North men win Battle of the Rovers to qualify for Junior B county final

FBD Insurance Junior B Football Championship Semi-Final

Shannon Rovers 0-11

Galtee Rovers/St Pecaun 0-8

In cold but dry conditions in Templederry on Saturday afternoon, it was North champions, Shannon Rovers who emerged victorious over West champions, Galtee Rovers – St. Pecaun’s in the FBD Insurance County Junior B Football semi-final.

Although Galtee Rovers opened the scoring in the opening minute with a fine point from Ian O’Brien, it was to be their only score of the opening quarter as the North champions hit five points on the trot to lead by four after 15 minutes.

During this period Shannon Rovers drove relentlessly at the Galtee defence resulting in a series of scoreable frees, easily converted by former Tipp midfielder, George Hannigan, along with a point from an acute angle by Alan Hannigan. It could have been worse for the West champions if Michael Tierney’s effort had been on target but instead, it flew just outside the right upright.

Eventually, Galtee Rovers lifted the siege and Tony Egan won a penalty, having been dragged down by Matt Tierney who earned himself the first of three black cards for his indiscretion. Unfortunately for Tony Egan, his shot flew high and wide but he soon redeemed himself with two fine points, one from a mark and another from play following excellent work by his brother, Shane.

A minute later Shane Ryan struck a great point to reduce the margin to one, but this was soon cancelled out by a white flag from Shannon Rovers midfielder, Conal Moran. Back came the Galtees however, and Tony Egan once more popped over a placed ball to leave the half-time score 0-6 to 0-5 in favour of the North champions.

Just like the pattern in the opening half, it was Shannon Rovers who made all the running in the third quarter, opening up a four-point lead once more with good points from the industrious Conal Moran, substitute Jack O’Sullivan and corner forward, Paddy Heenan.

Edmond O’Dwyer replied with a point for Galtee Rovers and Tony Egan reduced the margin to two with another free from a difficult angle. As both teams emptied their benches, there were scoring opportunities spurned at both ends before Ed O’Dwyer hit his second point of the half to reduce the margin to the minimum with ten minutes left on the clock.

Despite their best efforts however, Galtee Rovers were unable to get on level terms and Shannon Rovers hit the final two points through substitute Austin Tierney and Conal Moran.

In a well-contested game played in slippery conditions, Shannon Rovers will be happy to have reached the County final while Galtee Rovers will probably rue a few missed opportunities over the sixty minutes.

The loss of their talisman, Colin Morrissey, who was injured early on, made the challenge all the greater but they worked hard to get back into the game and provide a stiff test for the North champions.

Shannon Rovers: Niall Cahalan; Derek Horan, James O’Sullivan, Matt Tierney; Emmet Moran, Padraig O’Meara, Eamon Hough; Conal Moran (0-3), Alan Hannigan (0-1); Michael Tierney, Marcus Esmonde, John O’Meara; Paddy Heenan (0-1), George Hannigan (0-4f), Vincent Mulvihill.

Subs used: Jack Sullivan (0-1) for Derek Horan; Austin Tierney (0-1) for Vincent Mulvihill; Oisin McMahon for Paddy Heenan; Matthew Hardy for Marcus Esmonde.

Galtee Rovers/St Pecaun: Callum McCarthy; Davy Byron, Ciarán McCarthy, Tadhg Gubbins; Danny Ryan, Chris Higgins, Eoghan Byrnes; Shane Egan, Kieran Marnane; Ian O’Brien (0-1), Shane Ryan (0-1), Bernard Fitzgerald; Colin Morrissey, Tony Egan (0-6, 0-4, 0-2f), Daniel O’Dwyer.

Subs used: Ed O’Dwyer (0-2) for Colin Morrissey; Denis Peters for Ian O’Brien; Eoghan Brennan for Bernard Fitzgerald; Mark O’Brien for Kieran Marnane; Bernard Fitzgerald for Tony Egan.

Referee: Sean Everard (Moyne Templetuohy)