Fancied Tullamore pushed all the way by stubborn Edenderry

A FANCIED Tullamore were never comfortable as they were pushed the whole way by a stubborn Edenderry side who refused to go away in a very good U16 Football Championship final in O'Connor Park on Saturday.

EJ Access Solutions U16 Football Championship final

Tullamore 2-9

Edenderry 0-12

Tullamore were the better side on the day and deserved to win but Edenderry asked searching questions and it would not have taken a whole lot for this result to have gone the other way.

At the same time, Tullamore did look like they had another gear whenever they needed and when they hit full flow, they were very good, tearing forward at pace and splitting the Edenderry defence open.

A great first minute goal from Patrick Duffy helped Tullamore to a 1-1 to 0-1 lead after six minutes but Edenderry had their best spell in the next few minutes. Oisin Pender tapped over a free and Edenderry missed a great opportunity in the eight minute when one of their best players Daniel O'Sullivan was wide with a penalty after Donnacha Seery was fouled.

They lived to regret that miss, especially as they continued their purple patch with three more points, a lovely score from Oliver Goulding and a super two point free from Ryan Ssango. Edenderry were well worth their 0-5 to 1-1 lead after twenty minutes and it would have been interesting to see how the favourites would have responded if Edenderry had 1-5 on the board.

The response probably would have been good and in any event, they played their best football in the ten minutes coming up to half time. They were outstanding in this period as they scored 1-5 without reply. Patrick Duffy, Sam Heffernan, Jayden Delaney and the excellent Jamie Harvey all got quality scores from play and Heffernan got a free as they led by 1-6 to 0-5 heading into injury time.

Disaster struck Edenderry at the end of injury time when Jayden Delaney did very well out near the end line to keep the ball alive and Conor Rigney nipped in for a real poacher's goal and a 2-6 to 0-5 half time lead.

That stacked the odds against Edenderry and they fought so hard in the second half, without ever looking like they would quite get there. Ssango got another super two point free on the restart while a delicious Conor Rigney point from a near impossible angle was one of the game's highlights as Tullamore led by 2-8 to 0-7 after 35 minutes.

Oisin Pender got a free and Oliver Goulding a two pointer as Edenderry brought the gap back to four after 47 minutes. Tullamore did display feet of clay in the closing quarter and kept the door open for Edenderry, kicking a few harmless wides.

Heffernan's free pushed the winners five clear with six minutes left and Edenderry couldn't haul that in. They did get it back to a goal in injury time but Donnacha Seery's point was the penultimate action of the game as Tullamore reversed the result from the U14 football final between these clubs.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Patrick Duffy (Tullamore): Patrick Duffy was the best player on the field, a dominant influence between the two forty metre lines. He scored a crucial 1-1 in the first half but it was his work in the middle third that was so important for Tullamore. He fielded ball, turned over ball, won breaks, defended well, attacked well and generally found his man in a really solid, productive hour.

THE SCORERS

Tullamore: Conor Rigney and Patrick Duffy 1-1 each, Sam Heffernan 0-4 (4f), Jamie Harvey, Adam Martin (f) and Jayden Daly 0-1 each.

Edenderry: Ryan Ssango 0-4 (2 x 2pf), Oisin Pender (3f) and Oliver Goulding (1 x 2p) 0-3 each, Sean Monaghan and Donnacha Seery 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

TULLAMORE: Ryan Casey; Cian Rigney, Jake Conlon, Niall Lambe; Daniel Bourke, Patrick Duffy, Stephen Murrihy; Darragh Stewart, Jamie Harvey; Adam Keegan, Sam Heffernan, Sean Goodings; Jayden Daly, Adam Martin, Conor Rigney. Subs – Donagh Keane for Goodings (47m), Martin Ward for Bourke (59m),

EDENDERRY: Odhran O'Connor; Noah Foran, Abdul Ogunse,John Doyle; Conor Fennessy, Jamie Clarke, Daniel Smyth; Daniel O'Sullivan, Joe Furey; Ryan Ssango, Oliver Goulding, Tony Hurst; Sean Monaghan, Oisin Pender, Donnacha Seery. Subs – John Delaney for Doyle (HT), Charlie Mangan for Fennessy (HT),

Referee – Eamon O'Connor, Ballycommon.