Brosna Gaels hold off second half Tullamore rally to claim third Offaly Junior Hurling title

Molloy Precast & Environmental Systems Offaly Junior A Hurling Final

BROSNA GAELS 0-21

TULLAMORE 2-13

BROSNA Gaels held off a late Tullamore rally to claim the Offaly Junior Hurling title for the third time with a deserved victory in an entertaining final played at Grant Heating St Brendan's Park on Saturday.

Brosna Gaels, who won the title previously in 2007 and 2021, were the better team on the day but they had to withstand a determined Tullamore fightback in the final quarter to claim the title for the third time.

Defeated by Belmont in last year's final, Brosna Gaels were determined not to slip up on this occasion and they took the game to Tullamore from the start. Backed by a strong wind they built up an eight point advantage at one stage in the first half but saw that cut back to five points at the break, 0-11 to 0-6.

Backed by the wind Tullamore got that down to three points in the early stages of the second half and Brosna Gaels were under pressure but they responded with four points without reply to lead by seven midway through the second half. Even after Tullamore's first goal Brosna Gaels restored a six point lead again but helped by a second goal Tullamore were back within a point coming down the stretch but Brosna Gaels held their nerve in the closing stages to pick off a couple of points from frees and hold on to claim the victory.

Over the hour Brosna Gaels played the better hurling. They moved the ball well and took some lovely scores from play. Their team work was excellent and they were a well drilled team. They spread the ball around well and created good openings in the forward line and they hit 14 of their 21 points from play.

READ NEXT: Ferbane-Belmont snatch great come from behind win as Rod Og endure hard defeat

In contrast only two of Tullamore's 13 points came from play and that was the big difference between the sides. Paul Kelly's accuracy from frees kept them in touch but they weren't able to create the same openings in the forward line as Brosna Gaels. They weren't short of possession but they came up against a Brosna Gaels defence that didn't yield up much.

Brosna Gaels didn't panic when Tullamore came back at them in the second half. Their defence was excellent and they withstood the pressure Tullamore put on them. Their deliveries out of defence were of good quality and usually gave their forwards a chance to create an opening. They opened up the space well and troubled the Tullamore defence throughout.

To their credit Tullamore never gave up the fight. The two goals in the final quarter gave them great hope and their supporters got behind them as they cut the lead to the minimum. They could never get level and Brosna Gaels did well to keep them out at the death to prevent an equaliser.

Sean Hackett was very solid at full back for Brosna Gaels and Lee Colgan and Sean Og Foley also did very well in defence. Keith Lawler battled hard in the middle of the field while Eoin Murphy, Gary Larkin, Bernard Allen and Seanie Farrell all made an impact in the forward line.

Shane Longworth, Mark Grennan and Robbie Hand battled hard in the Tullamore defence, Cillian Martin put in a good effort in the middle of the field while Shane Kelly and Paul Kelly were the chief threats in attack

Brosna Gaels got off to a good start with a point from Seanie Farrell after a minute. Tullamore quickly levelled from a 45m free but Eoin Murphy's free restored Brosna Gaels' lead. He then added a point from play and Seanie Farrell, Bernard Allen and Sean Og Foley all hit the target from play to give them a 0-6 to 0-1 lead after 10 minutes.

READ NEXT: Goal-happy Clara deny wasteful Shamrocks minor “B” double

Tullamore registered four wides in quick succession and Gary Larkin added two quick points from play to stretch the lead to seven points after 16 minutes. Sean Farrell and Eoin Murphy from a free then pushed the lead out to eight points after 20 minutes. Tullamore responded with a free from goalkeeperArron Hensey and Paul Kelly pointed another free. Bernard Allen kept the scoreboard ticking over for Brosna Gaels but Paul Kelly pointed two frees late in the half to leave just five points between the teams at half time, 0-11 to 0-6.

Paul Kelly pointed another free half a minute into the second half to cut the lead further but Bernard Allen was quickly out to meet a ball out of defence and add another point for the Gaels. Paul Kelly then pointed two '65's in quick succession and the gap was down to three points in the ninth minute of the half.

Eoin Murphy responded with a Brosna Gaels free and Gary Larkin quickly added another to steady the ship. Sub Steven Buckley was only on the field less than a minute when he aded another point and Eoin Muprhy pointed another free to stretch the lead to seven points at the midway point of the second half.

