Borris-Ileigh GAA Club Match Report
Borris-Ileigh vs Toomevara (Hibernian Inn North Senior Championship- Quarter Final)
26th June 2022
Borris-Ileigh starting lineup
James McCormack
Seamus Burke Paddy Stapleton Liam Ryan
Sean McCormack Brendan Maher (1pt) (C) Ray McCormack
Dan McCormack (2pts) Kieran Maher
Niall Kenny Jerry Kelly(2pts) Kevin Maher
James “JD” Devaney (2pts) Conor Kenny Eddie Ryan (12pts (10fs) (1 65’)
Tomas Ryan for Kieran Maher
The North Senior Championship returned to action on June 26th 2022 with a rival game between Borris-Ileigh and Toomevara in Macdonagh Park, Nenagh. With both teams reaching the latter stages of the league and local bragging rights at stake, a physical contest was expected. Borris were able to field a near full strength team, the first championship outing for the new management team led by Shane O’Neill. The game began at a good pace with Borris starting the better with a crisp short passing game, Brendan Maher finding Kevin Maher with an aerial pass before Eddie Ryan finished the play for the team’s first score of the game. Borris were getting contrasting luck from the short and long ball game, the short passing working well in the middle third but the final long ball not generating any scoring opportunities and coming back with interest from a resolute Toomevara defence. Borris were complaining of holding from Toome defence which led to the first placed ball success of the game, courtesy of free taker Eddie Ryan. Brendan was involved frequently in the first quarter and looked to have intent to pass through the lines with multiple passes to midfield and Dan McCormack in particular who worked well with fellow midfielder Kieran Maher in the possession game. Borris were struggling to open up the Toom defences however both on the ground ball and aerially, the team relying on another placed ball score this time thanks to Jerry Kelly and a fantastic sideline cut as the team went 3 points to 1 up. Borris forward JD Devaney was looking lively and caught an unlikely catch amongst defenders to score the team’s second score from play before Niall Kenny gathered possession and rampaged towards goal before a signature smash like shot was tapped in by Eddie Ryan but unfortunately a tight square ball decision was taken by the umpires but the consolation of another free for the corner forward, his second in the contest. This led to a 5-2 advantage for the Borris men but the tide quickly turned, a short game that had been working broke down with an increased Toome intensity leading to a turnover and a result of the first green flag of the game and a big boost to the Toome confidence. The goal led to a big chance in momentum with Toome snuffing out any attacking threat in the half back line and this leading to scoring opportunities which were efficiently finished up front as Toome put together a 1-4 surge without reply to take a dominance of the scoreboard, a 5-2 scoreline in Borris’ favour being overturned within a 10 minute period towards a 1-6 to 5 point advantage in favour of Toome. Borris generated a good goal chance soon after but a side netting finish summed up the quarter from a scoring point of view, JD stepping up again to win unlikely ball to set up another Eddie free to stop the scoring drought and re establish Borris on the scoreboard. 22 minutes had expired with Toome leading 1-7 to 6 points before an extended period began with little scoring in a back and forth game of backline dominance and little attacking openings, Ray McCormack ending the second drought with a good run which led to another free for Eddie, number 4 of the half. Toome finished the half the stronger though by adding an extra 3 points to their tally with a mixture of sideline, free and open play scoring as the half drew to a close with Toome leading 1-10 to Borris’ 7 points.
Borris were looking to start the 2nd half strong but a mistake in the full back line led to Toome causing a turnover and scoring their second goal of the game to extend their cushion on the scoreboard, Dan responding in a positive way with an individual score from midfield to lessen the hammer blow of the goal. Borris unfortunately continued the first half trend with an inability to generate clean possession past the midfield area to set up open play chances and instead having to rely on reliable free taker Eddie who added a 65’ and free number 5 to his account but Toome looking to be comfortable in defence and lean on their heavy lead with more numbers in the middle third. Borris attempted to switch players around in the forward line but Toome were able to neutralise with a very physical approach and good tackling. JD then brought some life into the attack with another run which led to Eddie’s 6th free of the game and a scoreline of 2-12 Toome to Borris’ 11 points, still a huge mountain to climb. As mentioned before, Toome started to lean more and more into the lead and Borris upped their game for a period with a JD interception and point and Eddie’s free number 7 to narrow the deficit but Toome were then able to generate some easy scoring opportunities with free space to keep Borris at bay. Toome began to foul any sort of Borris penetration through the lines to limit any goal chances which were really needed to overcome the large deficit, Eddie adding number 8 and 9 to his impressive tally of free success on the day. Brendan who had pushed up the pitch caused a turnover and a corresponding point as the deficit fell down a goal on a scoreline of 2-15 to 18 points with Toome looking jaded and Borris jumping on this but with minutes now an issue to eliminate the disparity. JD continued his attacking threat by setting up Conor Kenny for a tough goal opportunity which was only stopped by a fantastic save but a technical foul in the form of a pickup led to a close range free for Brendan who struck it well but too many defenders on the line snuffed it out before Dan stepped up again with a well taken long range point to make it a 2 point game. Eddie stepped up with his 10th free of the game, a very efficient performance. There had been several delays in the game due to injury so the referee added 6 minutes of injury time but Borris were unable to open up for a goal chance with extra Toome men defending their line well, the Borris backline opened up on the counter attack for two more well taken points late on as the full time whistle arrived with Toome running out well deserved victors on a scoreline of 2-17 to 19 points and advancing to a North semi showdown with Kiladangan.
Borris will be disappointed with the loss and in particular the lack of scoring threat which is not the norm for such a versatile group of offensive options, Toome were really up for the game as emphasised by their tackling intensity and adapted well after an initial period of Borris short passing efficiency. Borris will look to the 2 goals as defensive mistakes as opposed to being cut open, there were some standouts on the day however. JD Devaney was ever running in various positions in the forward line both scoring and setting up team mates, Seamus Burke was excellent in his man marking role with frequent involvement in the game, Eddie Ryan was ultra reliable on placed balls and Dan McCormack was involved in the game for large periods as an option for passes, a scoring threat with 2 pts on the day and working tirelessly in the middle of the park. Borris players and management now have 4 weeks before a titanic battle with Thurles Sarsfields in the first group game of the County Championship. Stay tuned to the club’s social media accounts for details in the near future.
