O'Brien rescues Tipp with a late two-point equaliser to end Carlow clash in stalemate

Allianz National Football League - Division 4 - Round 1

Tipperary 1-16

Carlow 2-13

By Anthony Shelley

The Philly Ryan era got off to an exciting start in Netwatch Dr. Cullen Park on Saturday evening when his young Tipperary charges snatched a draw that for long periods had looked very unlikely. 

With five debutants in the starting line-up, Tipperary supporters travelled to Carlow more in hope than expectation. Coming away from the game, those same supporters now know that while the 2025 Tipperary Senior Football team may need a little bit of time to develop their game, they possess one invaluable quality - they can keep their heads in a crisis.

The opening round of the Allianz National Football League also saw the new rules of Gaelic Football unveiled for the first time in competitive action. Over the past few years, in various hostelries around the county, I was often co-opted into debates on the current state of Gaelic football. I used the word 'debate' — but indeed there is very little debate on this question: there is almost total consensus. Gaelic Football as a spectacle was in real trouble and changes needed to be made. 

Former Dublin manager, Jim Gavin was the man entrusted with making the changes and even if some people think that he has tried to bring in too many changes all at once, the one thing we can all agree on is, that doing nothing was not an option.

It is of course too early to make a definitive call on how these changes will work in the long term and while one pheasant never made an autumn, the general consensus amongst supporters after the first weekend of league action is the game is heading in the right direction.

Tipperary started brightly with Mark Russell winning the throw-in and putting a point on the board after 15 seconds. Carlow responded almost immediately with a fisted point from Aaron Amond. Points from Sean O’Connor, Conor Fahey (free), and a tidy left-footed effort from Steven O’Brien were all cancelled out by Carlow to leave the score level at four points each at the end of the first quarter.

After a frantic and impressive opening to the game, Tipperary’s play then went flat and they were punished heavily. Kevin Murphy scored a two-point free for Carlow which was quickly followed by a Ross Dunphy point from play. Then after 23 minutes, Carlow were awarded what looked like a very soft penalty. 

Full forward, Conor Crowley cut in from the right-hand side and saw his shot stopped on the line by Luke Boland. The danger looked to be averted but to everyone’s surprise, including the vocal home support, referee Eoin Morrissey spread his arms to indicate a penalty. Aaron Amond made no mistake from the spot. 

Over the next five minutes, Conor Crowley tagged on three more points (including two frees). Tipperary now trailed by eight points (1-10 to 0-5) and looked in real trouble. 

But, as we’ve seen at club level over the past few years, you’d want to have the months mind mass said before you could declare a Philly Ryan team dead, and to their credit, Tipperary picked themselves up to score the last two scores of the half with points from Sean O’Connor and Jack Harney.

During the interva,l the team underwent open surgery. Jimmy Feehan, Emmet Moloney, and Darragh Brennan had all picked up knocks and were replaced with Tadhg Condon, Jack O’Neill, and Mikey O’Shea. All three contributed greatly when introduced.

In the opening scene of Act 2, Mark Russell found Michael Freaney with a 40-yard kick-pass, and the debutant, who earlier had assisted with Tipperary’s last two points of the first half, calmly slotted the ball to the front of the net. From the kick-out, Carlow worked it up the field to corner forward Ross Dunphy who fired a rocket into the top corner. 

Then from the Tipperary kick-out, the ball was worked to Mark Russell, who made his own little piece of history by becoming the first Tipperary footballer to kick a two-point score. It was a trademark score from Russell and it would not surprise me if I heard that himself and William Tell are closely related. Shortly after, Sean O’Connor added a pair of frees and with 25 minutes still left on the clock, Tipp had reduced the Carlow lead to just two points. This was end to end football with players and supporters barely getting time to draw their breath.

Three Carlow points over the next 5 minutes looked to have put a halt to the Tipperary gallop and when referee Eoin Morrissey awarded Carlow a second penalty (that looked even softer than the first one), all Tipperary hearts sank. With regular penalty taker Aaron Amond now off the field, the responsibility fell to Kevin Murphy to try put the game to bed. 

However, his low powerful shot was brilliantly parried away by Shane Ryan. The young debutant keeper had kept his goal neat all day and made several fine saves but the penalty save was the best and most vital of the lot.

