Novel West Tipperary junior hurling final in store as Lattin/Cullen win through to decider

Gleeson Concrete West Junior A Hurling Championship Semi-Final

Lattin/Cullen 2-15 Galtee Rovers 1-9

Francis Coughlan at Sean Treacy Park

Defending champions Lattin/Cullen are back in the Gleeson Concrete West Junior A Hurling Championship final after overcoming the challenge of 2021 champions Galtee Rovers in Sean Treacy Park on Saturday evening.

The defending champions held a five point advantage at the interval, the same margin they led by when the sides had met in the round robin in Solohead in mid-July. On that occasion Galtee Rovers turned around the half time deficit to claim victory. However, helped by second half goals from Mark Russell and Diarmuid Looby Lattin/Cullen took a firm grip on the game and advanced to a second final in a row.

Aherlow’s foundation was built around Barry Grogan. Despite being named at full forward he played at centre back winning a lot of ball and duels and distributed to good effect. Stephen Carey also named at corner forward reverted back to wing back with good effect. This allowed Diarmuid Looby to move in to the half forward line where he finished with 1-2  while Ed O’Meara also pushed forward. This aligned with the hard work of Cathal Dillon and Jack O’Halloran in the half forward ultimately proved successful for Lattin/Cullen.

Galtee Rovers battled hard but struggled to really penetrate the Lattin/Cullen defence managing just 1-4 from play and relying on Bill Quirke from placed balls to stay in touch while also notching up eleven wides. They were solid at the back with David Harold Barry and Tony Byron while Robbie Byron also worked hard around the middle.

The early exchanges were fairly even with both teams battling hard and the physical exchanges tough. Bill Quirke had Galtee Rovers off the mark in the opening minute before Jack O’Halloran opened Lattin/Cullen’s account two minutes later. The sides were level at three a piece with just over ten minutes with all but one – a Cathal Dillon free – coming from play as both teams cancelled each other out.

As the first quarter wore down Cathal Dillon added three more including two from placed balls one from inside his own 65 to see Lattin/Cullen open up a three point advantage. They could have increased that lead further in the nineteenth minute but Eoin White saved well from Mark Russell. In the 23rd minute Bill Quirke reduced the deficit to just two points with another pointed free. It was as close as they would come to their opponents for the remainder of the game. Ben Carey getting on a lot of ball around the middle of the field pointed and further points from Cathal Dillon and Diarmuid Looby had the defending champions ahead 0-10 to 0-5 at the interval.

Galtee Rovers looked to be back in the contest seven minutes into the second half when after some good work by Bill Quirke he put Tony O’Brien through one on one with Luke Ashmore and the experienced Galtee Rovers forward made no mistake. The free takers traded points and three point differential remained until just before the end of the third quarter.

Mark Rusell had been getting more into the game and he won a crossfield ball out on the '21' before beating his marker and then the goalie. Russell followed with two further points as Lattin/Cullen stretched their advantage out to nine with just slightly over ten minutes to play.

Bill Quirke continued to be Galtee Rovers main scorer with further points from placed balls. The result was put beyond doubt four and half minutes before the end when Diarmuid Looby kicked the ball to the net after a scramble in the goalmouth.

Lattin/Cullen will now face Clonoulty/Rossmore in the final for the first time since 1958.

Scorers and Teams:
Lattin/Cullen: Cathal Dillon (0-8, (0-6f)), Diarmuid Looby (1-2), Mark Russell (1-2), Jack O’Halloran (0-1), Ed O’Meara (0-1), Ben Carey (0-1)

Galtee Rovers: Bill Quirke (0-6f), Tony O’Brien (1-1), Eamon Quirke (0-2)

Lattin/Cullen: Luke Ashmore, Thomas O’Donoghue, Mark Hanley, Laurence Coskeran, Tim Cocoran, Diarmuid Looby, Ed O’Meara, Ben Carey, Tadgh Carew, Jack O’Halloran, Cathal Dillon, Mark Russell, Patrick O’Donoghue, Barry Grogan, Stephen Carey
Subs Used: Tony O’Neill, Sean Mullins, Gary Quirke, Liam Carew, Willie Perry

Galtee Rovers: Eoin White, Peter Carroll, David Harold Barry, Sean Gubbins, Shane Power, Tony Byron, Evan Kennedy, Robbie Byron, Stephen Moloney, Bill Quirke, Daire Egan, Eamon Quirke, Jim Quirke, Tony O’Brien, Conal Grogan
Subs Used: Kevin Power, Eoin Halpin, Darren McGrath

Referee: Richie O’Connor (Arravale Rovers)