Comfortable win for Carrick Swan in South Tipperary Minor B final
Carrick team gain some compensation for Under 16 final defeat
Carrick Swan 3-19 Ballybacon/Grange 2-8
Carrick Swan produced a devastating second half performance, outscoring Ballybacon/Grange by 3-8 to 1-1, to claim the Pat Cleere South Tipperary Minor B Hurling Championship title on the grass pitch at Fethard Town Park.
After trailing 1-1 to no score after just two minutes, Swan worked their way back into the game and were ahead at the break, 0-11 to 1-7.
Aaron Brennan extended their lead with a goal after twenty seconds of the second half and they bookended a totally dominant display with two more goals at the finish, a second from Brennan and the third from Jay O’Gorman.
A second goal from Paul Cummins nine minutes into the second half gave some hope to Ballybacon/Grange, bringing the score to 1-15 to 2-8, but they failed to score again as Swan pulled away for a comfortable win.
Cummins, son of team manager Brendan Cummins, had scored his first goal two minutes into the game, after a James Murphy point had given them the lead inside the first minute. Cummins ended with 2-5 to his name, 1-1 from play, but other than Cummins and Murphy, the only other Ballybacon players to get on the scoresheet were Tom Lenihan and Matthew Walsh with 0-1 each.
Carrick Swan had no such difficulties in attack with Alex O’Dwyer scoring 0-9, five from play, in a man of the match performance. The goals from Brennan and O’Gorman were also crucial, with big displays also from Noah Power and team captain Aidan Hanlon.
Goalkeeper Eoin Connolly chipped in as well with two huge points from frees in the space of two second half minutes, coming just after Paul Cummins’ goal that cut short any hope of a Ballybacon/Grange resurgence.
The early 1-1 for Ballybacon/Grange, from Murphy’s point and Cummins’ brilliant goal following a run through the centre, provided them with huge impetus, and they were the better team for much of the first half, only going behind just before the interval.
Swan hit back with points from O’Dwyer and Charlie Walsh, but Ballybacon had extended their lead to four again, 1-4 to 0-3, midway through the half, with two points from Cummins, one a free, and another from Lenihan, to a Swan reply from O’Gorman.
Swan points from O’Dwyer and a superb score from Hanlon, following a burst from defence, reduced the lead to two points, but Matthew Walsh for Ballybacon pushed it out to three again. Noah Power and Paul Cummins exchanged frees, before three in a row for Swan drew them level for the first time – from two O’Dwyer frees and Power from play.
Cummins from a free, following a foul on Cillian O’Dwyer, restored the Ballybacon/Grange lead, but Swan finished the half stronger, with a great pass from Jack Raymond Walsh setting up Alex O’Dwyer for the leveller, and then Aidan O’Hanlon from a free putting the Carrick-on-Suir side ahead for the first time on the stroke of half time, 0-11 to 1-7.
Then 1-3 in the first five minutes of the second half set the trend for the rest of the game, Brennan’s early goal followed by two O’Dwyer points and a Hanlon free from deep inside his own half.
A Cummins point from a free after seven minutes was Ballybacon’s first score of the half, and even though Swan replied with a Power free, following a foul on O’Dwyer, Ballybacon hit back again – a point from a free again looked the likely option for Cummins, but he rifled a shot into the bottom corner of the net to reduce the Swan lead to four points, 1-15 to 2-8.
However, their scoring dried up completely after that as Swan took control, with the victory providing some compensation for the Under 16 final defeat to St Mary’s on the previous weekend – a game in which Alex O’Dwyer was also one of their leading players.
Goalkeeper Eoin Connolly had been off-target with an earlier free in the first half, but he replied to Cummins’ goal with two huge frees to push the lead out to six.
It was all one-way traffic at this stage, with O’Dwyer pointing two further frees before the two-goal blitz in the closing minutes – Ballybacon/Grange goalkeeper Oran Burke batting out a shot that fell to Brennan and he made no mistake to claim his second goal, before Jay O’Gorman broke through the cover to end the scoring with a fine goal.
Scorers: Carrick Swan: Alex O’Dwyer 0-9 (4f), Aaron Brennan 2-0, Jay O’Gorman 1-1, Aidan O’Hanlon (2f), Noah Power (2f) 0-3 each, Eoin Connolly 0-2f, Charlie Walsh 0-1.
Ballybacon/Grange: Paul Cummins 2-5 (1-0f, 4f), James Murphy, Tom Lenihan, Matthew Walsh 0-1 each.
Carrick Swan: Eoin Connolly; Liam Walsh, Jay Fleming, Alex Walsh; Aidan Hanlon, Jack Raymond Walsh, Cody Sullivan; Jack Holloway, Evan Moran; Jack Kiely, Alex O’Dwyer, Charlie Walsh; Noah Power, Aaron Brennan, Jay O’Gorman. Subs: Aidan Sweetman for Alex Walsh (44), Craig O’Donnell for Holloway (50), Craig O’Dwyer for Power (56), Conor Russell for Charlie Walsh (58), Ordhan Reade for Sullivan (58).
Ballybacon/Grange: Oran Bourke; Riain O’Keeffe, Sean Moroney, Michael Myles; Danny O’Dwyer, Aidan Gorey, Cillian O’Dwyer; David Cunningham, Paul Cummins; Sean Lonergan, James Murphy, Tom Lenihan; Cillian O’Mahoney, Cillian Carrigan, Matthew Walsh. Subs: Darren O’Mahoney for Cillian O’Mahoney (HT), Harry Walsh for Cunningham (52), Carl Hennessy for Lonergan (58).
Referee: Paddy Ivors (Ballingarry).