Lawlor stars as St Mary’s edge past Mullinahone in South final

Howden Insurance South Tipperary Minor A Hurling Championship Final

St Mary’s 1-20

Mullinahone 2-15

Harry Lawlor put in a brilliant man-of-the-match performance as St Mary’s edged out Mullinahone by two points, 1-20 to 2-15, in the Howden Insurance South Tipperary Minor A Hurling Championship Final on the grass pitch at Fethard Town Park on Wednesday night last.

Lawlor, who has also been a star performer in the Premier Intermediate side’s impressive displays at South and county level this season, hit 1-10, with 1-5 from frees, as well as being the creator of many more scoring opportunities.

But it was not a one-man show in a sparkling St Mary’s attack, with the outstanding Dara Beckett hitting four great points, including three in the space of three second-half minutes, while Ben Fuller also proved a handful for the Mullinahone defence with three first-half points. Kayden Cloona chipped in with two points and team captain Conor Landers with one.

Mullinahone were struggling to cope with the early pace and power of the Clonmel side’s attack and looked in trouble when they trailed by 1-8 to 0-4 after 20 minutes, the St Mary’s goal from a Lawlor free that he rifled to the net.

But then a John O’Meara goal brought Mullinahone right back into the game, and they trailed by just three at the break, 1-10 to 1-7.

St Mary’s were still four points clear, 1-16 to 1-12, midway through the second half, when a second Mullinahone goal from Darragh Walsh set up an exciting final quarter.

Inspired by the O’Meara and Walsh goals, outstanding long-distance free-taking from Ned O’Meara, and good play from Niall Kelly and Dylan Hennessy, Mullinahone took the battle to St Mary’s, who saw off their revival to maintain a lead until the final whistle and add the Minor crown to the U16 title won the previous weekend.

The Kickham Country men couldn’t have enjoyed a better start, with Conor Tobin winning the throw-in, racing through the centre and pointing in less than ten seconds.

Harry Lawlor, from a free, equalised a minute later and the sides were still level at 0-4 each after nine minutes, two from Lawlor, one a free from deep in his own half, and one from Ben Fuller for St Mary’s, with Mullinahone replying with two from Dylan Hennessy and a John O’Meara free.

And then Ben Fuller, with his second point of the game, gave St Mary’s a lead that they were never to surrender again. In the next move, Fuller was fouled after taking a Donal O’Callaghan pass, and instead of tapping over for a point, Lawlor caught the Mullinahone defence off guard with a blistering free to the net.

Mullinahone suffered a significant blow when they lost full-back Philip Lynch to injury, and St Mary’s pushed the lead out to seven points with three from Lawlor, one from another huge free as well as a spectacular score over his shoulder.

Mullinahone needed a response and they got it in style. John O’Meara may have been disappointed with a number of wides from frees, but he more than compensated when he intercepted a loose St Mary’s pass and raced through to shoot to the net past Nathan Wynne.

Niall Kelly followed up with a point to reduce the margin to three points, 1-8 to 1-5, but St Mary’s hit back with two in a row, Cloona finishing a lovely move involving Fuller and O’Callaghan, and great play from Cian Mahadevaiah setting up Fuller. It was back to three points again at the break, with Ned O’Meara pointing two long-range frees for Mullinahone.

And the Kickhams players carried that momentum into the second half, O’Meara pointing his third free in a row before Conor Tobin brought the St Mary’s lead down to a single point, 1-10 to 1-9. That was still the margin six minutes in, 1-12 to 1-11, Cloona, from a Landers pass, and a Lawlor free for the Clonmel side, and two John O’Meara frees for Mullinahone.

But St Mary’s managed to keep that little bit of daylight between the sides, and two in a row from Beckett pushed the lead out to three again. Mullinahone replied through John O’Meara, but a very focused St Mary’s pushed on again with another two in a row, from Landers and Beckett.

The St Mary’s defence had been doing well to curtail the Mullinahone threat, but they were caught out for a second goal in the 38th minute when Dylan Hennessy set up Darragh Walsh to shoot past Wynne, to make it 1-16 to 2-12.

However, Mullinahone were nearly undone at the other end two minutes later when a mix-up between goalkeeper and defender nearly led to a St Mary’s goal. In the confusion, referee Nigel Carrigan awarded a free to St Mary’s that Lawlor pointed for a two-point lead again, and another Lawlor free made it a three-point gap again with nine minutes to play.

John O’Meara, from a free, and Beckett, with his fourth of the half, exchanged points, before an inspirational point from Lawlor, fielding brilliantly before slotting over the bar, put four between the sides with six minutes to play.

St Mary’s lived dangerously in those closing minutes. Goalkeeper Wynne had to make a double save to deny Mullinahone a goal, Ned O’Meara pointing the resulting 65. Then, two minutes into injury time, a Dylan Hennessy free reduced the lead to just two.

But a St Mary’s defence, in which Daniel Charles, Cian O’Mahoney and Cian Mahadevaiah were outstanding, managed to curb any more threats as they saw out the closing seconds.

Scorers: St Mary’s: Harry Lawlor (1-10, 1-0f, 0-5f), Dara Beckett 0-4, Ben Fuller 0-3, Kayden Cloona 0-2, Conor Landers 0-1.

Mullinahone: John O’Meara (1-4, 0-3f), Ned O’Meara (0-4, 0-3f, 0-1 65), Darragh Walsh 1-0, Dylan Hennessy (0-3, 0-1f), Conor Tobin, Niall Kelly 0-2 each.

St Mary’s: Nathan Wynne; Cian O’Mahoney, Freddie Baker, Sean Trehy; Daniel Charles, Enda Condon, Cian Mahadevaiah; Dylan Condon, Ciaran Kenny; Kayden Cloona, Dara Beckett, Harry Lawlor; Ben Fuller, Conor Landers, Donal O’Callaghan.

Subs used: Dara Maher for O’Callaghan (37); Rory Dunphy for Cloona (58).

Mullinahone: Charlie Vaughan; Padraig Croke, Philip Lynch, Shay O’Mahoney; Killian Bolger, Ned O’Meara, Liam Hogan; Conor Tobin, Jack Dunne; Tom Gilman, John O’Meara, Niall Kelly; Dylan Hennessy, Darragh Walsh, James McGowan.

Subs used: Darragh Scott for Philip Lynch (14, inj); Cillian Croke for Gilman (60).

Referee: Nigel Carrigan (Ballybacon Grange)