Graigue Ballycallan 3-15 Tullogher Rosbercon 3-9
Tullogher Rosbercon made the long journey up to Kilmanagh for this first round Under 15 Roinn B clash. This was a lively and high scoring game between the two teams that contested the U13 League Final in 2020 (Tullogher came out on top that day to win with a last-minute goal)
The game started at a frantic pace and by the 9th minute GBC had entered into an early lead of 4 points to 1. 2 frees from Cormac Neary and one each from play from Eoghan Cahill and Ben McEvoy. Not to be outdone, the Tullogher lads fought back, assisted by a fresh breeze and between the 11th an 16th minute their dynamic duo of Dean Kinsella and Sean Hanrahan scored 1-4 without reply to go 5 points ahead. The two teams battled it out for the next 11 minutes with a series of wides until, in the 27th minute, Eoghan Cahill broke the tackle, cut through the middle and finished accurately into the corner of the net. Cormac Neary closed the first half with a free for GBC leaving the sky blues ahead by a single point at half time 1-6 to 1-5.
The first 8 minutes of the second half were nip and tuck with both sides scoring two points each, the highlight of those was a Tony Butler individual point scored after catching the puck out and racing through the middle. In the 9th minute, the very busy and effective Ben McEvoy (GBC) sent in an excellent cross from the corner to Martin Brennan on the edge of the square who controlled it well and blasted to the back of the net (a move straight from the Milo & Gerry playbook). Tullogher hit back with an excellent goal from Sean Hanrahan who proved to be a real handful for the GBC backs.
Between the 16th and 22nd minute GBC ramped up the pressure. Joss O’Connor the Tullogher goalie pulled of a super save from a Tony Butler shot. Cormac Neary then scored an excellent individual goal as well as a free and 2 65’s in this 6-minute purple patch. This put GBC in a commanding position, 8 points ahead 3-12 to 2-7. Full credit to this plucky Tullogher team, they refused to give in. James Cummins scored a point in the 24th minute from a well worked short free and then Dean Kinsella scored the goal of the game when he solo’d through the GBC defence and sent a rasper to the top of the net. In the last 10 minutes of the game GBC tacked on 4 points to Tullogher’s one despite intense pressure from Tullogher. It should be mentioned that 5 of the Tullogher team had played a school’s game with Good Counsel earlier the same afternoon so it was a credit to them the way they battled during their 2nd full game in 6 hours. They will have a big say in the U15B League and Championship
For GBC: Shane Hogan was very solid on the goal while Robbie Lynch and Michael Tynan were best in defence. Cormac Neary at midfield was excellent from both set pieces and open play. Up front, Eoghan Cahill led the attack and Ben McEvoy was very lively scoring 3 from play. For Tullogher: Dean Kinsella and Sean Hanrahan were outstanding scoring 3-7 between them.
This was a good team effort by GBC to get over a strong Tullogher outfit. A nice result in a week when we laid to rest Pat Hoyne (RIP) former Chairman and founding member of the Club.
GBC Team: 1. Shane Hogan. 2. Robbie Lynch. 3. Oran Hoyne. 4. Sean O’Halloran. 5. Shane Cody. 6. Michael Tynan. 7. Reggie Carthy. 8. Cormac Neary. 9. Frank McCluskey. 10. Tony Butler (C). 11. Eoghan Cahill. 12. Keelan Lynch. 13. Cian Ronan. 14. Ben McEvoy. 15. Sean East. 16. Aidan Ging. 17. Martin Brennan. 18. Will Cody. 19. Donnacha Kenny. 20. David Walton. 21. Billy Ronan. 22. Darragh Bourke.
Scorers GBC: Cormac Neary 1-8 (1-1 from play), Eoghan Cahill 1-3 (1-2 from play), Ben McEvoy 0-3, Martin Brennan 1-0, Tony Butler 0-1.
Scorers Tullogher Rosbercon: Sean Hanrahan 2-3, Dean Kinsella 1-4, Sean Walsh 0-1, James Cummins
Report by Padraig McCluskey