Improved Belmont fall over the line for crucial win as Tullamore rally late

BELMONT flirted with a disastrous defeat before securing a crucial win over an improving Tullamore side in an enthralling Offaly Senior Hurling Championship shootout at Kilcormac on Saturday.

Molloy Environmental Systems Senior Hurling Championship Group 2 Round 3

Belmont 4-14

Tullamore 3-13

The better side by a considerable distance, Belmont were in cruise control when they led by 4-11 to 1-10 inside the last ten minutes. They were worth every single won of that ten point lead at that stage and could have been further clear as they missed a few handy chances.

It was a fair bit of a wake up call for Tullamore who have improved significantly under Shane Hand's management in the past two years, took a big scalp in Shinrone in the first round and ran Ballinamere close in the second round. It was a rich vein of form, suggesting that Tullamore had a decent outside chance of going the whole way but Belmont showed them that they still have plenty of road to travel for a good fifty minutes.

Tullamore do have great resilience and they did really well to get back into contention late on, though Belmont gave them a big helping hand. A Michael Feeney point and a Killian Wynne goal, when he got his hurl to Niall Furlong's half blocked shot, brought the gap down to six points with seven minutes left but there was absolutely no sense of panic among the large Belmont support.

The alarm bells, however, could be heard back in Belmont when Tullamore struck for a second goal immediately. It was a shocking goal from a Belmont perspective with Damien Egan going short with his puckout to Patrick Taaffe. At that stage, the ball should really have been hit as far as he could but Tullamore intercepted and Niall Furlong tapped home the goal.

In the blink of an eye, the gap was three and Diarmuid Egan made it a two point game with four minutes left. It was pure panic stations for Belmont and for a couple of minutes, a calamitious defeat loomed large as their error count crept out of control. David Nally was wide with a good chance, Adam Nugent took the ball off Ronan Flynn's hurl, Paddy Clancy didn't control the ball and then lost sight of it, allowing Tullamore to claim possession and Oisin Kelly barged into Aaron Leavy with a chance of a point in the last few minutes.

It was extraordinary to watch it unfold as Belmont went from being in utter control to living on their wits, their composure out the window. Impressive sub Brian Carroll settled them with a 57th minute point, Mike Fox replied for Tullamore to leave two in it with two minutes left plus three of injury time. Crucially Tullamore didn't score again as Belmont knuckled down and did well to steady the ship. Their physicality was important as they stopped Tullamore running at them and Paddy Clancy stepped up to the plate with two crucial points as it went into injury time.

That left Tullamore needing two scores to salvage a result and one of them had to be a goal. Shane Dooley went for the net from a 21 metre free but it was comfortably saved and a very relieved Belmont held on for the win they so richly deserved.

They would have had only themselves to blame if they hadn't won but they fully deserved the points and with four from two games, they are well set up before they play their big games against Shinrone and Ballinamere. Tullamore had turned a big corner this year and were full value for their first round win over Shinrone but they were fighting an uphill battle here the whole way. They have injury problems and lost James Houlihan for this but didn't play well on the day and if they had rescued even a draw, they would have been “stealing” a point.

Belmont were quietly impressive for 50 minutes plus and would have been pleased with their performance and hurling, if not their shooting and finishing. They had eight wides in both halves and several of these were fairly straightforward chances that should have been points. Even with that, it wouldn't have mattered only for them falling to pieces for those crazy few minutes near the end.

It was a very enjoyable game to watch with two forwards, David Nally and Shane Dooley dominating the first half. Nally caused the Tullamore defence fierce problems and his tenth minute goal helped them to a 1-3 to 0-2 lead. They were 1-5 to 0-3 up after thirteen minutes but Tullamore fought hard and a Michael Feeney point and Shane Dooley free brought it back to three.

Adam Nugent got Belmont's second goal in the 20th minute and Nally's free made it 2-6 to 0-5. Tullamore got back into it thanks to 39 year old Dooley. He got a point from play and then struck a goal of stunning quality in the 23rd minute, blasting to the roof of the net after Conor Grennan was overturned.

Belmont's reply was very impressive with Paddy Clancy racing in for an excellent goal as the winners led by 3-6 to 0-7 at half time.

