Convincing win for Fethard in South Tipperary Intermediate football final

Fethard 1-10  Clonmel Commercials 0-5

Fethard turned the tables on Clonmel Commercials with a hugely impressive display in a one-sided Clonmel Oil South Tipperary Intermediate Football Cup final at Monroe on Sunday evening.

Beaten by a point by Commercials after extra-time twelve months ago, Fethard ensured there was never going to be last- minute drama a year on, racing into a 0-6 to no score lead after 24 minutes, and having eight points to spare at the end.
In an area famed for its horseracing, you could say that Fethard won by a distance pulling up.

Not surprisingly, manager Tommy Sheehan was delighted with the performance. Even though they returned home with the cup, he said they won’t be measuring success in trophies but in the development of players.

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“Development is the big thing for us and being able to compete with teams such as Clonmel Commercials, we always set our targets to be able to play against such as them,” he said.

“We seem to be making progress over the last couple of years and that’s a big positive for us. It is a young team with an average age of 21 with the prospect of a bright future,” he said.

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Sheehan felt that the Blues left last year’s final behind them and didn’t do themselves justice.

“This year they played without fear and decided to go for it. If we want to get back to where we want to be then we have to be competitive against teams like Commercials. We are building a young team, seven of the team are under 19, but we have the patience to stick with them and build it bit by bit,” he added.

“Our next target is to be competitive in the county championship and try to get to the knockout stages. We have Golden/Kilfeacle in the first round and they will be the benchmark as they beat us by a point last year,” he said.

Fethard blew Commercials away in the first half and the prospect of a Commercials double in Monroe, after the seniors had earlier won their final at the same venue, looked unlikely from early on.

Fethard were on the attack from the throw-in, with Brian Healy pointing a free after three minutes following a foul on Ryan Walsh. Mark Neville doubled the lead after a flowing move in which Liam Kiely was twice involved, and the game was slipping away from the Clonmel team by the time Healy from another free made it 0-3 to no score after six minutes.

It was to get worse for the town side, who lacked the pace and energy of their opponents. A turnover in defence led to the fourth point, a flowing move upfield with Liam Kiely getting the final touch to fist over.

Fethard suffered a blow when Conor Neville went off injured after 18 minutes but, reflecting the depth of their squad, Jack Quinlan came on to give a man of the match performance.

Commercials finally settled into the game, but both Niall Deely and Jack Lawlor were off-target with shots, while Conor Guiry saw a shot rebound off the crossbar.

However, Fethard continued to dominate, with a lovely score from Mark Neville and a pointed free from Matt Coen putting them six clear with six minutes remaining to the interval.

Commercials almost made a breakthrough from Tadhg Walsh but his shot was brilliantly saved by Jamie McCormack in the Fethard goal. They finally got their opening score two minutes before the break when Shane Power pointed a free.

But if they thought that might resurrect their chances in the second half then they were disappointed – within twenty seconds of the restart, Fethard centre forward Ryan Walsh cut through the Clonmel defence unchallenged before shooting to the net past Ciaran Cannon.

Commercials hit back with the next two points, from a Shane Power free and then from Tadhg Walsh, their first point from play after 35 minutes, but they couldn’t maintain the momentum. Fethard hit back with a beautiful point from Jack Purcell with the outside of the boot.

Commercials hit two in a row again, Shane Power from play and then a free following a foul on Danny Hogan, but they failed to score again over the final 18 minutes.

It was a disappointing display from the holders, even if they were missing players such as Joe Higgins, Kevin Fahey and Jamie O’Keeffe, who had played in the earlier senior final. Five points over the hour, just two from play, and just two different scorers was a poor return.

Fethard saw out the last quarter with three more pointed frees from Brian Healy, following fouls on Jody Sheehan, Healy himself and Jack Quinlan, as they continued to put pressure on the Commercials defence. Ryan Walsh nearly got through for his second goal but was denied by a great save by Ciaran Cannon.

Fethard: Jamie McCormack, Rory O’Mahony, Darragh Spillane, Noah O’Flynn, Dara O’Meara, Gavin Neville, Jody Sheehan, Conor Neville, Jack Purcell 0-1; Liam Kiely 0-1; Ryan Walsh 1-0; Charlie Walsh, Brian Healy 0-4f; Matt Coen 0-1; Mark Neville 0-2.

Subs: Jack Quinlan 0-1 for Conor Neville (18), Kieran Bergin for Coen (53), Brian Delahunty for Purcell (54), Paul Moloney for Charlie Walsh (58), Andrew Connerton for Mark Neville (61).

Clonmel Commercials: Ciaran Cannon, Adam Peters, Michael Connellan, Conor Guiry, Max O’Dwyer, Donal Lynch, Jack Lawlor, Oisin Forristal, Dean Cagney, Danny Hogan, Declan Nee, Niall Deely, Tadhg Walsh 0-1; Shane Power 0-4, 3f; James Power.

Subs: David McSweeney for Peters (HT), Alan Lonergan for Nee (40), Richard Carroll for Hogan (52), Harry Tobin Ryan for Lawlor (56).

Referee: Paul Guinan (Killenaule).