S.F.L. Division 1 and Andy Murphy shield Final
Tinryland 1-14 Palatine 0-15
Tinryland won the league points and regained their own Andy Murphy shield after a closely fought encounter in Bennekerry on Friday evening. The early stages were dominated by the winners but they found it hard to hit the target and after 5 wides in the opening 4 minutes they eventually got on the scoreboard with a Conor Carew point. In the 6th minute the same player slotted over a beauty of a point following great play by Danny Moran. Tinryland continued to enjoy much of the possession up to the 10th minute when Palatine opened their account via a Shane O’Neill free and the home side were back on level terms one minute later when full forward Fionn O’Toole raised a white flag.
Shane O’Neill put the home team ahead in the 13th minute with a well taken point before Jonah Dunne replied for Tinryland after more good play by Conor Carew.
Shane O’Neill regained the lead briefly for Palatine before the first 2 pointer arrived from a well struck Conor Carew free to put Tinryland ahead once again.
In the 18th minute a great individual run by Diarmaid Walshe resulted in a Tinryland point that could easily have gone to the net and when Cormac O’Brien scored another minor for the visitors the men in blue and white were 3 points clear with 10 minutes remaining in the opening half.
Palatine then upped the ante scoring 3 unanswered points from Stephen Reilly, Shane O’Neill and Brian McMahon which levelled matters with 5 minutes left before half time.
Tinryland moved upfield then and after a scramble near the Palatine goal Peter Hennessy got his boot to the ball which hit the net to give Tinryland a 3 point lead. The final act of the opening half was a Palatine point from James Cranny to leave the interval scoreboard reading Tinryland 1-7 Palatine 0-8.
When referee Marion Hayden re-started proceedings both teams rang the changes with Eoin Ryan coming in for Palatine and James McGrath entering the fray for Tinryland. Palatine reduced the margin to the minimum with another Shane O’Neill point in the 38th minute and the home side were back on level terms when corner forward Andrew Kehoe pointed one minute later.
Another moment of brilliance from Diarmaid Walshe edged Tinryland ahead once again with 20 minutes remaining but back came palatine with a brilliant Cillian Duff point.
James McGrath who was making an impact since his introduction got in on the scoring act to score two quick points that edged Tinryland 2 points ahead once again and when Jonah Dunne scored a wonderful point mid-way through the 2nd half Tinryland looked well on their way to a second league win this season. Palatine had other ideas however and full forward Fionn O’Toole popped up to reduce the margin to 2 points once again as Tinryland introduced Lorcan O’Connor into the action.
Tinryland were then dealt a blow when their best player Conor Carew was shown a harsh red card after a strong challenge that many felt only warranted a yellow. With numerical advantage Palatine immediately went on the offensive in an effort to eat into Tinryland’s 3- point advantage.
Tinryland sub. Sean Murphy was only seconds on the field when he slotted over a point to give 14 man Tinryland some breathing space and despite a Shane O’Neill 2 pointer and an Eoin Ryan point for Palatine Tinryland had the final say with another brilliant Diarmaid Walhe point after great work by Michael Hosey to give the visitors a two- point advantage when referee Hayden sounded the full time whistle.
Tinryland’s next league game will be on Friday 11th April at home to Old Leighlin while Palatine will be at home to Clonmore on the same date.
After the game John Murphy presented the Andy Murphy memorial shield to Tinryland captain Danny Moran.
Tinryland: Chris Townsend, Danny Moran, Conor Ryan, Cian McGuire, Jonah Dunne 0-2, Niall Lowry, Michael Hosey, Diarmaid Walshe 0-3, Shane Redmond, Peter Hennessy 1-0, Cormac Walshe, Mark Lawlor, Bobby Doyle, Conor Carew 0-5, Cormac O’Brien 0-1. Subs: James McGrath 0-2, Lorcan O’ Connor, Sean Murphy 0-1.
Palatine: Dylan Doyle, Jack Doyle, Aidan Ryan, Sean Woods, Sean Walsh, Shane O’Neill 0-7, Padraic Kelly, Finbarr Kavanagh, Cillian Duff 0-1, James Cranny 0-1, Stephen Reilly 0-1, Bryan McMahon 0-1, Andrew Kehoe 0-1, Fionn O’Toole 0-2, Jamie Kenny. Subs: Eoin Ryan 0-1 , Oran O’Boyle, Sam McHugh.
Referee Marion Hayden (Eire Og)
