Powerful Boherlahan Dualla book U21B final date after defeat of Burgess

FBD County U21B Hurling Championship Semi-Final 

Boherlahan 0-18 

Burgess 0-15

By Liam Hogan

A stronger and more physical Borherlahan side came from behind to claim a deserved three-point win over Burgess in the FBD County U21B Hurling Championship semi-final played at Saint Michael’s Park, Toomevara last Sunday afternoon. 

Having trailed by six points early in the second half Boherlahan, helped by the strong diagonal breeze, slowly whittled down this Burgess lead and eventually took charge in injury time with the help of a four-point unanswered run with full forward Ben Kirby and the very accurate Dylan Fogarty on long-range frees to claimed their victory. 

Burgess did have their chances to stay afloat when they missed ideal chances of scoring but in fairness, they had needed a vigilant goalkeeper in Oisin Tucker to deny Dylan Fogarty from scoring a penalty with a great save while earlier in the half their wing forward Jack O’Sullivan denied Tomas Breen with a certain goal. 

Burgess had a diagonal stiff breeze at their aid in the first half as they played into the village end and were in front just after twenty seconds when David Nealon rounded his marker before shortening his grip and floating the ball over the bar. 

Kieran Grace added to the Burgess lead with back-to-back points before Ben Kirby’s point from the left wing got Boherlahan off the mark in the sixth minute.

Two minutes later Burgess replied with an Eoin Grace point, his first of four in the opening half as Burgess looked to be on a mission following their Divisional win last weekend. While they had the best of the possession game, the Burgess defence were caught off guard but Oisin Tucker was equal to a shot at goal by Ryan Bargary before centre forward David Clarke had Boherlahan’s second point in the eleventh minute. 

A quick response by Burgess saw Eoin Grace score back-to-back points with the second coming from an error by a Boherlahan defender after a short puckout strategy failed to work. Ben Kirby’s free had the game at double scores but Burgess were the better-looking side and Michael Ryan’s accurate free from halfway plus another Eoin Grace point had Burges 0-8 to 0-3 in front after nineteen minutes. 

More danger in front of the Burgess goal came to an end when Ben Kirby pointed a close-in free and he repeated the same in the 23rd minute before Burgess entered the opposition territory and resumed their polished play by finished the half with two more points with the impressive Eoin Grace and David Nealon on target. Half-time Burgess 0-8 Boherlahan 0-5.   

Scores from frees continued to dominate the opening minutes of the second half with Burgess centre-back Michael Ryan landing a long-range free after just thirty-three seconds. In response, the Boherlahan wing-back Dylan Fogarty was equally impressive with a placed ball to cut the deficit in the 33rd minute before the Burgess lead was back to six when David Nealon scored his fourth point (third free) with four minutes gone. 

Scores from long-range frees were becoming the norm especially for Boherlahan and in the 39th minute, Dylan Fogarty landed his second to make it 0-12 to 0-7. 

Meanwhile, David Nealon was uncharacteristic in missing a close-in free and Michael Ryan was another to be off target from further out the field before the restart led to a quick score from Boherlahan midfielder Charlie Ryan in the 41st minute. 

Boherlahan were growing stronger and in the 42nd minute they looked set to score a goal when the unmarked Tomas Breen had only the goalkeeper to beat but Jack Sullivan was brave with a timely block.  

Two minutes later Dylan Fogarty cut the deficit to three with a successful 90-metre free. Burgess responded when Nealon made amends in the 46th minute but Boherlahan continued to increase the tempo as two Ben Kirby scores, the second from play, had the deficit down to two as the game approached the 50th minute.

Burgess tried to respond but the Boherlahan defence were now coming to grips with the Burgess attack as the stronger backline were winning most of the fifty-fifty ball and it must be added that the North champions had gone defensive with Boherlahan defenders winning possession in their half and unmarked. 

The increase of the wide tally was no help to Burgess either as Michael Ryan missed another lengthy free in the 51st minute. 

The response from Boherlahan could have been highly significant as a lengthy clearance from the Boherlahan defence led to them winning a penalty in the 54th minute. Up stepped Dylan Fogarty but Burges keeper produced a great save at the expense of a 65 which Dylan Fogarty converted leaving the minimum between the teams.

A quick response by the excellent Kieran Grace restored life in Burgess but another Fogarty free left the minimum between the sides for the second time in the half. The same pattern continued with Nealon converting a free, which was the last Burgess score, only to see Ben Kirby score a great point from the left wing after an assist from Eoin McLoughney. 

The next score was vital and wing-back Eugene O’Dwyer made his mark with two quick points, the second in added time. 

The winds of change were certainly favouring the Mid Tipp side now and they had ease in getting the deliveries through a weakening Burgess side as Dylan Fogarty capped a great day with two more long-range frees increasing their winning margin to three as the final whistle sounded in the 64th minute. 

Thanks to a very strong backline Boherlahan finished the better side and won. Dylan Fogarty displayed coolness with his accuracy from long-range frees. 

The wing-back did well from play as did his fellow half-backs Ger O’Dwyer and Eugene O’Dwyer in front of a tight marking full backline of Ross Darcy, Ned Ryan and Brian Gleeson. Up front Boherlahan had to depend on Ben Kirby at full forward with Ryan Bargary also catching the eye. 

For Burgess, Kieran Grace played himself almost to a standstill at midfield. Eoin Grace was man of the match up to the half-hour mark but his presence somewhat died away in the second half. Elsewhere, Liam Grace, Tomas Ryan, Conor Cooney, Jack O’Sullivan, Joe O’Dwyer and David Nealon tried best.  

Scorers: Boherlahan: Ben Kirby (0-7, 0-4f), Dylan Fogarty (0-6, 0-5f, 0-1’65), Eugene O’Dwyer 0-2, David Clarke, Ryne Bargary, Charlie Ryan all 0-1 each. 

Burgess: David Nealon (0-6, 0-4f), Eoin Grace 0-4, Kieran Grace 0-3, Michael Ryan 0-2f. 

Boherlahan: Cormac Gleeson; Ross Darcy, Ned Ryan, Brian Gleeson; Eugene O’Dwyer, Ger O’Dwyer, Dylan Fogarty; Jake Canny, Charlie Ryan; Patrick Gahan, David Clarke, Eoin McLoughney; Robbie Darcy, Ben Kirby, Ryan Bargary. 

Subs used: Tomas Breen for N Ryan (28); Sean Bourke for Moloughney (58). 

Burgess: Oisin Tucker; Conor Grace, Aidan O’Dwyer, Diarmuid O’Donoghue; Liam Grace, Michael Ryan, Tomas Ryan; Conor Cooney, Kieran Grace; Michael Ryan, Eoin Grace, Jack O’Sullivan; Joe O’Dwyer, Luke Conneally, David Nealon.

Subs used: Conor Ryan for L Grace (56).

Referee: Donie Horan (Éire Óg Annacarty)