Table-toppers Cashel finish group stages of Tipperary championship with a flourish
Spirited Roscrea fightback is held at arm’s length
Cashel King Cormacs 1-30 Roscrea 3-21
A spirited rally late on came up short for Roscrea, as they went down to Cashel King Cormacs in this FBD Insurance Senior Hurling Championship round 3, group 3 game at Páirc Shíleáin Templemore on Saturday evening.
This was a game that Roscrea will feel that they should have got something more from, as for long periods they matched their West opponents in all departments, except on the scoreboard, especially over the opening thirty minutes, where their accuracy was far from consistent. During that first half they hit 1-13 but were also off target on numerous occasions and missed at least six or seven what looked like scorable chances.
Before this game the destiny of both teams was known, with Cashel heading to the quarter-finals while Roscrea were destined for a relegation semi-final. Any thoughts that this “dead rubber” would be a tame affair were quickly forgotten as Cashel hit the ground running and had two points on the board inside forty seconds, with the opener coming from the stick of midfielder Conor O’Dwyer just seven seconds following the throw-in.
By and large this was a free flowing contest, with both sides showing a lot of skill throughout. Cashel raced into a four-point advantage early on, before Roscrea got to the pitch of the game. Cashel opened up a nine-point advantage following a Davy McGrath goal after 24 minutes, but Roscrea finished strongly with a goal on the stroke of half time from corner forward Shane Fletcher, to cut the deficit to six at the short whistle.
Following the restart, Roscrea had the better of the exchanges during the opening ten minutes, cutting the lead to four points and also bringing the best from Aaron Browne in the Cashel goal. They had the deficit down to three with six minutes remaining before Cashel hit a purple patch, firing over six points on the bounce, before Roscrea hit back with two late goals.
Cashel were quickly out of the blocks when midfielder Conor O’Dwyer split the posts after just seven seconds. Devon Ryan had doubled this advantage inside forty seconds before O’Dwyer was again on target after two minutes. Devon Ryan doubled his tally before Luke Cashin got Roscrea moving from a placed ball. Evan Fitzpatrick cut the deficit to two after five minutes with a well-taken point.
Roscrea were probably caught with the swiftness of the Cashel start, failing to reach the intensity of the game early on. Ger Browne fired over the first of his five points from open play and Eoghan Connolly added a long range effort from a placed ball.
Roscrea were finding it difficult to get through the Cashel half back line of the Connolly brothers, Eoghan and Ronan and Kieran O’Dwyer and opted to shoot from distance, with limited results. Evan Fitzpatrick hit his second of the evening before Devon Ryan and Luke Cashin traded placed balls. Ger Browne put four between the sides before Cashel had a let-off when a blistering shot from Luke Cashin on twelve minutes came back off the crossbar and was scrambled away to safety.
Leigh Loughnane was one of the few Roscrea forwards to find the target from distance and hit three minors in a seven-minute spell. Cathal Quinn found the target before Devon Ryan hit three on the bounce, including two from placed balls. Conor Dooley pulled one back for the North side before Ger Browne fired over his third.
Oisin O’Donoghue and Darragh Tynan traded points before Devon Ryan set up Ross Bonnar, while Alan Tynan kept Roscrea in touch after an interchange with Evan Fitzpatrick. During this period the wides were also building up for Roscrea, as their shooting from distance let them down.
The opening goal came six minutes before the interval when Davy McGrath was first to react to a save by Enda Moloney in the Roscrea goal, and blasted low from close-in. Leigh Loughnane found the target for a fourth time, before Ger Browne cancelled that out as Cashel stretched their lead out to nine. With four minutes remaining Shane Fletcher took advantage of a hopping ball on the hard surface to beat Aaron Browne and late points from Luke Cashin left six between the sides at the break, Cashel 1-19, Roscrea 1-13.
After the restart Roscrea had the better of the opening exchanges with Darragh Tynan, Cashin from a free and Dan Ryan all finding the target. Cathal Quinn eased Cashel’s advantage back out to four before Conor Dooley’s low goal-bound shot was saved by Aaron Browne at the expense of a 65, which yielded nothing. Connolly then got what was the score of the game, when he put over from a sideline cut from out around midfield.
Roscrea hit back with four unanswered points in a seven minute spell, from Leigh Loughnane, Shane Fletcher and two from placed balls from Luke Cashin, cutting the deficit to three with six minutes remaining.
Cashel’s reply was swift and lethal, with six points in five minutes before Roscrea struck with two late goals, from a Luke Cashin twenty metre free and a second from Shane Fletcher.
Cashel, who topped the group, will now advance to the quarter finals, while Roscrea head to a relegation semi final.
Scorers: Cashel King Cormacs: Devon Ryan (0-7, 4f), Davy McGrath (1-1), Ger Browne (0-4), Oisin O’Donoghue (0-4), Cathal Quinn (0-4), Eoghan Connolly (0-3, 1f, 1x65, 1sl),Shane Neville (0-2), Conor O’Dwyer (0-2),Ross Bonnar (0-1), Denis O’Callaghan (0-1), Ronan Connolly (0-1).
Roscrea: Luke Cashin (1-7, 1-6 f, 1x65), Shane Fletcher (2-2, 1f), Leigh Loughnane (0-5), Darragh Tynan (0-2), Evan Fitzpatrick (0-2), Dan Ryan (0-1), Alan Tynan (0-1), Conor Dooley (0-1).
Cashel King Cormacs; Aaron Browne, Conn Bonnar, Nathan Ryan, Colm Ryan, Ronan Connolly, Eoghan Connolly (captain), Kieran O’Dwyer, Conor O’Dwyer, Ross Bonnar, Ger Browne, Oisin O’Donoghue, Devon Ryan, Davy McGrath, Cathal Quinn, Shane Neville.
Sub: Denis O’Callaghan for Shane Neville (40).
Roscrea: Enda Moloney, Conor Booth, Michael Campion, Aidan Booth, Darragh Tynan (captain), Conor Phelan, Conor Sheedy, Alan Tynan, Dan Ryan, Leigh Loughnane, Evan Fitzpatrick, Luke Cashin, Shane Fletcher, Conor Dooley, Jack Lee.
Subs: Kenny Lee for Jack Lee (35), Owen Tynan for Conor Phelan (47), Glenn Loughnane for Dan Ryan (55).
Referee: Johnny Dooley (Thurles Gaels).
Player of the Game: Leigh Loughnane (Roscrea).