One-way traffic as Boherlahan overwhelm St Mary's in Tipperary hurling league final

Boherlahan/Dualla 2-21  St Mary's 0-11 

A severely depleted St Mary’s proved no match for the firepower of Boherlahan/Dualla in the FBD Insurance County Hurling League Division 2 (Jim Devitt Cup) final at Leahy Park, Cashel on Saturday afternoon.

Missing a number of key players, including Seamus Kennedy and Peter McGarry, who are still involved with the Tipperary senior hurlers; Tadhg Sheehan, Tadhg Condon, Enda Dunphy, Ross Peters and Conor and Cathal Deely, the Clonmel side were well off the pace of the Mid side, who were not flattered by their 16-points winning margin.

The stats make grim reading for St Mary’s – they scored just four points from play; Ruairí Leahy accounted for seven of their eleven scores, all but one from placed balls; while they also conceded a bizarre own goal, an unfamiliar occurrence in hurling.

READ NEXT: Retail units and apartments planned for former pub building in Tipperary

For Boherlahan/Dualla it was a completely different story. They had nine different scorers, including Tomás Ryan, who punished St Mary’s indiscretions with a virtually flawless display from placed balls, knocking over ten frees and one 65.

SEE MORE: Tipperary student receives handwritten letter from David Attenborough

James Kirby hit 1-1, with Seamus Leahy and Paddy Gahan chipping in with 0-2 each. Eoin Moloughney was a powerful presence at midfield, where he dominated play, with backs Charlie Ryan and Ned Ryan also getting on the scoreboard.

The only concern for the Mid side might have been a slow start, as they saw St Mary’s build up a 0-6 to 0-2 lead by the 14th minute. But of greater concern to St Mary’s is that they only scored five more points over the remaining 46 minutes.

The sides shared four points over the first five minutes, Ruairí Leahy pointing two frees for the South side and Boherlahan/Dualla replying with a nice score from Paddy Gahan from a Brian Óg O’Dwyer pass, and Tomás Ryan pointing his first free.

Then over the next six minutes St Mary’s played their best hurling of the game. Dean Cagney hit their first point from play, followed by two from his brother Aaron Cagney – the first from a long range free and the second from play following a superb run through the centre. When Sean Kennedy was fouled, Ruairí Leahy stretched the lead to four, and it could have been five just minutes later when Richie Gunne was high-tackled but Leahy was off target from the free.

Boherlahan/Dualla then sprang to life to hit 1-3 without reply over the next ten minutes. Seamus Leahy and Mark Downey pointed from play before a Tomás Ryan free reduced the Clonmel lead to a single point. And then a James Kirby goal changed the course of the game, as he finished brilliantly to shoot past Gearoid Buckley, with great play in midfield from Eoin Moloughney starting the move.

Another Ryan free made it 1-6 to 0-6 before a superb catch and shot from Ruairí Leahy was the Clonmel side’s first score in over ten minutes. However, it was a temporary blip for the Mid men, who hit the last three points of the half – from a Ryan 65 after a Paddy Gahan shot was batted over the endline by Buckley in goal; another Ryan free, and Seamus Leahy from play, to leave it 1-9 to 0-7 at the break.

Ruairí Leahy started the second half as he had the first, pointing two frees in the first three minutes after he had been fouled himself on both occasions. But the team couldn’t build on that momentum and the game was put beyond their reach over the next six minutes.

Ned Ryan and James Kirby pointed for the winners before a short puckout that went astray nearly cost St Mary’s a goal before the danger was cleared. Tomás Ryan pointed a free before disaster struck for St Mary’s from another short puckout that this time proved costly. Buckley found a defender but the attempted handpass return to the ‘keeper was misjudged, went over the keeper’s head and rolled – almost in slow motion – over the line into the net.

The own goal put Boherlahan/Dualla 2-12 to 0-9 ahead and there was no way back for St Mary’s. Points from a Ryan free, as well as from Jake Canny and Charlie Ryan, pushed the lead out to twelve points. A Niall Hoctor point in the 46th minute was the Clonmel side’s first score in fourteen minutes, and they would only score once more in the final quarter, from a Leahy 65 late in the game.

Four pointed frees from Ryan and points from play from Brian Óg O’Dwyer and Paddy Gahan in the last ten minutes did nothing more than embellish the scoreline, as the cup was destined to make the short journey up the road to Boherlahan long before the final whistle.

Manager Conor Gleeson will be pleased with the performance, and the spread of scorers, but will realise that they will face more difficult challenges once the championship begins.

St Mary’s boss Fergal Condon will also be looking ahead to the championship, but his hope is that he will have more of his first team regulars back by then.

Boherlahan/Dualla: Thomas Breen, John Ryan, Ger O’Dwyer, Charlie Ryan 0-1; Dylan Fogarty, Martin Paul O’Dwyer, Ned Ryan 0-1; Jake Canny 0-1; Eoin Moloughney, Tomás Ryan 0-11, 10f, 1 ’65; Brian Óg O’Dwyer 0-1; Seamus Leahy 0-2; Paddy Gahan 0-2; James Kirby 1-1; Mark Downey 0-1.

Subs: Ross D’Arcy for Martin Paul O’Dwyer, David Clarke for Kirby, James Murphy for Downey, Darragh Kennedy for Charlie Ryan, Cathal D’Arcy for Canny, Tomás Bourke for Brian Óg O’Dwyer (temporary sub).

St Mary’s: Gearoid Buckley, Sean Leahy, Ross Slattery, David McSweeney, Josh Ryan, Jack Lawlor, Sammy Ryan, Richie Gunne, Darragh Landers, Dean Cagney 0-1; Oisín Forristal, Sean Kennedy, Aaron Cagney 0-2, 1f; Niall Hoctor 0-1; Ruairí Leahy 0-7, 5f, 1 ‘65.

Subs: Darragh O’Keeffe for McSweeney, David Barry for Aaron Cagney, Donal McCabe for Kennedy.

Referee: Paddy Ivors (Ballingarry).