Inspired Mullinahone send Toomevara crashing out

Mullinahone 2-23

Toomevara 1-13

Report: Shane Brophy at Semple Stadium

Toomevara paid a major price for having an off-day at the worst possible time as they slipped from top seeds for the County Senior Hurling Championship to exiting altogether at the hands of an impressive Mullinahone side on Saturday afternoon.

Mullinahone are not thirteen points a better team than Toomevara but on this occasion they were because they brought the right attitude and focus to the game while Toomevara were off the pace from the start and were unable to get going.

The greyhounds were in the strange situation of knowing a narrow defeat would probably have seen them into a quarter final and certainly it looked like they played like a team who thought they had the work done to get to the knockout stages. Apart from Jason Ryan, Darren Delaney and David Young who took the fight to Mullinahone all through, the rest lacked any real energy in the contest.

Their chance of recovering from a slow start took a major hit before half time when they were reduced to fourteen men with Colm Canning was sent off for a second bookable offence.

It left Toome in a big hole, already playing poorly, but they were unable to generate the fight to battle back and in the end were well-beaten.

On the other hand, Mullinahone played the game as if it were knockout, which it was as they needed a win to stand any chance of progressing and right from the first whistle their touch and movement was on another level to Toomevara as they hit the first three scores of the game, the first from the outstanding Jack Shelly who scored 205 from play from full forward.

The former minor All-Ireland winner in 2012, Shelly has been bedevilled by injury but is a player of class with a great hurling brain and should get a chance with new Tipp manager Colm Bonnar to see if his body can hold up to the rigours of an inter-county campaign.

He wasn’t the only one who impressed with Eoin Kelly again contributing handsomely with nine points while Mikey O’Shea, Martin Kehoe and Enda Keane were a thorn in the Toomevara defence all through.

Toome did have an early goal chance to settle but Paul Ryan’s effort was saved, and it took them a full eight minutes to get on the scoreboard through Mark McCarthy. David Young got one over on his former Tipp colleague Paul Curran to add a second, but Mullinahone struck the next four scores through Sean Curran, Shelly and two Kelly frees to lead 0-7 to 0-2 at the water-break.

Enda Keane pushed them further in front before Darren Delaney pointed for a wasteful Toome who hit six wides in the early going. Martin Kehoe restored the six-point lead before David Young showed great strength to hold off Paul Curran to win a high ball before firing to the net, 0-9 to 1-3 after nineteen minutes.

Toome followed it up with points from Young and a McCarthy free in their best period of the game, but Mullinahone steadied the ship and restored a three-point lead by half time, including a monster point from Eoin Fennelly, 0-12 to 1-6.

Toomevara lost Colm Canning to a red card just before half time so they had time to reorganise, but the game quickly got away from them upon the resumption with points from Kevin Bolger and Jack Skelly before Shelly scored his first goal on 34 minutes, owing good work to Mikey O’Shea and Enda Keane.

Trailing 1-14 to 1-6, as this stage you felt there was no way back for Toomevara, despite the best efforts of Mark McCarthy who scored five second half points, but Mullinahone were never in any danger of relinquishing their handsome advantage, which they embellished in injury time with Jack Shelly cracking home his second goal, one which on score difference from Clonoulty/Rossmore, sees the South side as a top seed for the quarter finals.

Player of the Match: Jack Shelly (Mullinahone)

Mullinahone: Alan Walsh (6); Colin Shelly (7), Paul Curran (7), Kevin Walzer (7); Eanna Ryan (7), Eoin Fennelly (0-1, 7), Alan Curran (7); Sean Curran (0-2, 7), Kevin Bolger (0-1, 7); Micheal Dunne (6), Eoin Kelly (0-8, 7f) 7), Mikey O’Shea (0-3, 8); Enda Keane (0-1, 7), Jack Shelly (2-5, 9), Martin Kehoe (0-2, 7).

Subs: Conor O’Brien (6) for Bolger (46); Eoin O’Dwyer (6) for Dunne (46); Daire O’Brien (6) for Keane (53).

Toomevara: Rory Brislane (6); Josh McCarthy (6), Andrew Ryan (6), Jake Ryan (6); Colm Canning (5), Liam Ryan (6), Jason Ryan (0-1, 7); Robbie Quirke (6), Russell Quirke (6); Paul Ryan (6), Darren Delaney (0-1, 7), Mark McCarthy (0-7, 5f) 6); Jack Delaney (6), David Young (1-3, 7), Alan Ryan (0-1, 6).

Subs: Willie Coffey (6) for P Ryan (HT); Kevin McCarthy (6) for A Ryan (40); Shane Nolan (NR) for J Delaney (57); Conor O’Meara (NR) for D Delaney (58).

Referee: John Dooley (Thurles Gaels)