Harps secure third leg ahead of Tipp Cup final rematch with Ballymackey

SOCCER: North Tipperary & District League – Premier Division Ricky Fogarty Cup Final

BT Harps 3

Ballymackey 0

Report: Gary Culbert in Holycross

BT Harps completed the third leg of a season quadruple by claiming the NT&DL Premier Division Ricky Fogarty Cup over Ballymackey on Sunday.

Despite being without no fewer than six key first-team players, Harps lacked a sparring partner in this disappointing final.

Ryan Loughnane opened the scoring just shy of the half hour, latching on to a perfect through ball by Jack Kennedy before finishing calmly beyond stand-in Ballymackey keeper Cormac Doheny.

At only 19 years of age, this was already Loughnane’s second premier cup final goal in as many seasons, but it was another youngster involved in the goal that caught the eye the most in the half: Sean ‘Pigeon’ Purcell.

The same age, Purcell has been one of the most improved players in the league this season, indeed, with the full back playing himself into the Team of the Season conversation.

Previously a winger, his attacking qualities have never been questioned, but he had a big test on his hands in marking Ballymackey’s quickest player, Cian Galvin, which he passed with flying colours.

Galvin’s physicality was a factor which Purcell was expected to struggle with, but in the end, it was the Ballymackey man that limped off after twenty minutes, following numerous tussles with the impressive Purcell.

Ballymackey conceded the second goal at the worst possible time, on the stroke of the interval. It came following successive long throws from Jack Kennedy with Cormac Foy popping up at the back post amidst a sea of bodies to place a fairly innocuous shot into the bottom corner.

Ballymackey were slow to pick up their men with the late arrival of Sean Paddy Guerins causing enough chaos for Foy to slip between the cracks and finish off a set-piece, just like he did in Ardcroney earlier this season to rescue what turned out to be the most important point of BT’s campaign.

The situation went from bad to worse for Ballymackey after the restart as Loughnane snuck in off the back of Damien Bergin for a second time, getting on the end of Dylan Cody’s dug-out looping cross before directing it back the way it came, beyond the reach of the keeper.

Ballymackey joint-managers George Haverty and Damien Bentley had seen enough. The first change was the most influential, moving Cathal Delaney from centre half to midfield. He battled hard in the engine room against the physicality of Dean Lawlor and the wasp-like presence of Cormac Foy. Often outnumbered, Delaney was one of the few Ballymackey players to come out of the game with his head held high.

Harps rang the changes on what was already very much a second-string team. Ballymackey had a few chances as a result, but Harps had another gear or two in them if it was required.

With just three of the BT Harps starting eleven over the age of 24, this is a team that could dominate for many years to come in the NT&DL.

First though, they will look to write their names into history forever more as the first team to ever complete a NT&DL quadruple in the Kevin Fogarty Tipperary Cup final rematch in Rearcross next Sunday.

This game will be manager Henry Newman and assistant manager Mark Fennell’s final game in charge of BT Harps after a transformative three years at the helm. It will also be one day shy of the one-year anniversary of the passing of David ‘Ginny’ Coleman, the brother of current BT Harps head coach Johnny Coleman.

Speaking ahead of the game, Coleman says that that the quadruple would be the perfect end to a great season. “Win, lose, or draw, I’m so proud of what they’ve achieved and how far the group have come this year. The quadruple would be the icing on the cake and it’s within touching distance now,” he said.

Player of the Match: Sean Purcell (BT Harps)

BT Harps: Jordan Moloney; Sean Purcell, Jack Kennedy, Sean Paddy Guerins (Capt), Cain Russell; Dean Lawlor, Dylan Cody, Cormac Foy; Jack Johnson, Ryan Loughnane, Joe Bourke.

Subs: Christopher Ryan for Cody (60); Rhys Loughnane for Bourke (65); Lorcan Roche for Lawlor (76); Finbarr Breathnach for Purcell (82).

Ballymackey: Cormac Doheny; Cathal Spillane, Cathal Delaney, Damien Bergin (Capt), Ben O’Dwyer; Adam Steed, Cathal Conneally, Aidan White; Colm Maher, Liam Hogan, Cian Galvin.

Subs: Sam Rosney for Galvin (20 inj); James Kenneally for Hogan (54); Jack Kenneally for Maher (66); Davy O’Brien for Spillane (76).

Referee: Robbie Nevin.