Moyne Templetuohy 2-04

Boherlahan Dualla     2-07

By Mark Dunne PRO

Drombane was the venue for this years Mid Tipperary Junior B Football Final where Moyne Templetuohy came up short in a close encounter on Sunday morning last.

Moyne Templetuohy opened the brightest; aided by the breeze they looked dangerous with their opening attacks all resulting on shots on the Boherlahan goals; however it took until the 5th minute for their first score to be registered from the boot of Denis Kelly. Moyne Templetuohy were then dealt a huge blow when wing forward Tomás Egan went off with a shoulder injury. Minutes later, Moyne Templetuohy goalie Richie Foley pulled of a super save and with the resultant counter attack Jason Bergin found the roof of the Boherlahan net to put them 1-01 to 0-00 in front after 12minutes. Boherlahan fought back with Mark Phelan giving them their first score after 13minutes. Moyne then found the front foot again, this time Denis Kelly finding the net after a super pass by Tony Cantwell. Boherlahan then found a bit of rhythm scoring the next three points with Denis Kelly clawing one back from a free. Boherlahan got the last score of the half thanks to the boot of Mark Phelan to leave the score 2-02 to 0-05 points at the break.

When play resumed after the break Boherlahan took the initiative with full forward Lawrence Hickey getting the visitors to within two points of Moyne with 2 minutes gone. The second half did not produce much in the way of scores but the work rate of both teams was evident throughout. Conditions didn’t help proceedings as both teams found it difficult to come to grips with the slippery conditions and as result the free count was quite high for both sides. However eight minutes from time and with the score delicately poised at 2-04 to 0-06, Boherlahan found the back of the Moyne Templetuohy net despite another fantastic save by Richie Foley. Boherlahan now with their tails up searched desperately for an equalising score. Referee Michael Heffernan then awarded Boherlahan a free 45m out, free taker Mark Phelan stepped up and the resultant free dropped short but it was a Boherlahan man who reacted the quickest getting a crucial touch to send the ball into the back of the Moyne Templetuohy net. With time almost up Moyne Templetuohy searched desperately for scores but they just never came. A few wayward passes added with the difficult conditions made scores hard to get. Then with time up Boherlahan wing forward Colm O’Dwyer got the insurance score which saw Boherlahan Dualla crowned Mid Tipperary Junior B Football Champions for 2016. Despite a heart-breaking loss Moyne Templetuohy can be very proud of their football efforts for 2016. A Minor Football Final, an Intermediate County Semi-Final and Mid Junior Final goes to show what advances have been made in football this year. Huge thanks must go to Kieran Healy, Tom Hassett, Tom Guilfoyle and William Maher who have put in Trojan effort this year with regards to football. The future most certainly is very bright for our footballers and we look forward to 2017 already.

Team and scores: Richie Foley, Brian Fanning, Cathal Ely, Mark Ryan, Sean Maloney, Ronan Ely, Eoin Gorman, Jason Bergin (1-00), Eoin Ryan, Tom Egan, Tony Cantwell, James Moloney, Chris Lawlor, Denis Kelly (1-01, 0-03 frees) and Mark Kelly. Subs: Aidan Kelly for Tom Egan, Padraig Costigan for Mark Kelly, Enda Everard for Aidan Kelly and John Butler for Chris Lawlor.

Referee: Michael Heffernan (Moycarkey Borris)