Tullamore had the gap back to four, 1-9 to 3-7 six minutes after the restart but Belmont played some very effective hurling after this. Nally pointed a “65” after Oisin Kellly's less than convincing shot on goal was saved. Belmont scented blood and the Tullamore full back line were in bother every time they ran at them. They were fortunate that David Nally over carried with a goal chance in the 42nd minute but there was no let off when Nally ran down their throats a minute later, off loading to Brian Carroll who made it 4-8 to 1-9.

Patrick Taaffe and David Nally added points to make it 4-10 to 1-9 with thirteen minutes left. Ger Crowe and Oisin Kelly exchanged points to leave ten in it two minutes later and even though Belmont had a couple of really poor wides in this spell, they were in cruise control until those two games changed everything – and they did well to rally and get the win when Tullamore mounted their late fightback.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Paddy Clancy (Belmont): Paddy Clancy is the selection, just edging out David Nally. Clancy scored 1-3 from play and did a lot of hurling. His first half goal was worth the trip to Kilcormac and his closing two points got them across the line as he delivered when things were unravelling.

David Nally is Belmont's most important player and while he will be disappointed at some of the wides he hit, he delivered as usual and was pivotal to their win. Tullamore just couldn't live with him, though Michael Feeney did reduce his influence when he went back onto him in the second half – Belmont's forward Mark Egan was stretchered off with a feared broken ankle before half time.

Leon Fox put in a great shift in defence, putting in some inspirational hits and clearances. He was another who stood up when that late pressure came to bear while Patrick Taaffe handled a lot of ball at midfield.

Shane Dooley was Tullamore's key man while Mike Fox oozed quality at midfield and Cormac Egan toiled hard without getting into open ground with any regularity as Belmont worked hard to close him down. Michael Feeney did well when he came in but as a unit, Tullamore did not play well enough to get a result – they operated a sweeper system with Ger Crowe fulfilling that role but struggled to cope at times with Belmont's power and pace.

THE SCORERS

Belmont: David Nally 1-5 (1f and 1 '65'), Paddy Clancy 1-3, Brian Carroll 1-1, Adam Nugent 1-0, Oisin Kelly 0-2, Patrick Taaffe, Ronan Flynn, Mark Egan (1 '65') 0-1 each.

Tullamore: Shane Dooley 1-7 (4f), Killian Wynne and Niall Furlong 1-0 each, Michael Feeney 0-2, Niall Houlihan, Ger Crowe, Mike Fox, Diarmuid Egan 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

BELMONT: Damien Egan; Aron McCabe, Ciaran Cahill,Darragh Flunn; Leon Fox, Conor Grennan, Jack Clancy; Patrick Taaffe, Ronan Flynn; Oisin Kelly, Mark Egan, David Kelly; Adam Nugent, Paddy Clancy, David Nally. Subs – Brian Carroll for Mark Egan, inj. (30 + 4m), Colin Egan for Grennan (37m), Conor Butler for Nugent (57m),

TULLAMORE: Aaron Hensey; Jack Daly, Dylan Hensey, Kevin Waters; Luke Egan, Niall Houlihan, Aaron Leavy; Mike Fox, Cormac Egan; Peter Fox, Diarmuid Egan, Martin Keogh; Niall Furlong, Shane Dooley, Ger Crowe. Subs – Michael Feeney for Luke Egan, inj. (9m), Killian Wynne for Daly, inj. (26m).

Referee – Adam Kinahan, Clodiagh Gaels.

REFEREE WATCH

Adam Kinahan refereed it very well. He was in control and there were no big talking points. David Nally was a bit harshly pulled for a throw ball near half time but Belmont got away with a couple of suspect looking ones in the second half so these balanced out. Kinahan's refereeing contributed to the entertainment value in this game.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

The two injury time points Paddy Clancy struck got Belmont across the line and without them, Tullamore may have snatched a draw.

VENUE WATCH

Kilcormac-Killoughey were perfect hosts as usual and their main ground in Kilcormac was in great order.

WHAT'S NEXT

Belmont travel to Shinrone and Tullamore meet Lusmagh in round 4.

STATISTICS

Wides: Belmont – 16 (8 in first half); Tullamore – 12 (7 in first half).

Yellow cards: Tullamore – 0; Belmont – 5 (Patrick Taaffe, Jack Clancy, Ronan Flynn, Oisin Kelly, Darragh Flynn).

Black cards: 0

Red cards: 0