Roscrea defeat Portroe to win U17B North title in a classic in Borrisokane

North Tipperary U17B Hurling Championship Final

Roscrea 2-18

Portroe 3-13

By James Hayden

A resilient Roscrea side staved off a strong second-half Portroe rally to claim the North Tipperary U17 ‘B’ hurling title following a thrilling encounter at a balmy Borrisokane on Saturday afternoon last.

Although reduced to 14 men just before the break Roscrea fought a hugely admirable rearguard action as Portroe whittled down a nine-point deficit to draw level right on the stroke of full-time. 

Roscrea rallied once more though in time added on with ace free-taker Liam Dunphy stepping up to flight over a well-struck free from the toes of the stand sideline before a late Roscrea surge saw Dunphy flick the sliotar one-handed over the crossbar to seal a famous victory for the boys in red and white.

Portroe were outstanding in the second half which saw them eradicate a nine-point Roscrea lead after the boys in red took a 2-10 to 1-7 interval lead to the dressing room before quickly adding three further points on the bounce to lead by nine in the 35th minute. 

The Port’ boys displayed determination and drive beyond their years to reel in Roscrea and had a refereeing decision or two went their way in time added on they could have indeed pipped Ros' at the death.

Portroe were undoubtedly the physically stronger side but Roscrea displayed speed, class and guile to fashion several very impressive scores and the Liam Dunphy-managed side really should have led by more at the break with five wides early in the half taking from their interval tally.

The loss of midfielder, Calum Mitchell to a straight red card minutes before the break following an altercation with Jack Quinn also forced Ros’ to re-jig their setup at the break with Aaron Moloney drafted in for Sean Nolan in a bid to shore up their defence and combat their numerical disadvantage.

With no real breeze to contend with Roscrea got off to a lightning start with Oisin O’Shea slaloming his way through the Port’ defence to rattle the back of the Port’s net after just 25 seconds. 

Portroe’s response was impressive with three points on the bounce from Robert Horan and Mattie Madden (free) before Madden scorched a sublime sideline cut straight between the uprights. Roscrea edged ahead again with efforts from Jack Walsh and Liam Dunphy before Port’s 65 from the stick of Mattie Madden reduced the gap to a solitary point with 13 minutes elapsed.

Aaron O’Donoghue and Calum Mitchell opened out the gap to three once more but the hooking and blocking on both sides was a joy to behold with Lima Dunphy epitomizing his side’s efforts with a lung-bursting chase to get a hook in on Port’s Craig McKenna. Roscrea led by three once more in 22 minutes following a well-taken Michael Dooley point before Roscrea bagged their second goal following a searing Oisin O’Shea run straight through the heart of the Port’ defence. 

O’Shea shipped a fair bit of contact on his way through before handing off to Declan Walsh on his shoulder and Walsh finished with the necessary aplomb past the advancing Robert Seymour in the Port’ goal.

Portroe responded in kind though with a cracking 26th-minute Mattie Madden goal bringing the Port’ boys right back to within three points again but the closing stages of the half saw Ros’ tag on four further points before the break as Port’s defence struggled to deal with Roscrea’s marauding midfield and attack, and they deservedly took a 2-10 to 1-7 lead to the dressing room at the break.

Roscrea continued where they left off with Liam ‘Boomer’ Dunphy booming over a long point after two minutes before adding a well-struck free minutes after  Oisin O’Shea chipped in with Roscrea’s 12th point on 35 minutes.

At this juncture, the game appeared to be slipping from Port’s grasp but their backroom team quickly enforced a number of positional changes and it had the necessary effect with two efforts from Mattie Madden and another from Adam O’Callaghan reducing the gap to six by the 42nd minute. 

Seconds later Iarlaith Conroy set up Dylan Gamble for Port’s second goal and suddenly it was game on. Aaron O’Donoghue responded with a blazing effort for Ros’ from close-range when a goal seemed the odds on result.

Roscrea’s Jack Walsh put five between the sides on 51 minutes before a sublime Mattie Madden sideline cut coupled with a close-range Alex Darham goal handed Portroe the necessary lifeline, 3-12 to 2-16. Port’s scorer-in-chief Madden arrowed over a 59th-minute effort to bring the Port’ upsides before a ding-dong battle in over six minutes of time added on saw the boys in red prevail for a famous victory.

There was some late drama though when Portroe were denied deep in injury time after James Seymour’s effort was blocked by Aaron Tooher in the Roscrea goal only for the sliotar to cannon off the crossbar and drop straight on the goal line.

Port’s forwards descended like vultures on a carcass in a bid to force the sliotar into the net but Roscrea’s defence somehow managed to avert what would certainly have been a match-winning score.

Both sides deserve huge credit for such an entertaining clash with Liam Dunphy, Oisin O’Shea, Jack Moloney, Aaron O’Donoghue, Michael Loughnane, and Jack Walsh to the fore for Roscrea while Mattie Madden, Tristan Howard, Liam O’Callaghan, Dylan Gamble and Robert Horan impressed for Portroe.

Roscrea: Aaron Tooher; Jack Byrne, Michael Loughnane, Charlie Carroll; Aaron O’Donoghue (0-2), Matthew Moore, Luke Murphy; Jack Moloney, Calum Mitchell (0-1); Liam Dunphy (0-8, 0-6f), Oisin O’Shea (1-3), Sean Nolan; Michael Dooley (0-1), Declan Walsh (1-0); Jack Walsh (0-2).

Subs used: Aaron Moloney (0-1) for Nolan (HT); Jack Hayes for Moore (46).

Portroe: Robert Seymour; Craig McKenna, Tristan Howard, Oisin O’Driscoll; Shane Quinn, Liam O’Callaghan, Jack Quinn; Tom Kirby, Dylan Gamble (1-0); Alex Darham (1-0), Robert Horan (0-1), Adam O’Callaghan (0-1); Mattie Madden (1-11, 0-6f, 0-1 65’, 0-2 sl-cuts), Iarlaith Conroy, James Seymour.

No subs used.

Referee: Christy McLoughlin (Nenagh Éire Óg)