Roscrea reach their first Tipperary Under 21 A hurling final in 39 years

Roscrea 1-12 Clonoulty/Rossmore 1-11

Roscrea are through to the FBD County Under 21 A Hurling Championship final for the first time since 1984 following their one-point victory over Clonoulty/Rossmore at a windswept Templederry on Saturday afternoon.

Played before a good crowd on a yielding surface, this game went down to the wire with Roscrea goalkeeper, Harry Loughnane, putting over the winner six minutes into injury time from a 90 metre free.

Clonoulty/Rossmore had a chance two minutes later to force extra time, from the final play of the game, but a 55 metre free from out on the sideline drifted wide.

Having played with the aid of a strong wind, Clonoulty found themselves two points in arrears at half time, 0-6 to 0-4. This could have been worse for the west side, but for a save by Jason O’Dwyer from Diarmuid McLoughlin early on.

A strong second half got them back in contention, thanks to a goal from Seamus Kennedy on 34 minutes, which gave them a two-point advantage but Roscrea were back in the driving seat by the three-quarter mark after a Dylan Hogan goal.

With two minutes of normal time left, and one point separating the sides, O’Dwyer again kept Clonoulty in the game with a full-length save from Leigh Loughnane. Two late frees from Stephen Ferncombe tied the game for the fifth time, but Loughnane had the final say, with his long range effort splitting the posts deep into injury time.

Clonoulty played with the aid of the wind for the opening period and Stephen Ferncombe got the scoreboard ticking after just twenty seconds from a placed ball. Four minutes later Ferncombe doubled the advantage, also from a placed ball.

Dylan Hogan had the north champions back on level terms with two points in succession after seven minutes. Ferncombe eased Clonoulty back in front and Alex Carroll doubled their advantage on 18 minutes with a good point from open play. This was to be their last score of the opening half, as Roscrea came more into the game.

Their last line of defence, Luke Seacy in particular, mopped up everything around the goal and worked the short ball out to midfield. Their attack was always threatening and points from Jamie Ryan and Conor O’Donovan had the sides level by the 24th minute.

The Clonoulty defence was under a lot of pressure but held firm, with Danny Slattery leading by example.
Two late points from Leigh Loughnane and Conor O’Donovan eased the north champions ahead at the break on the score by 0-6 to 0-4.

Clonoulty got a great start to the second half, when Stephen Ferncombe put over his fourth free and Seamus Kennedy got the game’s opening goal after 34 minutes when he finished off a move involving Danny Slattery, Robert Doyle and Alex Carroll.

Points from Sam Dooley and Leigh Loughnane in quick succession around the 42nd minute had the sides level for the third time.

Roscrea upped their game and Dylan Hogan goaled on the three-quarter mark to put them three up. However Clonoulty struck back and three points in the next five minutes had the back on level terms at 1-8 each, the points coming from Robert Doyle, Paddy Kennedy and Stephen Ferncombe.

The final ten minutes plus added time was edge of the seat stuff and high drama. Conor O’Donovan and Sam Dooley put Roscrea back in front. Danny Slattery put over following a run from defence to cut the deficit to the minimum. Jason O’Dwyer saved from Leigh Loughnane with two minutes remaining, before Conor O’Donovan converted a 65 on 59 minutes to edge them two ahead as added time beckoned.

Ferncombe struck two frees in the 61st and 63rd minutes to tie the game and extra time looked on the cards. Six minutes into added time Harry Loughnane split the posts from a long range free to restore his side’s lead.

However the drama wasn’t finished yet. In a final attack Clonoulty had a chance to bring the tie to extra time, but the free from out on the sideline drifted wide. Roscrea were through to their first final since 1984.

Roscrea: Harry Loughnane (0-1 free), Lee Doran, Eoin Larkin, Cathal McDonald, Brian O’Rourke, Luke Seacy (captain), Conor Shanahan, Conor O’Donovan (0-4, 3 frees, 1 ‘65), Kenny Lee, Diarmuid McLoughlin, Dylan Hogan (1-2), Leigh Loughnane (0-2), Sam Dooley (0-2), Conor Dooley, Jamie Ryan (0-1).

Subs: Conor Phelan for Eoin Larkin (35), Paul Dooley for Diarmuid McLoughlin (58).

Clonoulty/Rossmore: Jason O’Dwyer, Richard Ferncombe, Keelan Ryan, Shane Davern, Jack Kennedy, Danny Slattery (captain, 0-1), Michael Ryan (Lanty), Cormac Quirke, Paddy Kennedy (0-1), Jamie Davern, Stephen Ferncombe (0-7 frees), Alex Carroll (0-1), Seamus Kennedy (1-0), Robert Doyle (0-1), Frank O’Dwyer.

Sub: Finbarr Ryan for Michael Ryan (Lanty) (HT).

Referee: Alan Tierney (Shannon Rovers).