Moycarkey Borris find their form to qualify for knockout senior hurling

FBD Insurance County SHC Group 2 Round 3

Moycarkey Borris 2-19

Mullinahone 2-11

By Michael Heverin

Two second-half goals from Max Hackett proved decisive as Moycarkey Borris beat CJ Kickhams Mullinahone by eight points in the FBD Insurance County SHC Group 2 Round 3 clash at Leahy Park, Cashel on Sunday afternoon.

The winner-takes-all fixture sees Moycarkey/Borris finish second in the group to fellow Mid side Thurles Sarsfields and advance to the knock-out phase in the race for the Dan Breen Cup. It was a disappointing exit for Mullinahone, who led by 1-3 to 0-3 after eighteen minutes but the loss of center-half back Eoin Fennelly to a straight red card in first-half injury time made it an uphill struggle for them in the second.

The game was already slipping from their grasp when Hackett struck twice in five minutes midway through the second half. Eoin Kelly in the Mullinahone goal had already made one brilliant save before a goalmouth scramble ensued and Hackett was the quickest to react and tap to the net.

His second was a more sublime effort, hitting a thunderous shot into the top left corner of Kelly’s net. It needed to be well hit as the former Tipperary All Ireland winning captain had made a series of excellent blocks in the Mullinahone goal.

A subplot to the game was the impact of both goalkeepers. Tipperary netminder Rhys Shelly had the benefit of a gale-force wind behind him in the first half, with most of his puck-outs going the length of the field, sometimes off target and other times into the hands of Eoin Kelly. 

He did hit one huge point from play in the first half, taking a return pass from a short puck-out, but a variation in his puck-outs proved more beneficial, with accurate deliveries sending Jack Hayes and Bill Flanagan away and causing major problems for the Mullinahone defence.

Despite the wind dropping in intensity in the second half, Eoin Kelly was also getting huge distance with his deliveries, pointing one long-range free, but like Shelly in the first, he also opted to find teammates with shorter passes.

Despite playing into the teeth of the gale, Mullinahone started brightly and twice led in the first quarter. Michael Dunne opened the scoring from a free in the 4th minute. Joe Maher levelled for the Mid side before Jack Fallon put them ahead for the first time with a nice score.

Mullinahone responded in style, with Eoin Fennelly setting up Michael Dunne for the equaliser and then the South Tipp side regained the lead when a pin-point Eoin Kelly puck-out found Sean Curran, and he provided the assist to Jack Shelly for a super score.

A foul on Niall Heffernan allowed Kieran Morris to equalise from a free, but Moycarkey were rocked when Mullinahone struck for the game’s first goal, Jack Shelly setting up Enda Keane to shoot past Rhys Shelly. When Michael Dunne pointed from a free, there was daylight between the sides for the first time, 1-4 to 0-3.

However, Moycarkey dominated the last ten minutes of the half, hitting eight points without reply. Their forwards were getting the measure of Mullinahone defence, which started leaking scores. 

Jack Hayes started the run when he got past the challenge of Colin Shelly on the stand side to shoot a point when he might have gone for a goal. Stephen Walsh added another before Hayes got the better of Shelly again for a similar score to his first.

A huge point from play from Rhys Shelly tied the game at 0-7 to 1-4 before three in a row from Bill Flanagan pushed Moycarkey into a lead that they would never surrender. They were not able to get through for a goal due to alert goalkeeping from Eoin Kelly.

Then three minutes into injury time the situation became critical for Mullinahone when Eoin Fennelly received a straight red card from referee Joe Leahy for a tackle that left Jack Hayes bleeding from the mouth. Hayes was unable to continue, replaced by Kyle Shelly, with Kieran Morris pointing the resulting free for a 0-11 to 1-4 half-time lead for Moycarkey/Borris.

Goalkeepers Eoin Kelly and Rhys Shelly exchanged pointed frees in the first two minutes of the second half before Michael Dunne pointed another Mullinahone free to bring the margin back to three points, 0-12 to 1-6, three minutes into the half. 

But as the extra man began to tell for Moycarkey, they hit three points without reply from Jack Fallon, Max Hackett, and Kieran Morris. Mullinahone’s first point from play in the second half came from Jack Shelly in the 11th minute, but from the puck-out, Jack Fallon hit an immediate reply for Moycarkey.

Michael Dunne hit back following a Mullinahone turnover for 0-16 to 1-8, but within thirty seconds the beginning of the end came for the South side. The Max Hackett double put eleven points between the sides. It was a combination of opportunism and brilliance from Hackett for the goals and ensured their progress to the knock-out games.

In fairness to Mullinahone, they never gave up the battle despite the odds against them, and a pointed 65 from Sean Curran and an Enda Keane point from play were followed by a great goal, when Daire O’Brien provided the assist for Eanna Ryan who shot low to the net past Rhys Shelly.

It didn’t alter the outcome, with Moycarkey finishing with further scores from Kieran Morris and sub Joey Doran, and a late free from Michael Dunne completing the Mullinahone scoring.

Needing a win or a draw to progress out of the group, Moycarkey never looked like they were going to slip up. With nine different scorers from play, they are a well-balanced side. While Max Hackett took the scoring honours, they had huge performances up front also from Kieran Morris, Bill Flanagan, Jack Flanagan, and Jack Hayes before his injury, while Stephen Walsh, Peter Melbourne, and Eoghan Hayes impressed at the back.

Down to 14 players for all the second half, Mullinahone still battled bravely, with Enda Keane and Eanna Ryan taking their goals well, Michael Dunne consistent from frees, with good displays also from Jack Shelly and Sean Curran, while Eoin Kelly’s brilliance in goal ensured that they didn’t concede more than two goals.

Moycarkey Borris: Rhys Shelly (0-2, 0-1f); Stephen Walsh (0-1), Peter Melbourne, Tom Ryan; Tom Hayes, Eoghan Hayes, Rory Ryan; Kieran Cummins, Jack Fallon (0-3); Kieran Morris (0-5, 0-4f), Max Hackett (2-1), Joe Maher (0-1); Jack Hayes (0-2), Bill Flanagan (0-3), Niall Heffernan. 

Subs used: Kyle Shelly for Jack Hayes; Kevin Hayes for Rory Ryan; Joe Egan for Niall Heffernan; Joey Doran (0-1) for Bill Flanagan.

Mullinahone: Eoin Kelly (0-1f); Darragh Linnane, Paul Curran, Colin Shelly; Eanna Ryan (1-0), Eoin Fennelly, Martin Kehoe; Daire O’Brien, Sean Curran (0-1 ’65); Enda Keane (1-1), Jack Shelly (0-2), Eoin O’Dwyer; Sam Rowan, Michael Dunne (0-6, 0-4f), Danny Dunne. 

Subs used: Conor Whelan for Danny Dunne; Alan Curran for Sam Rowan; Conor O’Brien for Darragh Linnane; Mikey O’Shea for Martin Kehoe.

Referee: Joe Leahy (Moyne Templetuohy)