Borris-Ileigh GAA Club Match Report
Borrisoleigh vs Toomevara (North Junior A Championship- Semi Final)
2nd October 2021
By Denis Ryan
Borris-Ileigh met close rivals Toomevara in the first of the North Junior A semi finals in McDonagh Park, Nenagh on Saturday the 2nd of October 2021. In the previous two contests at junior level this year, Borris convincingly won the league game but Toome controlled the group stage game mere weeks ago albeit in must win mindset as opposed to Borris who had already achieved progression. Borris made a few changes to the team with Murty Treacy replacing the injured Jack Prior, Danny Ryan entering at centre forward and Doc O’Connor returning after injury to add sharpshooting to the forward line. The game started with very few chances created as both teams jostled for the physical advantage, Borris doing well in their half back line to win ball and set up Doc to score his first free and the team’s first score of the game. Mixie followed suit soon after following up Thomas Fahy’s well won ball in the defence to maximise the play to increase Borris’ score. Borris made a good run through the Toome defences a few minutes later but a handpass near Fintan Holland was snuffed out by a Toome keeper/defender combo to guide the ball wide. This ended up being Borris’ last scoring opportunity for a few minutes as they struggled to win clean ball in both attacking lines but did remain resolute in the backline to negate any Toome threat and keep the opponent’s scores to a minimum. Shane McCormack stopped the struggle when he won a well won free which was duly slotted by Mixie Carey to open a slight gap and the back line across the board continued to excel. Danny Ryan, in his first start of the campaign made a good catch near the stand side to score a well taken point before Borris put together an excellent interplay score involving Jack Fitz and Cathal Hogan before Shane finished the well worked play. Borris went into the first water break with a nice lead of 5 points to 1. This was a stark contrast to the previous game also against Toome when the team struggled with Toomes attacking physicality but on this occasion stood tall to keep them to a single score whilst generating good scores up front. Borris had a great start to the second quarter when a long ball from centre back Bill O’Connell ended in the danger zone and Fintan Holland worked hardest to finish to the back of the net, a just result for hard graft from the full forward. Borris’ workrate from the first quarter continued in the second and this caused multiple turnovers from Toome, one in particular setting up Mixie for his second free of the game to really extend the lead to 7 points, Doc teaming with Danny to score his first during this period but an overall quiet final few minutes of the quarter as the half time whistle blew and Borris entering the break on top at 1-7 to 3 points. Borris’ workrate throughout the pitch was evident in the quarter as they disallowed Toome any chance to set up their physical forwards with good ball whilst the back line did really well as an unit to keep Toome to 2 points in the quarter, a fantastic effort in a semi-final affair. Borris did extremely well to up the gears from the start after a long few weeks without a game having something on the line.
Shane McCormack started the second half with a cracking score for Borris as they aimed to keep a strangle hold on the game. Mixie scored his third free of the contest after Adam Galvin winning thanks to savage work rate, a staple of the young player’s game on the day. The game then went into a slump with little scoring which was ended with Doc scoring a great point from near the sideline on the stand side. Toome then created a foothold in the game and were threatening the Borris defence more than any other time in the game through direct running and the aforementioned physical attackers getting on ball but as they drew closer to goal, Borris backs stood up with hooking, hustling and blocking to stop any sort of charge. Borris went into the second water break with a commanding lead of 1-10 to 4 points. Adam Galvin epitomised the work rate of the team in the third quarter making life difficult for Toome backs, scores were at a minimum for the team but they did enough to keep Toome to another period of 1 point to stop any sort of comeback. Vinnie Stapleton replaced Fintan Holland at the beginning of the 4th quarter before Toco made two goal line clearances, a sign of Toome threat during the period but the missing of those chances deflated Toome. Borris continued to add to their score with Shane McCormack scoring another from midfield, Mixie scoring free 4 and Vinnie scoring his first from a nice Danny assist. The game was academic by this stage but Borris continued to hurl well and set up further scores with Doc scoring another before being replaced by Seamus Ryan. Mixie scored another from play, Vinnie and Murty scoring carbon copy points from the middle third of the field to increase Borris score to 1-17 which it stayed as the final whistle blew with Borris running out comfortable winners on a scoreline of 1-17 to Toome’s 5 points.
Borris will be delighted to bounce back from two successive defeats, one against today’s opponents with such a strong performance. It was vitally important that the team started with the required intensity and work rate, this was clear to see. Borris performed very strongly in their two back lines to limit Toome to 5 points overall whilst showing efficiency and excellent outside shooting in other periods. Borris will look to reduce the scoring slumps as they head to a final against tough challengers, Nenagh which is scheduled to occur next weekend. Best of luck to both players and management as they prepare for a well earned final berth.
Team abd Scorers:
Jack Bourke
James Kelly, Thomas Fahy, Martin Treacy (0-01)
Maurice Ryan, Bill O’Connell, Matthew Stapleton
Cathal Hogan, Shane McCormack (0-03)
David O’Connor (0-04(0-01f)), Danny Ryan (0-01), Jack Fitzgerald
Micheal Carey (0-06(0-04fs)), Fintan Holland (1-00), Adam Galvin
Subs:
Vinnie Stapleton (0-02) for Fintan Holland
Seamus Ryan for David O’Connor
