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Borris-leigh GAA Club Match Report
Borris-leigh vs Thurles Sarsfields (FBD County League Final 2021)
25th July 2021
By Denis Ryan
Borris-Ileigh travelled to the Ragg on Sunday the 25th of July to contest for the FBD County Senior Hurling League against Thurles Sarsfields. Having entered the contest unbeaten so far during the campaign and fielding a very close to full strength team, Borris began the game on the perfect note by a long ball into the full forward line beginning with a Sarsfields back but not for long thanks to some JD hustling and hard work which resulted in Jerry Kelly getting possession and finishing to the back of Sars net to open Borris’ account for the day. Tipp u20s representatives then linked up when Kevin Maher found JD who was about to go in on goal before a foul allowed Eddie Ryan to start his free taking duties with an opening placed ball score to add to the goal. Borris had settled really well in their back line and had very good composure to find free men in the middle third of the pitch which led to two long range points first by Tom Foot and then Conor Kenny. Conor doubled his scores thanks to a K Maher assist to extend the lead but Sars then began a period of control before the water break scoring 1-2 without reply. James McCormack made a very good save from the initial shot but unfortunately a Sars forward was quickest to react to the rebound. Thurles’ flurry of scores led to an even scoreline of 1-4 each at the water break. Borris were in control for the majority of the quarter but just a lapse for a short few minutes opened the door for Sars to claw back the early deficit. Borris came out for the second quarter with a higher urgency, brought Jerry Kelly out to the middle of the field to open space for the danger inside which was proven when Eddie Ryan slotted free number 2 and followed it up by reacting quickly to savage Jerry work rate in the ruck to give Eddie the space to slot away with a good finish. Borris put together 1-1 in a very short period of time and used the ball far better during this period and playing through the lines frequently leading to two excellent points, one from K Maher over his shoulder after a good run and Jerry Kelly getting space on the left hand side to slot over his first point of the game. Borris went on a 1-3 to nothing run before Thurles began chipping away at the deficit with excellent placed ball shooting from corner forward Conor Lanigan. The game then went into an inconsistent phase of Borris on top and then Sars on top but JD was able to get some freedom to score his first of the game and Shane Kenny secured a great high catch to set Eddie up for another score. Conor Kenny drifted out the field and put over an excellent score from midfield to make the scoreline 2-10 to 1-7 before Thomas Fahy intercepted a ball in the half back line and drilled it down to Conor Kenny who made a great catch, quick transfer around the defender and a great finish across the goal to illustrate Borris dominance of the quarter. Borris went into the half time break with a commanding 9 point lead on a scoreline of 3-10 to 1-7. Borris were the far better team in play for the vast majority of the half, mixing up their play with short puckouts, long range shooting and nice interplay. Sars were relying significantly on sharp shooting from Conor Lanigan on frees but Borris were well worth their advantage at the break.
Paddy Stapleton replaced Niall Kenny as the second half began with Eddie slotting over free 3 with steady shooting but Thurles were looking more resolute in their half back line and getting some space at different times in their forward line. Borris were continuing to commit fouls allowing Lanigan to reduce the deficit with Borris struggling to get a foothold in the game. Jody Harkin replaced Tom Foot in the middle of the park and Eddie was able to finish free 4 but Borris only scored 2 points in the 3rd quarter with Sars reducing Borris’ lead from 9 points to 3 at the second water break on a scoreline of 3-12 to 1-15. Sars worked really hard in the quarter to reduce the space around midfield for Borris shooters aswell as cutting down the opportunities for the short puck out but Borris albeit not scoring much looked very solid in their backline shutting down any goal chances for the opposition but needing to improve the tackle to foul ratio.
Borris came out from the water break with a different urgency and thankfully didn’t allow the 3rd quarter to linger by looking more threatening immediately with Shane Kenny winning a good high ball to head for goal, mishit the shot but thankfully Kevin Maher was on hand just outside the square to finish for Borris third goal and reclaim the control of the game. The goal buoyed Borris and really dampened Sars push with further points from Jody Harkin and Eddie’s 5th free extending the lead. Aaron Rabbitte replaced Ray McCormack early in the quarter, Jerry Kelly scoring another point from the left hand side at a tight enough angle and the lead ballooning up to 4-15 as opposed to 1-15 a 3 point advantage extended to 9 again and in short time. Bill O’Connell and Colm Boyle replaced Shane Kenny and Ciaran Cowan respectively, Borris dealing very well with a good barrage of long balls by shielding the ball from the forward and then going again. The game then went into a lull with the game finished as a contest, Bill scoring a well taken shot and Jerry adding to his individual tally before the final whistle went and Borris-Ileigh becoming County League Champions of 2021 on a final scoreline of 4-18 to Thurles Sarsfield’s 1-15.
Borris will be excited by the scoreline they put up in the game despite going through multiple phases of not scoring, 4-18 that included a 3rd period of 2 points should provide high confidence for a forward line that was playing its first game of the year together. They put together very quick scoring bursts on multiple occasions with varied threats up front. Borris will be delighted to see silverware as a return for fielding strong teams throughout the competition and using the platform to test some new players, test new partnerships and some new strategies. They used the league to blood some new players which will only strengthen the squad ahead of a tough schedule and group when championship arrives. Borris appeared in control for the vast majority of the game using good interplay at times, good use of the short puckout and good drifting of their dangerous shooters, one key area to improve is the aforementioned tackle to foul ratio especially with the vital importance of free taking in the club game. If a potential divisional championship doesn’t come to fruition, then the County League is only one of two county trophies available in the Senior calendar so really nice to attain. Congratulations to all players and backroom staff for the commitment, style of hurling and team play which has led to the winning of the league and best of luck with the championship.
Team and Scorers:
James McCormack
Seamus Burke (C) Liam Ryan Thomas Fahy
Sean McCormack Ciaran Cowan Ray McCormack
Tomas Ryan (0-01) Kevin Maher (1-01)
Shane Kenny Conor Kenny (1-03) Niall Kenny
Eddie Ryan (1-07, (0-06fs)) Jerry Kelly (1-03) James “JD” Devaney (0-01)
Subs:
Paddy Stapleton for Niall Kenny
Jody Harkin (0-01) for Tomas Foot
Aaron Rabbitte for Ray McCormack
Colm Boyle for Ciaran Cowan
Bill O’Connell (0-01) for Shane Kenny
