Impressive Holycross/Ballycahill complete hurling double in Tipperary

Holycross/Ballycahill 1-20 Clonoulty/Rossmore 0-8

Favourites Holycross/Ballycahill justified their rating with an emphatic win over neighbours Clonoulty/Rossmore in an FBD Insurance County Under 21 A Hurling Championship final at Drombane on Sunday that never really caught fire due to the dominance of the winners.

For Holycross, this win climaxed a year rich in promise for the future, as they added this title to the under 19 victory earlier, and they were also in the under 17 final, losing to Durlas Og. With such a wealth of talent coming through, a return to the glory days at senior level cannot be too far off for the Abbeysiders.

They were never seriously challenged in the campaign with big wins over Sarsfields in the Mid final, Borris-Ileigh in the county semi-final and again last Sunday.

They were vastly superior to all opposition and the challenge now for the club is to bring this level of performance through to senior competition.

With three under 19 titles in a row behind them, they were the hottest of favourites to add to their trophy collection, several of this combination also winning medals at the younger age level.

Even against the fresh breeze in the first half they were the dominant force and while their interval advantage of 0-8 to 0-6 was by no means decisive, nothing was seen in that opening period to suggest that Clonoulty/Rossmore could turn them over.

Clonoulty’s bright start, aided by the elements, saw Stephen Ferncombe register two points in six minutes without reply.
Both sides were having difficulty gauging the impact of the wind and both had several shooting lapses but once Holycross found their range, they pulled steadily away. A brace of Robbie Ryan points from frees and an opener from David Fogarty had the Mid lads ahead 0-3 to 0-2 after 10 minutes and on their way to victory.

Alex Carroll levelled for Clonoulty, who had registered six wides at this stage, but white flags from Jimmy Lahart, Robbie Ryan and Cathal O’Reilly underlined Holycross’ superiority and they might have had a goal but for the bravery of Clonoulty’s Jason O’Dwyer, who stopped a rasper from Jimmy Lahart.

Stephen Ferncombe, Clonoulty’s biggest threat in attack, had three points for them before the break to keep them in the picture but with Holycross ahead 0-8 to 0-6 at half-time and the elements to favour them on resuming, the outlook was bleak for the West boys.

And that’s very much how it transpired. Inside three minutes of the restart, Holycross had extended their advantage with points from Robbie Ryan (two) and Joe Caesar and were coasting. Clonoulty needed a boost but Holycross goalie James O’ Dwyer denied Clonoulty’s Paddy Kennedy a goal with a smart save after 35 minutes.

At the other end Jason O’ Dwyer, the Clonoulty custodian, again saved his side, denying Jimmy Lahart a possible goal but in the 42nd minute Lahart was not to be denied, his goal shooting his team 1-12 to 0-6 clear.

This effectively put the game beyond Clonoulty/Rossmore’s reach. Holycross began to empty their bench with three of the subs, Sean Ryan, Tony Maher and Pierce Briody, getting on the scoresheet. Clonoulty scored just two points in the second half, both from Stephen Ferncombe frees, a fairly accurate reflection of the pattern of the game, leaving Joe Caesar, the Holycross captain to claim the trophy on behalf of the club.

The dominance of this Holycross outfit augurs well for the club’s future and with the back-up from the under 19s, they will be hard to dislodge at this level for the next few years.

Many of them have already established themselves in the club’s senior side, and more are sure to follow. Once again their key men delivered with Cathal O’Reilly, Joe Caesar, Robbie Ryan, James Doyle, Tadhg Gould, David Fogarty and goalie James O' Dwyer all having fine games.

Clonoulty/Rossmore could not be faulted for effort and while they had some fine performances, they lacked the overall strength and balance of their rivals. Goalie Jason O’Dwyer had a fine game, as did Keelan Ryan and Danny Slattery at the heart of the defence, and Jamie Davern too.

Elsewhere Cormac Quirke worked very hard but the only threat in an attack well policed by the Holycross defence was team captain Stephen Ferncombe. Three points from play is simply not championship-winning form.

Holycross/Ballycahill: James O’Dwyer; Cathal O’Reilly (0-1), Evan Morris, Jack Lahart; Sean McGrath, Joe Caesar (0-2), Jim Ryan; Liam Doyle, Tadhg Gould (0-1); Eoin Craddock, Robbie Ryan (0-8, 5fs), David Fogarty (0-2); Jimmy Lahart (1-2), James Doyle (0-1), Tiarnan Ryan.

Subs: Tony Maher (0-1) for T Ryan (48 mins), Audie Lohan for J Doyle (55 mins), Sean Ryan (0-1f) for R Ryan (55 mins), Pierce Briody (0-1) for Jimmy Lahart (58 mins), Rory Fleming for Jack Lahart (58 mins).

Clonoulty/Rossmore: Jason O’Dwyer; Richard Ferncombe, Keelan Ryan, Shane Davern; Jack Kennedy, Danny Slattery, Jamie Davern; Cormac Quirke, Paddy Kennedy; Finbarr Ryan, Stephen Ferncombe (0-7, 5fs), Frank O’Dwyer; Seamus Kennedy, Robert Doyle, Alex Carroll (0-1).

Subs: Kaelan Maher for F Ryan (35 mins), Jack Heffernan for F O’Dwyer (45 mins), Danny O’Keeffe for Quirke (55 mins).

SEE ALSO: Check out the fixtures for the Tipperary hurlers and footballers in the National League

Referee: Johnny Butler, Upperchurch/Drombane.