Éire Óg 2-13 Tinryland 0-7
Éire Óg are back on top in Carlow when they won their 31st senior football championship final at Netwatch Cullen Park on Sunday.
Two goals in the second half clinched the victory after a disappointing first half where both sides took a possession-based and conservative approach.
Tinryland were hoping to make amends having lost in the final to Palatine last year. Their long wait to their last win goes back to 1981. They never looked like contenders here.
Much of the pre-match predictions suggested Tinryland would play a possession game and then drop back in defence when Éire Óg had the ball.
The eventual winners were not that adventurous in the opening half themselves but they went into an early lead with points from Ross Dunphy and Darragh O'Brien. A Paul Broderick free got Tinryland off the mark on 12 minutes.
It was uninspiring stuff. There was little to cheer.
Éire Óg dealt with the only goal chance of the first half when a high delivery asked questions of their defence but keeper, Johnny Furey, made the initial block and a retreating defence cleared.
O’Brien and Dunphy were on the mark again and with two minutes to go to half-time, Conor McGrath landed a Tinryland point. At 0-4 to 0-2 to the eventual winners at the interval, the entertainment value was negligible.
Two O’Brien frees and a Colm Hulton effort stretched the Éire Óg lead out to five by the 38th minute. Tinryland replied with James McGrath and Broderick raising white flags.
The Tinryland threat died almost as quickly as it started. Jordan Morrissey rifled over a point for Éire Óg. Then came the killer blow. When the ball was delivered in to the edge of the small square, the Man of the Match elect, Ross Dunphy flicked home.
Cormac O’Brien had a Tinryland point but they were all but out on their feet by that stage. Jonah Dunne came forward from his full-back position to fire over another Tinryland point. Playing a more expansive role, the losing side were creating openings which they hadn’t done in the opening half.
It was all too little, too late. Éire Óg were not going to lose now. They absorbed the pressure Tinryland put on them. Going into injury time, teenager Josh Brady had his shot blocked on the line. The ball flew into the air and Murtough Ware was one of a number of Éire Óg players who got the final touch.
It was a perfect end of the day for the Ware family where Murtough’s sister, Elaine, was a key figure for the Bennekerry-Tinryland team when they won their county final by beating the holders, Old Leighlin in their championship decider on Saturday.
Éire Óg: Johnny Furey; Cathal Kelly (0-1), Benny Kavanagh, Shane Buggy; Mark Behan, Mark Furey, Diarmaid Ruth; Kelvin Chatten, Jordan Morrissey (0-2); Cormac Mullins, Sean Gannon, Darragh O'Brien (0-4 3fs); Adam McCarron (0-1), Ross Dunphy (1-4), Colm Hulton (0-1).
Subs: Recce Denieffe for Mullins (22), Lee Moore for Ruth (48), Josh Brady for McCarron (55), Murtough Ware (1-0) for Chatten (56), Kieran Nolan for Kelly (59).
Tinryland: Cathal Gaffney; Danny Moran, Jonah Dunne (0-1), Conor Ryan; Niall Lowry, Shane Redmond, Matthew O’Toole; John Murphy, Cormac Walshe; Conor McGrath (0-1), Paddy Regan, Conor O’Toole; Diarmaid Walshe, Paul Broderick (0-2 f mark), Maurice Lawler.
Subs: Mark Mullen for O’Toole (h/t), James McGrath (0-2 1f) for Lawler (34), Cormac O’Brien (0-1) for C McGrath (44), Mark Lawler for C Walshe (46), Shane Webb for Moran (51).
Referee: Paud O’Dwyer (Palatine)
