Clonmel High School footballers battle back to beat Macroom

High School, Clonmel 3-12 De La Salle, Macroom 1-13

The High School Clonmel got their Corn Uí Mhuirí, Munster Senior A Football Championship campaign off to a winning start at Castlelyons GAA grounds against a physical and athletic De La Salle Macroom outfit, producing a much improved second half performance to eventually transform a seven-point deficit into a five-point victory.

In a cagey opening, both sides were guilty of butchering early chances, with Macroom kicking three early wides, while Clonmel Commercials’ Killian Smith saw a clear goalscoring opportunity pull wide of the post.

This early miss was punished at the opposite end as the High School failed to clear their lines and a speculative ball into the square was punched to the net by Macroom’s Billy Murphy to give the Cork school the early initiative. De La Salle dominated the aerial battle and this laid the foundation for their early scoring dominance, as they opened up a five-point cushion.

Gradually, however, the High School settled and frees from Conor Freaney and Cillian Morrissey (two) had them on the scoreboard before Ben Roche had their opening point from play.

Macroom restored their five-point cushion and approaching half-time another goal chance went abegging for Clonmel as Adam Long saved a point blank effort from Tristan O’Connor, but the Kilsheelan-Kilcash forward had the final score of the half as he reduced the deficit to 1-6 to 0-5.

On the resumption, the High School started the brighter, but once again they squandered goal opportunities, with Macroom netminder Long denying Killian Smith and Tristan O’Connor. By the 40th minute, De La Salle had extended their lead to seven-points and looked to be heading for a quarter-final berth, while the only reply for an improved early second half display from the Clonmel team was a Conor Freaney pointed free.

Despite these setbacks and playing against the elements, the High School began to dominate the midfield exchanges and scores from Conor Freaney and goalkeeper James O’Brien (45) ate into the Macroom lead.

Cillian Morrissey had the chance to reduce the gap to four points from a free on the 21 yard line but his quick thinking surprised the De La Salle defence, as he placed a short free to Killian Smith, who rattled the net to leave just two points between the sides. Another Freaney free was added to by Tristan O’Connor from play and had the High School level by the 48th minute, and they took the lead for the first time just a minute later when Cillian Morrissey fired over from play.

With the game turned on its head, there was no let-up from Clonmel. Less than a minute later Conor Freaney gathered a loose ball and finished to the net from close range before an incisive run from wing-back Conall Morrisson set Ben Roche free and he made no mistake, finishing low to the net beyond the Macroom goalkeeper.

The High School had scored 3-5 without reply between the 39th and 51st minutes and had turned a seven-point deficit into a seven-point lead, with the scoreboard now reading 3-11 to 1-10.

To their credit, Macroom did not give in and they responded with three points, but they never threatened the goal that they badly needed, as the High School full-back line of Clonmel Og’s Rory O’Reilly and Rian Galko and Aidan White of Moyle Rovers held firm. In the final minute, High School substitute Hugh Carolan had the final score as he kicked a fine score from 35 metres to ensure a five-point victory for Clonmel.

The High School started with just four of last year’s side that had reached the final of Munster school’s premier football competition. Considering it was their opening competitive fixture of the year, this perhaps led to the rustiness of the first half performance against a school who had already played their opening Corn Uí Mhuirí tie and two rounds of their county championship.

The High School had encouraging displays in all areas of the pitch, particularly in the second half as they reeled in their Cork opponents. Considering the group has just three teams, the win cements their place in the knockout stages and they will face another Cork school, Coláiste Choilm, in their final group game, with the winners topping the group ahead of the quarter- finals after Christmas.

High School Clonmel: J O’Brien, A White, J Boland, C Morrisson, C Morrissey, H Carolan, M Maher, C Williams, F Bradshaw, J Franklin (Moyle Rovers), R O’Reilly, R Galko, G Mahony, O O’Reilly, S McMenamin, N Sukasuka, C Byrne, C Gilchreest (Clonmel Óg), D O’Callaghan, E Condon, K Smith, B Fuller, B Tierney, D Tobin, K Cloona, N Gucwa, S Scully, D Condon, N Wynne (Clonmel Commercials) C Roche, B Roche, C Freaney, T O’Connor, E Nolan, P Power, C Robinson, S T Nugent, S Madigan (Kilsheelan-Kilcash), D Ryan, A McMaugh, C Walsh, F Walsh, E Lavery, O Doocey, C Peters, A Wyse, C Murphy (The Nire), C Condon (Clerihan), P Lyons (Grangemockler), Sam McDonnell (Newcastle).