Killenaule too strong for Ballyporeen in Tom Cusack Cup final in Tipperary

Killenaule 2-16 Ballyporeen 1-10

After a slow start that saw them trail by three points to no score after five minutes, Killenaule took such a firm grip on Sunday’s Tom Cusack Cup senior football final at Ardfinnan that they had the game virtually sewn up at half-time.

Points by Darragh Brennan, Mikey Maher and Conor Sweeney’s free gave Ballyporeen that early advantage. However, Killenaule soon woke from their slumber and recovered by scoring 1-10 without reply to give them a ten-points lead.

By the interval, their lead still stood at ten points, 1-11 to 0-4, and even with 30 minutes remaining it was difficult to see them being beaten in this final of the competition for teams that failed to reach the quarter-finals of the county senior championship.

Despite playing against a mostly diagonal wind in the opening half, Killeenaule soon clicked into gear after Ballyporeen had made the early running. Dara Fitzgerald, Eoin O’Connell, Joe O’Dwyer and captain Paudie Feehan were all central to their recovery, as was Fionn Fitzgerald, who punished Ballyporeen time and time again from frees.

Joe O’Dwyer had their first point in the eighth minute. Fionn Fitzgerald converted his first of six frees a couple of minutes later, and Eoin O’Connell kicked the equaliser in the 11th minute following a fine passing move.

Killenaule drove on relentlessly from there. Fionn Fitzgerald and Dara Fitzgerald were on target from play before Fionn Fitzgerald extended the lead with two converted frees, before Oisin Shelly added another point after Joe O’Dwyer’s shot was blocked.

Ballyporeen’s cause wasn’t helped during that spell when they lost Kevin O’Mahoney to a black card. But even with their full complement of players restored there was no respite for them. Dara Fitzgerald and Fionn Fitzgerald (from a free) heaped more misery on Ballyporeen, and then disaster struck a minute before half-time. When a Riain O’Callaghan pass was intercepted out the field, Killenaule’s Paudie Feehan scampered clear and sent Fionn Fitzgerald through on goal, before he was hauled down by Ballyporeen ‘keeper Kieran Macken. The result of that indiscretion was a black card for Macken and a Killenaule penalty that Paudie Feehan placed in the bottom corner of the net, with Riain O’Callaghan deputising between the posts for the banished Macken.

Conor Sweeney, from a free, had Ballyporeen’s first score in 25 minutes. But just before the whistle for half-time sounded, Joe O’Dwyer had contributed the first of his three beautifully-kicked frees from the ground to give Killenaule that handsome half-time lead.

Conor Sweeney was brought out to centrefield at the beginning of the second half in an effort to get Ballyporeen back into the game. They started well, with two Darragh Brennan frees inside the opening two minutes, before Joe O’Dwyer opened Killenaule’s second half account from a free.

Goalkeeper Kieran Macken returned from his black card-enforced ten-minutes spell on the sidelines to rescue his team from an even heavier defeat with two top drawer saves, first from Eoin Shaw in the 39th minute and then from Padraig O’Dwyer when another Killenaule goal looked inevitable a couple of minutes from the end.

Seven points separated the sides twelve minutes into the second half when Conor Sweeney sent Killenaule goalie ‘Bubbles’ O’Dwyer the wrong way from the penalty spot. The spot kick was awarded when Darragh Brennan was fouled as the ball headed in his direction.

However, any notions that Ballyporeen might have entertained about a comeback were dispelled only a minute later when Tom Stakelum’s piercing solo, which cut through Ballyporeen’s flimsy rearguard, presented Micheál Doyle with the simple task of scoring Killenaule’s third goal.

Ballyporeen outscored Killenaule by a point (0-4 to 0-3) in the remaining minutes, although Killenaule were always comfortable from there to the finish.

Mikey Maher, Darragh Brennan, Kevin O’Mahoney and Conor Sweeney battled hard for Ballyporeen all afternoon, but they could have no complaints with the result.

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Killenaule: John ‘Bubbles’ O’Dwyer, Finn Nolan, Jimmy Feehan, Denis Fogarty, Luke Ryan, Ciaran O’Dwyer, Padraig O’Dwyer, Paudie Feehan (captain, 1-0 penalty), Tom Stakelum, Eoin O’Connell (0-1), Joe O’Dwyer (0-4, 3 frees), Oisin Shelly (0-1), Dara Fitzgerald (0-2), Eoin Shaw, Fionn Fitzgerald (0-7, 6 frees).

Substitutes: Micheál Doyle (1-1) for Oisin Shelly, Mark Stakelum for Tom Stakelum, Jack Hassett for Eoin Shaw, David McCormack for Denis Fogarty.

Ballyporeen: Kieran Macken, Josh Kearney, Noel Vaughan, Mikey Maher (0-2), Charlie English, James Barry, Kevin O’Mahoney, Dean Finn (captain), Darragh Lyons, Sam McGrath, Tommy Sweeney, Riain O’Callaghan, Tomás Vaughan, Conor Sweeney (1-3, 1-0 penalty, 0-2 frees), Darragh Brennan (0-5, 2 frees).

Substitutes: John Ryan for Josh Kearney, Anthony Crotty for Darragh Lyons, Glen Walsh for Tommy Sweeney.

Referee: Brian Tyrrell (Clonmel Commercials).