Moyle Rovers in control from start to finish in south Tipperary Under 19 B hurling final

Moyle Rovers 3-22 St Patrick's 0-10

A strong and cohesive team performance from Moyle Rovers saw them overcome St Patrick’s to win the Pat Cleere South Tipperary Under 19 B Hurling Championship final at Fethard GAA Park on Wednesday evening.

Moyle Rovers started the stronger, as they put St Pat’s under severe pressure, both with and without the ball.

Their half backs Fred Perry, Harry O’Keeffe and Louis Carroll were incredibly strong under the St Pat’s puckouts, which gave Rovers a foothold in the game early on.

John Cronin got his side’s second score of the day as he kicked the ball out of a ruck into space and was able to convert calmly over the bar from the wing.

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Conal Morrisson was a clear threat in the inside forward line early on and diagonal balls played to him into the corner were frequent from the off.

St Pat’s centre back Cormac Duggan produced a great hook on Morrisson, which looked to stop a certain goal as the Moyle Rovers corner forward had broken through.

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Despite great defending, Pat’s were unable to stop the skill of Morrisson and the quality of ball supplied to him, as he opened his scoring with a great score over the left shoulder as he was moving away from goal.

Charlie Noonan opened the scoring for St Patrick’s from a placed ball, his first of seven points of the day.

Despite having the slower start, St Pat’s were almost given a lifeline when a shot from Finn Madigan from the middle of the field took an awkward bounce and almost got the better of Rovers goalkeeper Peter Boland, before he was able to knock it out for a 65, which was converted by Sean Nash.

This recovery from Boland initiated a six-point swing, as in the next play a clever ball from Brian Morrisson to Conal Egan resulted in Egan neatly dispatching the ball past Jamie Holohan in the St Pat’s goal.

After the opening goal, St Pat’s decided to drop wing forward Tom Lee into a more defensive role to cope with the pressure.

St Pat’s did a lot of good things with the ball in the first half and tried to work it neatly through the lines as much as they could. However, they found it difficult to get a handle on the threat posed by Conal Morrisson.

Fred Perry mopped up ball efficiently and delivered well into the danger areas. One of these balls was worked well through the Moyle Rovers forwards’ hands and resulted in a goal for wing forward Cathal O’Gorman, despite the best efforts of the St Pat’s goalkeeper Jamie Holohan, who was able to get a touch on it.

Shortly after this Cathal O’Gorman capitalised on a ball that dropped short into the square and cleverly picked out teammate Conal Egan, who made no mistake in rattling the net. This goal, followed by a great catch and score from Conal Morrisson, put Moyle Rovers 12 points up at half-time.

Trailing so heavily at the break, St Pat’s pushed for goals hard and often after the restart. However, Rovers shot stopper Peter Boland was able to ensure that Pat’s weren’t getting back into the game, as he pulled off a spectacular save from Finn Madigan five minutes into the second half.

Pat’s continued to push hard but to no avail, as the Moyle Rovers defence came out on top. Rovers kept the scoreboard ticking over with great points from Brian Morrisson, Brian Hurley, Paudie Ryan and Cathal O’Gorman.

Despite being under great pressure all day, goalkeeper Jamie Holohan pulled off a great save from a penalty that was driven low by John Cronin.

Although well beaten, St Pat’s were well led by Sean Nash, Charlie Noonan, Cormac Duggan and Evan Holohan.

This Moyle Rovers side were driven from all over the field and had plenty of contenders for man of the match. Their key players were captain Conor O’Gorman, Fred Perry, John Cronin, Brian Morrisson, Conal Egan and man of the match Conal Morrisson.

Moyle Rovers: Peter Boland, Conor O’Gorman (captain), Michael O’Reilly, Mark O’Meara, Louis Carroll, Fred Perry, Harry O’Keeffe, John Cronin, Aaron McAndrew, Brian Morrisson, Brian Hurley, Cathal O’Gorman, Conal Egan, Tadhg Fitzgerald, Conal Morrisson.

Subs: Paudie Ryan for Conal Egan, Sean Mullins for Conal Morrisson, Ben O’Donovan for Fred Perry, Cian McCarthy for Aaron McAndrew.

Scorers: John Cronin (0-7, 6f), Conal Egan (2-0), Cathal O’Gorman (1-3), Conal Morrisson (0-5), Brian Morrisson (0-3), Tadhg Fitzgerald (0-1), Brian Hurley (0-1), Paudie Ryan (0-1), Sean Mullins (0-1).

St Patrick’s: Jamie Holohan, Conor Danagher, Evan Holohan, Cathal Keane, Dane Outram, Cormac Duggan, Sean Fitzgerald, Sean Nash (captain), Oran Gahan, Tom Lee, Finn Madigan, Eoin Morrissey, Conor Maguire, Charlie Noonan, Conor Brett.

Subs: Donnacha Foley for Cathal Keane, Nathan Gleason for Eoin Morrissey.

Scorers: Charlie Noonan (0-7, 6f), Sean Nash (0-3, 3f).

Referee: Shane O’Neill (St Mary’s).