Relieved Tullamore show quality of champions to hold off terrific Clara rally

HAVING completely dominated the U-15 Football Championship from the start, it was absolutely no surprise that Tullamore would wind down their year by being crowned champions when they proved too strong for Clara in the final in O'Connor Park on Saturday – but they didn't have it all their own way and were almost caught in a breathtaking closing five minutes.

EJ U-15 Football Championship final

Tullamore 2-13

Clara 4-5

A brilliantly talented Tullamore side had qualified for the final with remarkable, not to mention alarming,ease, outscoring their opponents by a whopping 28-72 to 3-21 in their seven games before this showdown.

It all suggested that Tullamore would not be beaten in this final and so it proved as they showed their quality here, though they were extremely relieved to hang on for the win after Clara scared the living daylights out of them late on.

Tullamore were the better side and did deserve to win – the statistic that they got fifteen scores to nine correctly shows the way the balance of play went but full credit to Clara for the manner in which they put it up to them, the honesty they displayed and their battling qualities. They gave it everything and can hold their heads up very high. It is a difficult era for Clara GAA club with their senior footballers suffering relegation for the second time in three years and it was great to see them reaching an A level final. They are a proud club with a decent sized pick and they need to be competing at underage levels.

They were competitive here for a good while and they could have been closer at half time as they almost got in for a couple of goals – though they ultimately lost as they had prolonged periods where they were on the back foot. They were left to rue those first half misses as Clara rallied powerfully late on with two goals bringing them right back into it and they got the gap back to a point in injury time.

It was obvious from the start that Clara were on a damage limitation exercise as they set up defensively, often pulling twelve men back into their own half as they tried to ensure Tullamore did not cut loose. Yet they attacked well and created a few chances. At half time, however, Tullamore had a 2-5 to 0-3 lead and that looked like it would be more than enough. Yet Clara showed tremendous courage and fighting spirit to bring it down to the wire and that was an absolute credit to them.

Even a fantastic individual goal from Dylan Dunne just 25 seconds into the second half and a second one less than three minutes later from Dylan Deehan-Kavanagh did not raise expectations that Clara would produce a seismic upset. There was just three points in it, 2-6 to 2-3, at that stage but we knew that there was another couple of gears in Tullamore.

Their response to those Clara questions were hugely impressive. You never know what way a side will respond to adversity when they are so used to winning at their ease but Tullamore were excellent as they grabbed back control of the game. They stuck to their game plan and displayed incredible composure for young lads as they retained the ball very efficiently and broke the line at speed.

They took over in all sectors and for fifteen minutes, Clara could not break out of their half. With Eoin Rouse superb at midfield and Patrick Duffy brilliant at centre half back, Tullamore drove forward relentlessly and got four points without reply for a 2-10 to 2-3 lead after 44 minutes. It was the 48th minute before Deehan-Kavanagh got Clara's next point from a free and it looked like it would be only a brief interlude.

It was 2-12 to 2-4 when Leon Nolan got in for a 53rd minute Clara goal after they lined up in front of the Tullamore posts but the gap was still a daunting five points. Three minutes later, however, it was game on as a powerful Tadgh Maher shot hit the back stanchion of the net before rebounding into play.

Now it was a two point game and Tullamore panicked briefly. Their lives flashed in front of their eyes when one of Clara's best players, Dylan Dunne raced through with lethal intent in the 61st minute. He perhaps could have went a bit further but it was a goal chance and his pile driver was heroically deflected out for a '45' by Robert Burns. Clara got it back to a point with a Dylan Dunne free in the 62nd minute but Tullamore again found their composure. The way they lifted the siege in the white heat of battle as their dreams threatened to unravel was arguably the most impressive part of their afternoon and they controlled the last two and a half minutes that was played with Eoin Rouse floating over a 64th minute free after Patrick Duffy was fouled.

Tullamore were very relieved to win and it wasn't their best performance of the year. It was certainly the toughest battle they got and that was down to a fiercely motivated Clara team. Yet over the course of the hour plus, Tullamore were stronger. They moved that bit better, they controlled and retained the ball better and they had more standout players.

It was an entertaining final and the skillset of both sides caught the eye. Tullamore had come flying out of the blocks with a sixth minute goal from the hard working Ben Dillane helping them to a 1-2 to no score lead. We thought it was all over at this stage but Clara were reading from a very different script and did really well to get into it. They knuckled down, defended in numbers and Tullamore found it hard to break them down.

It was 1-5 to 0-3 after 25 minutes and Clara were happy with that but a brilliant Tullamore goal just before the interval changed everything. The finish by Adnan Pehlivian was out of the top drawer, the build up involving Patrick Duffy, Dara Clarke and Darragh Stewart oozed quality and in the wind up, that was the score that separated the teams.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Eoin Rouse (Tullamore): A real tough call between Tullamore's Patrick Duffy and Eoin Rouse. Both were brilliant and there was almost nothing separating them in terms of their influence. Duffy defended very solidly in the centre of defence, though Dylan Dunne did break forward for Clara on occasions, getting one goal and almost getting a match winner in extra time. Duffy contributed powerfully in an attacking sense, continually driving forward, offering options to the man in possession and scoring a point, setting up scores and winning crucial frees. He was immense. Rouse shades it by the slenderest of fractions as he really grabbed a hold of the game when Tullamore came under pressure in the early minutes of the second half. For the next fifteen minutes, he more or less ran the show, with, of course, great support from many others and it took Clara too long to mount an attack worthy of that name. Rouse top scored with six points, two of them from play and displayed physicality, pace and great composure on the ball.

THE SCORERS

Tullamore: Eoin Roue 0-6 (4f), Ben Dillane 1-1 (1f), Adnan Pehlivian 1-0, Sean Finlay, Patrick Duffy, Cian Horkan, Pearce Judge, Charlie Heffernan and Darragh Stewart 0-1 each.

Clara: Dylan Dunne (2f) and Dylan Deehan-Kavanagh (2f) 2-2 each, Leon Nolan and Tadgh Maher 1-0 eac, John Carroll 0-1.

THE TEAMS

TULLAMORE: Ethan Lloyd; Robert Burns, Caden O'Beirne, Kevins Rankevics; Sean Finlay, Patrick Duffy, Cian Horkan; Eoin Rouse, Dara Clarke; Jamie Harvey, Pearce Judge, Charlie Heffernan; Darragh Stewart, Ben Dillane, Adnan Pehlivian. Subs – Alex O'Brien for Pehlivian (53m).

CLARA: Neil Gaffey; Matthew Moran, Daniel Stoyanov, Jake Lynch; Jack Griffith, Oisin O'Meara, Niall Clerkin; Leon Nolan, Dylan Deehan-Kavanagh; Ryan Handy, Dylan Dunne, Ben Melia; Scott Mannerings, John Carroll, Tadgh Maher. Subs – Oisin Guilfoyle for Melia (43m),.

Referee – Ger Keyes (Shamrocks).