Kilkenny IHL- Tullogher survive Gowran revival to maintain 100% record

Tullogher-Rosbercon’s overall greater team work and workrate saw them maintain their 100% winning record, as they made it four wins from four against Young Irelands Gowran in Thomastown last Sunday.

However they failed to score throughout the final quarter, as the Gowran men slowly clawed their way back into contention primarily through the free taking of Sean Carey.

Carey had a chance to salvage a draw for Young Irelands right at the end of injury-time, but his effort went wide of the target.

Tullogher-Rosbercon led from the outset, and an Andrew Murphy goal in the 4th minute opened the scoring. 1-0 to 0-0.

Cian O’Donoghue added a pointed free a minute later with a superb strike from over 100 metres, and the South Kilkenny men maintained their four point advantage in the 10th minute (1-3 to 0-2) with further points coming from Conor Hennessy and a Cian O’Donoghue free from much closer range.

Sean Carey opened Young Irelands account with a point from play in the 6th minute, and he added further points both from play and a free in the 10th and 11th minutes respectively. 1-3 to 0-3.

Cian O’Donoghue added another free in the 11th minute (1-4 to 0-3), before points from Ted Drea and Sean Carey halved the deficit by the midway point of the first-half. 1-4 to 0-5.

Tullogher-Rosbercon’s second goal arrived in the 16th minute, when Danny Glennon finished superbly following a sublime pass by Cian O’Donoghue. 2-4 to 0-5.

The South Kilkenny men maintained their five point advantage at half-time (2-8 to 0-9) with further points from the energetic Colman O’Sullivan, the two goalscorers Andrew Murphy and Danny Glennon, and a Cian O’Donoghue free on the sideline 55 metres from goal.

Young Irelands were heavily reliant on both Ted Drea and Sean Carey throughout that opening-half as they contributed 0-7 of their first-half total between them, while Drea squandered a hat-trick of goal chances.

The first half was marred by an injury to Michael Walsh who had to be stretchered off, as up to about seven minutes of injury-time was played.

The second half was very disappointing with only five scores coming from play - Tullogher-Rosbercon 0-3 Young Irelands 0-2 - as there were an awful lot of scrappy stop start passages of play.

By the close of the third quarter, The All-Ireland Junior Club Champions had built up an eight point lead (2-13 to 0-11) with Kevin Hennessy landing over two magnificent points, while Cian O’Donoghue added three further points as they were well on their way to victory.

However, they had endure a nervy final minutes as Young Irelands slowly fought their way back primarily through Sean Carey who added five points from frees, while Seamus Farrell was also on target.

Over the hours plus hurling, a deserved win for Tullogher- Rosbercon who now are all but guaranteed a Championship Quarter-Final spot.

For long periods when they were on top, Pat Hartley was leading the way in keeping the defence solid, while Colman O’Sullivan and Jamie Lyng were industrious as they effectively linked the way in transitioning from defence to attack.

They play last years finalists Mooncoin in the final round of group games next Sunday, with The Suirsiders also in the mix to secure a top two place along with a Quarter-Final spot.

For Young Irelands, moving Sean Carey out to around midfield greatly helped them starting to win possession, and it most certainly contributed to their comeback in that final quarter.

However, they will be disappointed with their overall display as they came nowhere near the performances in their opening three matches, and yet they might have snatched a draw.

They will look to bounce back against St. Martins next Sunday and book a quarter-final spot, while their opponents need a result to avoid a relegation play-off first round match.

Teams and Scorers

Tullogher-Rosbercon: Cian O’Donoghue 0-7(0-6 frees), Andrew Murphy and Danny Glennon 1-1 each, Kevin Hennessy 0-2, Colman O’Sullivan and Conor Hennessy 0-1 each.

Young Irelands: Sean Carey 0-12 (0-10 frees), Ted Drea and Seamus Farrell 0-2 each, Paddy Langton(‘65) and Tommy

Phelan 0-1 each.

Tullogher-Rosbercon: Davy Walsh; Richard Gill, Donncha O’Connor, David Kennedy, Lar Murphy, Pat Hartley, Kevin Hennessy, Colman O’Sullivan, Jamie Lyng, Marty Murphy, Michael Handrick, Conor Hennessy, Andrew Murphy, Cian

O’Donoghue, Danny Glennon.

Young Irelands: Jason Brennan, Pat Farrell, Geoff Brennan, Sean Farrell, Michael Carey, Paddy Langton, Michael Walsh, Tommy Phelan, Padraig Naddy, Jimmy Lennon, Seamus Farrell, Padraig O’Neill, Killian Carey, Ted Drea, Sean Carey.

Subs: Diarmuid Langton for Michael Walsh 30 minutes, Gavin Manning for Padraig Naddy 50 minutes.

Referee: Eoin Hayes (Thomastown)