Tullamore then grabbed a lifeline when an effort from Thomas Grace was saved but Cillian Martin gathered the rebound and his deflected shot ended up in the net. Brosna Gaels responded with a good point from Bernard Allen and Eoin Murphy added another from a free.

With eight minutes left the evergreen Shane Kelly drilled a shot from 20m on the right low to the Brosna Gaels net and the gap was back to three points. Seanie Farrell responded for Brosna Gaels but two Paul Kelly frees and another point from Cathal Mannion had the gap down to a single point with five minutes left. Eoin Murphy then pointed a good free into the breeze from 60m but Paul Kelly responded with another Tullamore free to leave the minimum in it again. Eoin Murphy pointed another long range free and while Tullamore kept pressing for what woul have been a winning goal, Brosna Gaels defended stoutlly and held on to win by two points.

READ NEXT: Burning ambition to avoid one title wonders tag driving Cleary and Shinrone on

MATCH ANALYSIS

THE TEAMS

BROSNA GAELS: Jamie Rigney; James Langan, Sean Hackett, Ciaran Allen; Lee Colgan, Ger Buckley, Sean Og Foley; Declan Buckley, Keith Lawler; Eoin Murphy, Cormac Ryan, Gary Larkin; Bernard Allen, John Egan, Seanie Farrell. Subs. Ciaran Murphy (for Cormac Ryan, 29 mins), Steven Buckley (for John Egan, 41 mins), Hugh Murphy (for Declan Buckley, 47 mins).

TULLAMORE: Arron Hensey; Shane Longworth, Mark Grennan, Eoghain Spain; Eoghan Geoghegan, Robbie Hand, Kevin Mann; William Grace, Cillian Martin; Thomas Grace, Luke Duffy, Gary Leavy; Colm Woodlock, Shane Kelly, Paul Kelly. Subs. Cathal Mannion (for Gary Leavy, half time), Niall McCabe (for Colm Woodlock, half time), Conor Butler (for Eoghain Spain, 46 mins), Ciaran O'Sullivan (for Thomas Grace, 51 mins).

REFEREE: McLoughlin (Shinrone).

MAN OF THE MATCH

There were some impressive performances on both sides but the Brosna Gaels attack impressed with some fine scoretaking. On that basis I have gone with corner forward Bernard Allen who slotted over four points from play. His all round play was excellent as he regularly made himself available to take a delivery out of defence and he linked well with his colleagues in a fine all round display.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Tullamore's Shane Kelly rolled back the years with a terrific second goal for Tullamore. He collected the ball just outside the 20m line to the right of the goals and drilled a terrific low drive into the far corner of the net to give his side a lifeline. Unfortunately for them Brosna Gaels responded well to hold on for victory but his goal was an excellently taken one.

REFEREE WATCH

David McLoughlin handled the game efficiently throughout. He was strong and consistent in his decision making, got all the big calls right and wasn't a factor in the outcome of the contest.

WHAT’S NEXT

Brosna Gaels will return to the intermediate ranks again next year and Tullamore will have to return again to try and bridge the gap to their last Junior title in 1930.

VENUE WATCH

After a long dry spell there was a return to wind and rain on Saturday but the St Brendan's Park pitch held up very well for this game. The host club had all other arrangements for the contest well in place and hosted the game well.

STATISTICS

Wides; Brosna Gaels 5 (2 in first half) Tullamore 10 (7 in first half)

Yellow Cards: Brosna Gaels 2 (Keith Lawler, Eoin Murphy) Tullamore 0

Black Cards: None

Red Cards: None

THE SCORERS

Brosna Gaels; Eoin Murphy (0-8, 0-7 frees), Seanie Farrell, Bernard Allen (0-4 each), Gary Larkin (0-3), Sean Og Foley, Steven Buckley (0-1 each).

Tullamore; Paul Kelly (0-10, 0-8 frees, 0-2 '65s'), Shane Kelly (1-1), Cillian Martin (1-0), Aaron Hensey (free), Cathal Mannion (0-1 each).

READ NEXT: Kavanagh under no illusions about threat Shinrone pose to K-K 3 in a row ambitions