Hough and Dooley inspire Roscrea to County title

GAA: Tipperary Coiste na nOg Under 15 ‘B’ Football Final

Roscrea 4-10

Ardfinnan 3-8

Report: Liam Hogan in Dundrum

Roscrea claimed their first County Under 15 ‘B’ Football title when defeating Ardfinnan in a well-contested and very entertaining final played last Thursday.

Three second half goals helped Roscrea to a commanding 4-7 to 2-5 lead, a lead they held to the very end but not before withstanding a late Ardfinnan fightback which saw them score 1-3 in added time. The first half may have been a low scoring affair, but it lacked nothing in terms of endeavour and end-to-end fare with quite a number of players from both teams becoming leaders on the evening.

Roscrea can really thank Calum Mitchel, Aaron O’Donoghue and Marko Pasalic who were very prominent while wing back Jack Ryan was excellent with Jack Byrne, Jayden Loughnane and Harry O’Donoghue were not shy of getting stuck in when needed. Their handy work kept Ardfinnan scoreless as the South champion were in control for much of the opening ten minutes due to the great work of their six-foot-two centre back Zak Doyle who had good assistance from full back Samuel Hartigan, not to mention the brilliant Aidan Gorey at midfield, a player we should hear lots about in the future.

With both defences on top, the game was eight minutes old before Liam Dunphy opened the scoring with a free after Jack Walsh was fouled before Owen Hough increased Roscrea’s lead with a point from play a minute later.

The scores helped Roscrea to settle, and midfielder Jack Hayes cut a gap through the Ardfinnan defence before offloading to Owen Hough, who after weaving past two or three defenders, kicked the ball to the net in the tenth minute. One minute later, Hough added a point and Roscrea led by six.

It was not all Roscrea as Ardfinnan had the ability to create some promising moves but they had to wait until the twelfth minute before wing-forward James Murphy sped through the Roscrea defence and scored a great goal after Adam Gorey’s high fielding created the move.

Paul Cummins (son of Tipperary goalkeeping great Brendan) won a free and Murphy converted but Jack Walsh had Roscrea three in front in the sixteenth minute, but a more composed Ardfinnan side were a point in arrears after Murphy added a free, closely followed by a Cummins point from play.

As the half was reaching the interval it was Ardfinnan who shone the most in terms of chances and Jack Darmody brought them level before Paul Cummins benefited from a cross-field ball by full back Hartigan by adding a point just in time for the short whistle, Ardfinnan 1-5 Roscrea 1-4.

Roscrea were quick off the mark in the opening minutes of the second half but they suffered a setback in the 32nd minute when a move led by Zak Doyle saw wing forward James Murphy slice through the Roscrea cover before finding the back of the net. At 2-5 to 1-4 in front, the momentum was with Ardfinnan, but little did they realise that it would be their last score for quite some time.

Roscrea had no such problems as they began to get their house in order. Bringing Luke Murphy from corner forward out as a third midfield worked wonders. Michael Dooley’s free saw the Roscrea storm gather strength as Jack Walsh and Owen Hough combined with the later forcing Ardfinnan goalkeeper Oran Bourke to make an excellent save at the expense of a 45. Roscrea came knocking again as the Ardfinnan defence was stretched Jack Walsh and Calum Mitchel scored with wing back Harry O’Donoghue much involved.

Then in the 42nd minute the floodgates opened as Roscrea regained the lead after a goal by Jack Walsh after a Michael Dooley centre.

The supporters were just back in their seats when the third goal arrived where Dooley went highest on the edge of the square to meet a well-placed centre by Owen Hough.

There was more to come when Roscrea had their fourth green flag after Hough was the final part of the jigsaw after Michael Dooley intercepted a move by Ardfinnan in their own defensive area.

Further scores by Hough and Dooley (free) had Roscrea into a 4-9 to 2-5 lead with seven minutes remaining, but they seemed to take their foot off the pedal, which can happen with such a lead, and with Ardfinnan realising their plight they began one final push which curtailed the Roscrea to just one more point when captain Liam Dunphy scored from a free making it double scores bang on the hour mark.

In response, Ardfinnan began to flourish with corner forward Cillian Carrigan finding the net and as they continued to search for more scores with Paul Cummins, James Murphy, and Cummins again each scoring a point as the time stretched to the eight minutes of added time giving Roscrea supporters some nail-biting minutes. They needn’t have worried as the red ribbons were firmly attached to the cup many minutes earlier.

Roscrea: Aaron Tooher; Marko Pasalic, Jack Byrne, Jayden Loughnane; Harry O’Donoghue, Calum Mitchel (0-1), Jack Ryan; Jack Hayes, Aaron O’Donoghue; Jack Walsh (1-2), Liam Dunphy (0-2f Capt), Billy Kennedy; Michael Dooley (1-2, 0-2f), Owen Hough (2-3), Luke Murphy.

Ardfinnan: Oran Bourke; Rian O’Keeffe, Samuel Hartigan, Sean Moroney; Robert Carrigan, Zak Doyle, Jake O’Connor; Aidan Corey, Sean Cotter; David Cunningham, Paul Cummins (0-4), James Murphy (2-3, 0-2f); Cillian Carrigan (1-0), Oisin Jordan, Jack Kennedy.

Subs: Shane Bourke for O’Connor (HT); Danny O’Dwyer for O’Keeffe (HT); Carl Hennessy for Darmody (38); Cillian O’Dwyer for O’Dwyer (60+6 inj).

Referee: Donnacha Horan (Eire Og Annacarty).