Re-energised, Tipperary powered forward again and with five  minutes remaining, substitute Cian Smith kicked his first point for Tipperary with a left football free following a foul on Stephen O’Brien. The gap was now down to 3 points. Two minutes later, O’Brien himself stood over a 50-yard free kick. Distance was never going to be an issue for the big Ballina man so the only question was had he the accuracy from that far out? 

O’Brien, so often the yeast in the Tipperary loaf, answered the question with the minimum of fuss and the ball sailed over the black spot for another two-point score.

Carlow were now hanging on to a one-point lead and for them, the clock seemed to be going slower and slower while the Tipperary hand of the clock seemed to be going faster and faster. Then as we entered abnormal time, Carlow would once again discover that crime doesn’t pay. 

A foul on Sean O’Connor gave the Clonmel Commercials sharpshooter the opportunity from 25 yards, Sean posted the ball over the bar to level the match.

But we weren’t finished yet. With the last kick of the game ,Carlow had a chance to grab all two points when they were awarded a free albeit from a very difficult angle. Before the free was taken, the Carlow supporters were animated that Tipperary had failed to keep 3 players up front. Under the new rules this would have meant the ball would be moved into the 13m line but the referee, his linesmen (or line umpires as they are now known) and the assistant referee were satisfied that no rules were broken. When Paddy McDonnell’s effort fell short, Eoin Morrissey immediately signalled a full stop and this pulsating game ended in a draw.

Philly Ryan and his cabinet will be satisfied with a point that looked unlikely for long periods of this game. They will be immensely proud of how their team performed for the majority of the game while at the same time reflecting on that “flat spot” they hit in the second quarter that allowed Carlow to build up an eight-point advantage. However, there were far more positives than negatives in this performance. 

Throughout the game, eight players made their debut and all eight performed heroically. If there are any daisies in Netwatch Dr Cullen Park, Cathal Deely and Ben Comerford will have spotted them. They covered every inch of the field a few times over.

For Tipperary football supporters, the heart and flair the team played with was a throwback to the football Tipperary tried to play during the “glory days” over the past 15 years and one couldn’t help feeling that the future of Tipperary football is a lot brighter than some people would lead you to believe.

Scorers: Tipperary: Sean O’Connor (0-4, 0-2f), M Russell 0-4 (2 1p, 1 2p), Steven O’Brien. 0-3 (1 1p, 1-2pf), Michael Freaney 1-0, Cian Smith, Conor Fahey 0-1f each, Cathal Deeley, Jack Harney, Eoghan Power all 0-1 each.

Carlow: Aaron Amond (1-2, 1-0 pen), Ross Dunphy 1-2, Conor Crowley (0-4, 0-1f), Kevin Murphy 0-2 (1 2pf), Conor Doyle, Mikey Bambrick, John Murphy all 0-1 each

Tipperary: Shane Ryan (Clonmel Commercials ); Manus McFadden (Grangemockler Ballyneale), Jimmy Feehan (Killenaule ), Emmett Moloney (Portlaoise ); Eoghan Power (Ballina), Luke Boland (Moyle Rovers ), Jack Harney (Moyle Rovers); Cathal Deeley (Clonmel Commercials), Mark Russell (Aherlow); Michael Freaney (Kilsheelan Kilcash), Stephen O’Brien (Ballina), Ben Comerford (Grangemockler Ballyneale); Conor Fahey (Upperchurch Drombane), Sean O’Connor (Clonmel Commercials), Darragh Brennan (Ballyporeen).

Subs used: Jack O’Neill (Ardfinnan ) for Moloney (HT); Michael O’Shea (Mullinahone ) for Brennan (HT); Tadgh Condon (Clonmel Commercials) for Feehan (HT); Cian Smith (Clonmel Commercials ) for Fahey (55); Michael Barlow (Ardfinnan ) for Freaney (60).  

Carlow: Johnny Fury; Paddy Regan, Mark Furey, Colin Byrne; Shane Clarke, Ciaran Moran, Mikey Bambrick; Ian Atkinson, Liam Brennan; Aaron Amond, Conor Doyle, Paddy McDonnell; Conor Crowley, Ross Dunphy, Kevin Murphy.

Subs used: John Murphy for Moran; Niall Hickey for Amond; Darragh O’Brien for Dunphy.

Referee: Eoin Morrissey (Waterford)