Mark Russell strikes late to seal Tipperary's first league win of the year

Allianz National Football League - Division 4 - Round 2

Tipperary 3-13  

Longford 1-18 

By Michael Heverin

Tipperary football returned to its traditional home in Clonmel Sportsfield on Saturday and the performance matched the occasion.

Following on from their hard-earned draw away to Carlow a week earlier, the Tipperary display moved up another notch again to record a superb win over Longford in their Allianz National Football League Division 4, Round 2 clash.

Heart, resilience and a never-say-die attitude won the day, with a superb winning two-point score from Aherlow’s Mark Russell proving to be the icing on the cake.

Tipperary were trailing by a point deep into injury time when Russell won possession on the standside touchline and he split the posts from outside the two-pointer arc to edge the side home by the narrowest of margins.

It was a late smash-and-grab from Tipp but thoroughly deserved. Goals from Luke Boland, Sean O’Connor, and Micheal Freaney also proved crucial as they face into their next clash away to Waterford with three vital league points already secured.

Bringing the game to his hometown Clonmel venue proved a masterstroke for new manager Philly Ryan as the crowd support helped to drive the team to victory. Great credit as well to Clonmel Commercials for all their preparations for the big game. The pitch was in immaculate condition for mid-winter, with all the other ancillary arrangements and facilities meeting the highest standard.

Commercials clubman Ryan said it was a special day for the players and those who came to support them and see what they are capable of. “I am absolutely delighted”, he said in the immediate aftermath.

“We were behind for a lot of the game but the players showed great heart and resilience to keep coming back. We were two points down at half-time and I was happy it was only two points because we were not playing well. But the thing we have learned from training over the last few weeks is that there’s a lot of mettle in there. Our mantra is to keep going to the end”, he said.

Ryan was delighted with Mark Russell’s winning score, as well as an earlier two pointer. “Mark has that in his locker, he has a fantastic boot on him, and his first two-pointer kept us going. A lot of the players have those two-pointers in them, but it’s not something we are doing with them. We are also looking for single points and goals if we can get them”.

Two first-half goals certainly proved crucial. Conor Fahey gave Tipp the perfect start with a two-pointer after six minutes but by the 15th minute they were 0-6 to 0-2 behind – Longford scores from Iarla O’Sullivan and Oran Kenny and then Matthew Carey and Kenny hitting back-to-back two-pointers in the space of two minutes.

With the game threatening to drift from Tipperary, they hit back in style. Mikey O’Shea began the move that saw Sean O’Connor finish decisively to the Longford net in the 19th minute. Sixty seconds later Cathal Deeley broke from midfield and fed Luke Boland who first-timed the ball off the ground to the Longford net.

Tipp failed to build on the momentum and only scored one further point before the break, from team captain Steven O’Brien following good work up the right wing from Conor Fahey, while Longford tagged on five points from Aaron Farrell with two, Cathal McCabe, Kenny and a Carey free, for a 0-11 to 2-3 interval lead.

The Leinster side started the second half in blistering fashion, with Carey pointing another free two minutes in, and Cathal McCabe following up with a goal a minute later when he pulled first time on a loose ball to beat Shane Ryan in the Tipp goal.

That put them six ahead and they looked threatening whenever in attack. But when Tipp needed a response they got it from Mark Russell whose superb two-pointer revitalised the side.

 And when Micheal Freaney added the side’s third goal a minute later – the Kilsheelan Kilcash man showed great determination to first field a high ball, evade the Longford defence, and then slide the ball across goal and out of the reach of goalkeeper Patrick Collum – it brought the Longford lead back to a single point, 1-12 to 3-5, and four minutes later a Sean O’Connor free brought the sides level again.

Aaron Farrell for the Midlanders and Tipp’s Ben Comerford swopped points before Jayson Matthews restored the Longford lead that they held up to the final minutes of injury time. A Sean O’Connor free was sandwiched between Longford points from James Moran and Aaron Farrell, but then Tipp fell foul of the new rules when they were penalised for not keeping three players in the opposition half and Oran Kenny pointed an easy free to make it a three-point game approaching the 65th minute, 1-17 to 3-8.

A brilliant two-pointer from a Sean O’Connor free brought it back to one again as excitement mounted among both sets of fans. And that was still the margin after Dessie Reynolds and Tipp substitute Cian Smith, from a free, swopped points – Smith coming on for Steven O’Brien late in the game.

With time running out, Tipp had one final chance and it fell to Mark Russell whose calm finish split the Longford posts from outside the arc – followed by the loudest cheer of the day from the home fans.

“We could have lost but the lads never threw in the towel. We had to take off some players who had given everything they could but the bench made a huge impact again”, said a delighted boss Philly Ryan, who explained that talismatic captain Steven O’Brien had been substituted as a precaution to protect him for games to come. 

“Steven has a lot of miles on the clock and we want to get the rest of the league out of him rather than the short term”, he said. Influential midfielder Cathal Deeley was also taken off early in another precautionary measure.

Tipperary: Shane Ryan (Clonmel Commercials); Manus McFadden (Grangemockler Ballyneale), Jimmy Feehan (Killenaule), Jack Harney (Moyle Rovers); Eoghan Power (Ballina), Luke Boland (Moyle Rovers, 1-0), Mark Stokes (Kilsheelan Kilcash); Cathal Deeley (Clonmel Commercials), Mark Russell (Aherlow, 0-4, 2x2pts); Micheal Freaney (Kilsheelan Kilcash, 1-0); Steven O’Brien (Ballina, 0-1), Ben Comerford (Grangemockler Ballyneale, 0-1); Conor Fahey (Upperchurch Drombane, 0-2, 1x2pt); Sean O’Connor (Clonmel Commercials, 1-4, 1x2pt free, 0-1f); Mikey O’Shea (Mullinahone). 

Subs used: Jack O’Neill (Ardfinnan) for Eoghan Power; Paudie Feehan (Killenaule) for Cathal Deeley; Michael Barlow (Ardfinnan) for Conor Fahey; Tadgh Condon (Clonmel Commercials) for Mark Stokes; Cian Smith (Clonmel Commercials, 0-1f) for Steven O’Brien.

Longford: Patrick Collum; Patrick Fox, Sean O’Sullivan, Bryan Masterson; James Moran (0-1), Ryan Moffett, Iarla O’Sullivan (0-1); Dessie Reynolds (0-1), Daire Duggan; Keelin McGann, Dylan Farrell, Jayson Matthews (0-1); Oran Kenny (0-5, 1x2pt, 0-1f), Matthew Carey (0-4, 2x 2pts), Cathal McCabe (1-1). 

Subs used: Aaron Farrell (0-4) for Dylan Farrell; Oisin O’Toole for Keelin McGann; Peter Lynn for Dessie Reynolds.

Referee: Niall Quinn (Clare)