Late Dooley points seal big win for Tullamore as Seir Kieran face relegation battle

Closer than it needed to be perhaps, but Tullamore will arguably be all the better for negotiation the hazardous path they hacked out in a sticky battle in Kinnitty on Friday night.

Molloy Precast and Environmental Systems Senior Hurling Championship Group 1

Tullamore 0-18

Seir Kieran 1-13

Shane Hand’s men had to dig deep into their reserves of character and belief to pick off the last three scores and overtake Seir Kieran at the post, proving that their strong performance against Ballinamere was more than just raising their game to meet their parish rivals.

15 wides over the course of the hour’s hurling, allied to two glorious first half goal chances for Shane Dooley that were denied by a Pat Gilligan block and a Joseph Connor penalty save, shows that Shane Hand’s side left a lot on the table.

Their 0-9 to 0-6 interval lead looked scant with the slight breeze set to favour the Clareen men after half-time, particularly with Joseph Bergin poised and ready to spring off the bench and add another big physical target to the attack alongside Adrian Hynes.

Ultimately however, Tullamore had a little bit more energy and craft in the middle, they had a greater range of scoring threats and crucially, they came up with the big plays in the final moments when it was needed.

Shane Dooley struck all three points at the end and two of them were key plays from the 39-year-old veteran. The equalising free, struck in the 60^th minute from the stand-side touchline at midfield traversed the black spot with authority, before he then won the next ball and earned a much more comfortable free that he also converted.

Then with Seir Kieran chasing an equaliser, Kevin Waters picked off a vital turnover to rob possession from Luke Carey and in his desperation to try and make a hook, Carey fouled Waters as the former Offaly panellist cleared the ball.

The sliotar dropped 40 metres from the Seir Kieran goal, leaving Dooley to knock over his tenth point from that spot, putting two between the teams with 30 seconds remaining. James Houlihan won the next breaking ball, and that was all they needed.

The first quarter saw Seir Kieran at their best. Luke Carey and Oisín Guinan picked off excellent points from tight angles with Guinan showing plenty of craft in his first start as a senior player.

Cormac Egan’s power and industry, James Houlihan’s ability to break a tackle and Niall Houlihan’s supreme reading of the game gave Tullamore a superb foothold in the diamond but Seán Coughlan and Pat Gilligan came up with some big plays to keep a finger in the dyke and four points from the first four Seir Kieran shots helped to make it 0-5 to 0-4 midway through a half where the breeze and the low sun favoured the team shooting east, away from the R421.

A stunning Martin Keogh strike from the right-hand sideline got Tullamore moving and they hit five in the bounce coming up to half-time, with Shane Dooley chipping in from play while Cillian Bourke started to exploit his athleticism and aerial ability too.

Bourke was dragged to the ground by Gilligan for a penalty that could have put seven between the teams, but in a big swing moment, Joseph Connor read Dooley’s bounced penalty perfectly and deflected the ball clear. Points either side of half-time from Carey added to a sense of Seir Kieran momentum.

Guinan and Carey both hit the target as Seir Kieran got it back to a one-point game shortly after Bergin came into the attack, with Adrian Hynes also faring much better when he came out to centre forward.

A poor effort from a 40 metre free felt like one bad miss for Seir Kieran however and Carey followed that by hammering another goal attempt off the post.

Kevin Dunne took a different approach when he had the chance to run at the Tullamore goal, driving through three tackles and taking the ball into the small square before forcing it over the line under pressure after 51 minutes.

The Blues’ response was exemplary. Cillian Bourke played in Dooley for a first time pull over the bar and Dooley then fired over a free, and while Carey came back for Seir Kieran with a fine spin and finish and then the lead score from a ’65, that only teed up a much more composed and impressive finish from Tullamore; one that will have made Birr sit up and take notice in advance of the clash of the towns in a fortnight.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Luke Egan (Tullamore): Shane Dooley came up with some crucial scores at the end and Luke Carey was a constant threat throughout in what were strong showings from the star attackers, but the two top scorers were also guilty of some important misses, with Dooley’s two goal chances in the first half standing out.

Along with Cormac Egan, Seán Coughlan and Niall Houlihan, the duo were still were part of a leading pack, but one that had Luke Egan very narrowly out in front. Egan’s second-half point was a crucial score and all through the game he looked to attack through the middle third of the field, both with the ball on the hurl and with his distribution.

THE SCORERS

Tullamore: Shane Dooley 0-10 (0-7f), Cillian Bourke 0-3, Cormac Egan 0-1, Dan Fox 0-1, Martin Keogh 0-1, Luke Egan 0-1, Mike Fox 0-1.

Seir Kieran: Luke Carey 0-9 (0-3f, 0-1 65), Oisín Guinan 0-3, Kevin Dunne 1-0, Tom Dooley 0-1.

THE TEAMS

SEIR KIERAN: Joseph Connor; Seán Coughlan, Pat Gilligan, Stephen Gilligan; Dermot Mooney, John Coughlan, Tom Dooley; Kevin Dunne, Michael Gilligan; Darragh Guinan, Éanna Murphy, Seán Dooley; Luke Carey, Adrian Hynes, Oisín Guinan. Subs: Joseph Bergin for S Dooley (37), Kieran Connor for Murphy (48), Declan Purcell for O Guinan (52).

TULLAMORE: Cormac Martin; Jack Daly, Dylan Hensey, Kevin Waters; Luke Egan, Niall Houlihan, Brian Hogan; Cormac Egan, Michael Feeney; Martin Keogh, James Houlihan, Dan Fox; Mike Fox, Shane Dooley, Cillian Bourke. Subs: Niall Furlong for Daly (45, inj.) Peter Fox for Keogh (48), Jay Sheerin for D Fox (60).

Referee – Kieran Dooley (Drumcullen).

REFEREE WATCH

First Pat Gilligan and then Seán Coughlan were involved in a fair few wrestling matches with Shane Dooley at times, and some of the Tullamore crowd were aggrieved that Dooley first cancelled out a scorable free for Dooley on the advice of his umpire and then gave a wide ball when the Blues’ supporters felt their talisman was dragged to the turf. In both instances, however, it’s not like Shane Dooley was taking a backwards step himself.

Overall however Kieran Dooley had a fine game, allowing the two sides to compete for the ball and intervening on the rare occasions it was necessary.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

In a game where it felt like a goal would be crucial, it was Tullamore’s response to conceding the only green flag, hitting back with two points in two minutes, that left them poised to strike decisively at the end.

VENUE WATCH

A comparatively small crowd was in attendance, perhaps due to some neutrals opting to go with the more attractive game in Shinrone. Nonetheless the Kinnitty club still had ample volunteers on hand to ensure that everything ran perfectly, with the pitch in pristine condition. The ferocious determination to ensure that the media present were supplied with tea and cake didn’t go un-noticed either, as the Slieve Bloom club put their heart and souls into every aspect of hosting the fixture.

WHAT'S NEXT

Tullamore travel to Birr on Friday week for the first of two games that could see them secure a quarter-final berth, while Seir Kieran will play Ballinamere in Banagher the following day, needing a win and for other results to go their way if they stay out of the relegation playoff. Technically they could still make the quarter-finals, but a lot would have to fall their way for that to happen.

STATISTICS

Wides: Tullamore – 15 (7 in first half); Seir Kieran – 10 (7 in first half).

Yellow cards: Tullamore – 0; Seir Kieran – 1 (Pat Gilligan).

Black/Red cards: 0.