Second half goal explosion from Lorrha sinks Burgess in North decider

Savvy Kitchens Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship Final

Lorrha 4-15

Burgess 2-16

A powerful second-half performance from the Lorrha forwards in which they scored four goals eventually saw the men in blue notch back-to-back north titles as they simply blitzed a dazzled Burgess team in Nenagh on Sunday evening last.

Patrick “Bonner” Maher continues to defy father time as he gave a fantastic performance, particularly in the second half, setting up so many scores and finishing with a personal tally of 1-3, while Stephen Kirwan pushed him close for the man of the match accolade on a Burgess team minus the services of Donagh Maher through injury.

Burgess did so much right in the first half, with the spare man in Keith Nealon really curbing the pacy Lorrha attackers, but they couldn’t continue that form into the second half as the dam well and truly burst for Lorrha with the four second half goal proving pivotal.

Lorrha had the advantage of a decent breeze in the first half and looked to make hay early, with the first two scores going the way of Ken Hogan’s team with Niall McIntyre scoring straight from the throw-in before that was added to quickly by Patrick Maher just a minute later.

Burgess weren’t long getting going in the contest though, and had the game level within the first five minutes of the game through Michael Ryan and Stephen Kirwan efforts, with the teams looking to keep lively inside forwards at both ends under wraps.

Both sides were deploying a sweeper in the forms of Keith Nealon and Michael Dolan, but Burgess’ tactic of long deliveries into big Bill O’Flaherty paid dividends early in the half, and right after Patrick Maher got his second after six minutes, Burgess raised a green flag as Kieran Grace gained possession inside the 21 and showed savage pace to run through a gauntlet of Lorrha defenders and bat home.

Lorrha simply weren’t dealing with the breaking ball from the booming Burgess deliveries as Bill O’Flaherty added to the score with his first of the day, and it wasn’t long until another long ball brought more change for Burgess; Eoin Hogan lamping it long, with Stephen Kirwan taken the break at an angle and striding onto his right-hand side to unleash a powerful effort to the top corner.

That gave Burgess an early six point lead at 2-3 to 0-3, and playing with the breeze, it was an ideal start for them.
But Lorrha got a bit of purchase in their attacking play up to the end of the quarter, with three points in a row - after the sides traded Colm Fogarty and Stephen Murray frees - with the aforementioned Fogarty hitting his first from play along with Alan O’Meara and a huge long range free from Michael Dolan to make it a three-point game.

However, with Keith Nealon being utilized to good effect, it was Burgess who were in the ascendancy going into the break as they notched five of the next eight scores through the good work of Stephen Kirwan, as well as points from Danny Ryan, Kieran Grace and two big efforts from Stephen Murray to take a 2-9 to 0-10 lead.

What a start Lorrha made to the second half though, as Christopher Fogarty quickly created a goal scoring chance for Cian Hogan, who cut in from the endline and took a heavy hit, but managed to bat the ball to the back of Ronan Tucker’s goal. Game on.

Burgess responded well as they went downfield straight from the puck out and won a free which Stephen Murray converted, but Lorrha were finding more space in their forward division early, and this time it was Colm Fogarty who did the needful, breaking through the middle of the Burgess defence before offloading to Patrick Maher, who turned away from goal before burying a low effort low to the net. The sides now level in a massive opening to the half from Lorrha.

Stephen Murray responded with his obligatory sideline cut along with a 65 after being denied by a brilliant point blank save from Michael Kennedy, but Lorrha in the form of the Fogarty’s and Eoin McIntyre were causing awful hassle now, and both Christopher Fogarty and Eoin McIntyre between them drew a penalty after the ball ran in toward goal; the latter being dragged down which gave Colm Fogarty the chance from the 21 which he duly slotted the put Lorrha in front for the first time since the third minute at 3-10 to 2-12.

However, Burgess were taking every suckerpunch and responding in kind and some savage work rate from Daire Hogan eventually led to the cornerback setting up Eoin Hogan to score from midfield and tie the game, and they were back in front by the 45-minute mark from a Stephen Kirwan strike after bursting past two tackles.

Again though, Burgess couldn’t get to grips with the wheels of the Lorrha attackers and it was Patrick Maher again who caused issues, somehow flicking the ball into hand, hand passing to David Fogarty who showed coolness to stick pass to Eoin McIntyre all on his own to lash home.

Burgess were at sixes and sevens at the back now and despite Stephen Kirwan doing his best with his fourth point from play a minute later, Lorrha would hit three on the bounce - all from play - from Patrick Maher, Colm Fogarty, and Eoin McIntyre as they looked like killing off the Burgess challenge as they led 4-13 to 2-15 with less than ten minutes to go.

Burgess tried to get the game back flowing in their direction and had a good chance to bring the game back to one point just on the 60 minute mark after Tom Duggan got his second yellow after dragging down Stephen Kirwan close to goal, but his tame effort was well saved and the Lorrha men finished the stronger with Colm Fogarty and Cian Hogan firing over late points to seal it, and not even a late red card for David Fogarty could dampen the celebrations of the Lorrha supporters at full time.

Lorrha: Michael Kennedy; Conor Hogan, Oisin Guinan, Tom Duggan; Dan O’Donoghue, Michael Dolan (0-1f), Darragh Guinan; Alan O’Meara (0-1), Martin Gorman; Colm Fogarty (1-8, 0-5f, 1-0 pen), Patrick Maher (1-3), Niall McIntyre (0-1); Christopher Fogarty, Cian Hogan (1-1), Eoin McIntyre (1-0).

Subs used: Ciaran Haugh for O’Meara (28); David Fogarty for Gorman (47).

Burgess: Ronan Tucker; Pat Woods, Kieran Ryan, Willie Ryan; Jack O’Flaherty, Pat Woods, Johnny Mulqueen; Danny Ryan (0-2), Michael Ryan (0-2); Eoin Hogan (0-1), Keith Nealon, Stephen Kirwan (1-4); Stephen Murray (0-5, 0-3f, 0-1 65, 0-1 sl-cut), Bill O’Flaherty (0-1), Kieran Grace (1-1).

Subs used: Conor Cooney for W Ryan (42); Eoin Grace for Woods (53).

Referee: Gerry Treacy (Borris-Ileigh)