his powerful effort was brilliantly saved by Daryl Ryan to get Ros’ off the hook.

There were five wides between the teams before the first score of the game came from a trademark long range effort off the left from Evan Fitzpatrick, but it wasn’t long being scratched off from Donnacha O Dalaigh's well taken effort from the sideline to level the game after eight minutes a minute later.

That little passage got the teams off and they started to settle now with Sam Conlon finding the target from a very acute angle inside the 21 yard line after a brilliant run from Kenny Lee which started out around midfield, before Lee found the hand pass to Conlon to convert and re-take the lead.

Mark O’Dwyer hit his first of the day four minutes later in the 13th minute to once again tie the game, but the teams were still guilty of some wasteful shooting in that time, with the teams eventually finishing the half with 13 wides between them.

Shane Fletcher has been a big part of Roscrea’s success this year, but he was unusually quiet in the opening half, but he did provide a third for Roscrea after a quick flick off a Monalen player led to Luke Cashin profiting with another, but it was tit-for-tat as Monaleen re-established the draw from a Joseph Fitzgerald point after 15 minutes.

Cashin had Roscrea back in front from the first converted free of the day a minute later, but from here Monaleen asserted themselves on the game, with Mark O’Dwyer finding space consistently in front of Darren O’Connor, and the centre forward pilfered two points either side of a Lochlann McHale score as the Limerick champions built up a two point lead by the 18th minute.

Roscrea weren’t hurling badly though, and they had the game tied back up with two points in as many minutes from there, with Luke Cashin pointing his second from play along with a well struck effort from Conor Sheedy from distance.

The Tipperary champions were being very naive in the final ten minutes though, as Mark O’Dwyer was finding far too much room in front of the 45, and it led to scorable  frees which O’Dwyer gobbled up gleefully to regain the two point lead.

Again though, Ros’ rebounded from that flurry of points with another brace of their own from a Luke Cashin free, before Evan Fitzpatrick found his range brilliantly from midfield to tie a game which was ebbing and flowing.

But it was the Limerick champions who finished the half stronger, outsourcing Roscrea three points to two with O Dalaigh, O’Dwyer, and Andrew La Touche Cosgrave’s point on the stroke of half time had Roscrea trailing 0-11 to 0-10.

Monaleen started the second half like a team ready for the Roscrea third quarter which had seen the Tipp champions blow away Ballysaggart in the semi-final, and they had established a strong five point lead by the 35th minute, with Mark O’Dwyer hitting three frees along with a first of the day for full forward Ed Doyle.

Roscrea were starting to panic, and it showed in their play with some uncharacteristically poor use of the ball, with Monaleen mopping up the long ball going into a helpless Sam Conlon, but they did eventually get on the board from a Luke Cashin free after 37 minutes to stem the bleeding.

However, it was all Monaleen now with Luke Murphy and Andrew La Touche Cosgrave dominating in the air for their forward division, and they were profiting from some poor Roscrea discipline with two further O’Dwyer frees along with a well finished Ronan Tynan effort after good build up from back the field; Roscrea trailing by 0-18 to 0-11.

Roscrea were living off scraps now, as Luke Cashin found their next score from a free in the 42nd minute, but they just couldn’t find any rhythm as Monaleen were well on top in most sectors, with Mark O’Dwyer scoring three points in the next five minutes again, as he was giving a complete exhibition of ball striking, hitting only one wide in the game as he totalled 0-15 points.

Roscrea were running out of rope quickly, and tried a hail mary by moving Alan Tynan into full forward in the final seven or eight minutes but despite a few half goal chance for Luke Cashin and Conor Sheedy, it just wasn’t going to be Roscrea’s day, as a late Ed Doyle goal in the 59th minute put the final nail in the Tipperary champions coffin as the year came to a disappointing end in the provincial final.

Scorers: Roscrea: Luke Cashin (0-11, 0-9f), Conor Sheedy, Evan Fitzpatrick 0-3 each, Sam Conlon 0-1.

Monaleen: Mark O’Dwyer (0-15, 0-11f), Ed Doyle 1-1, Donnacha O Dalaigh 0-2, Joseph Fitzgerald, Lochlann McHale, Ronan Lyons, Andrew La Touche Cosgrave all 0-1 each.

Roscrea: Daryl Ryan; Shane Davis, Keith McMahon, James Synott; Michael Campion, Darren O’Connor, Darragh Tynan; Dan Ryan, Alan Tynan; Kenny Lee, Conor Sheedy, Evan Fitzpatrick; Luke Cashin, Shane Fletcher, Conor Dooley.

Subs: Aidan Booth for Davis (blood-sub) (30); Conor Dooley for Lee (42); Aidan Booth for Synott (43); Jason Fitzpatrick for Conlon (55).

Monaleen: Jamie Power; Simon Griffin, Bryan Canny, Jamie Porter; Leo Morrison, Lorcan Lyons, Ronan Lyons; Joseph Fitzgerald, Lochlann McHale; Dan Power, Mark O’Dwyer, Andrew La Touche Cosgrave; Donnacha O Dalaigh, Ed Doyle, Luke Murphy.

Subs: David Moloney for D Power (45); Darren Golden O’Mahony (62); Ben Hayes for O Dalaigh (63); Eoghan O’Driscoll for O’Dwyer (63).

Referee: Ciaran O’Regan (Cork)