Clonmel High School end decade-long wait in Tipperary with Cusack Cup final win

County Tipperary Schools Under 15 Football Final (Cusack Cup)

CLONMEL HIGH SCHOOL CBS 4-14 ABBEY CBS 3-2

The High School under 15 footballers reclaimed the Cusack Cup, the County A football championship, after a gap of 10 years following an impressive victory over Abbey CBS, Tipperary Town in New Inn on Tuesday week last.

The High School had defeated Our Lady’s Templemore while Abbey CBS had knocked out defending champions Thurles CBS in their respective semi-finals to advance to the decider and set up a repeat of last year’s under 14 final, when the Tipperary Town side emerged victorious after a great tussle.

The Rockwell Rovers venue was in great condition, with a slight breeze favouring the Abbey CBS in the opening half. They took full advantage of this early on, with a lightning start as in the first attack of the match, they were awarded a penalty which was duly converted.

The High School responded well and within minutes, had a goal of their own as joint-captain Dylan Condon of Commercials finished a great team move to the Abbey CBS net to level the tie.

The High School followed this with two quick points from Moyle Rovers’ Conall Morrisson and Clonmel Commercials’ Ben Fuller, both off their left feet under pressure.

However this did not deter the Abbey CBS side, and they punished a mistake in the Clonmel backline to score their second major of the contest and regain the lead by the narrowest of margins.

Both sides would have been disappointed not to have netted further goals but a lack of composure in front of goal and some important late challenges saved both sides at either end as the half progressed.

The Clonmel High School CBS Under 15 Football panel who recently won the Cusack Cup after they defeated Abbey CBS in the county final played at Páirc na nGael, New Inn.

To the Clonmel side’s credit, the second setback and the loss of wing-back Enda Nolan to injury did not discourage them and they replied with points from the Moyle Rovers trio of Conor Williams, Conall Morrisson and Hugh Carolan to go to the half-time break ahead on a scoreline of 1-5 to 2-0.

With the wind at their backs, the High School had a bright opening to the second half as centre-forward Conall Morrisson and inside forward Ben Fuller stretched the lead to three points before the Abbey CBS responded with their first point of the game.
The Tipp lads then gained a good foothold around the middle of the park but could not breach the Clonmel rearguard with The Nire’s Olan Doocey and the Clonmel Óg pair of Oisín O’Reilly and Charlie Byrne stubborn in their last line of defence.

With the Abbey CBS enjoying a lot of possession and endeavouring to close the gap, a dispossession by Morrisson in his own half-back line was cleared up the pitch by Donal O’Callaghan to Conor Williams who found substitute Dara Beckett with a superb kick pass before Beckett, who wasn’t waiting for anyone, rounded two men before striking a rocket to the top of the Abbey CBS net.

It was a superb counter attacking move and a goal worthy of any final and it gave the High School CBS the drive to extend their lead further.

Just two minutes later, after being set up by his midfield partner Fergal Bradshaw, Kilsheelan/ Kilcash’s Ben Roche powered through the middle to strike another unstoppable shot to the top corner of the net to give the High School an unassailable lead.

The Abbey responded with a point before wing-forward Hugh Carolan stroked over two fine points and having scored two goals in the semi-final when introduced, Dara Beckett repeated the trick to score his side’s fourth goal nd put the tie to bed.
The High School extended their lead courtesy of scores from Oisín O’Reilly (2), Dylan Condon and Conor Williams but to the Abbey’s credit, they dug in to get another point and their second penalty of the game before the outstanding Conall Morrisson finished the scoring with a point to leave the final score of 4-14 to 3-2 to the south Tipperary school.

The High School had impressive displays all over the park and produced a fine display of football, with eight different scorers on the day while limiting their opponents to just five scores.

Having fallen agonisingly to defeat in the Munster championship, it was just reward for the High School side for their year’s work. Having entered a second team this year in the county championship, their second side reached the County B semi-final also and in total, 43 footballers represented the school in a championship.

HIGH SCHOOL PANEL
Panel: Peter O’Brien, Ben Fuller, Dylan Condon, Liam Peters, Dara Beckett, Donal O’Callaghan, Cian Mahadevaiah, Shay Scully, Billy Cooney, Enda Condon, Ben Tierney, Seb Hopkins, Natan Gucwa, Daniel Tobin, Freddie Wall (all Clonmel Commercials) Conal Morrisson, Conor Williams, Fergal Bradshaw, Hugh Carolan, Michael Maher, Seán Woods (all Moyle Rovers) Paddy Power, Darragh Dempsey, Enda Nolan, Ben Roche, Adam Blanchfield, Sean Tom Nugent (all Kilsheelan-Kilcash) Jake Fennessy, Rory O’Reilly, Oisín O’Reilly, Charlie Byrne, Nathan Sukasuka, Cody Lee, Seán Kiely (All Clonmel Óg) Aidan McMaugh, Eoin Lavery, Olan Doocey, Finn Walsh, Ben O’Gorman, Conor Murphy (all The Nire) Callum Condon (Clerihan) Patrick Lyons (Grangemockler).