Borris-Ileigh GAA Club Match Report
Borris-Ileigh vs Toomevara (North Junior A Championship)
17th September 2021
By Dens Ryan
Borris-Ileigh finished their Junior A group stage participation with another trip to Roscrea, this time against arch rivals Toomevara. Borris had already qualified for the semi-finals but different permutations were still in play with regards a win/loss and semi final opposition, Toome being a possibility with a loss so key game to lay down a marker. Borris reverted to a more familiar setup with Thomas Fahy returning to full back, James Kelly resorting to his breakout position of corner back and captain Maurice Ryan filling in at the half back position. Borris welcomed back Jack Hogan to action in place of the injured David O’Connor and experimented with Sodge in the half back line as the action began. Toome came out the more aggressive with more on the line but both teams shared the first 4 points of the game, Jack Fitzgerald scoring Borris’ first two points with good strikes from the left hand sideline. Toome then opened up the Borris defences to score their first goal of the game which buoyed the team on to further scores but Borris kept with the Toome men with 2 more Jack Fitz points from similar angles to the first brace, no easy scores on hand. Mixie finished the quarter from the Borris scoring point of view with a well taken score but the team trailed at the water break on a scoreline of 1-5 to 5 points. Shane McCormack was gathering a lot of ball in the middle third and running at the Toome rearguard as a constant threat, Thomas Fahy continuing an excellent Junior campaign by negating the inside threat of Toome but Toome looked physical in the middle third which would continue to be the case throughout the game. The quarter was really split in terms of dominance with Borris finding their feet in the second 9 or so minutes and rushing Toome backs more equating to errors. Danny Ryan replaced Jack Hogan at the break in the corner forward position as Borris looked to continue a surge in momentum, this illustrated by a great goal to start the 2nd quarter. Bill O’Connell attained possession in the middle third, showed good vision to find Mixie who ran past his marker before crossing to Fintan Holland who finished to bottom corner of net, a reward after another unlucky strike in the first quarter hitting the post. Unfortunately, this was the sole highlight of the quarter from a scoring point of view as despite excellent half forward work rate, the scoring just didn’t follow and Toome were able to generate scoring opportunities more freely and extended their lead to 4 points as the half time whistle arrived with a score of 1-9 to Borris’ 1-5. As mentioned before, perhaps the first water break came at an inopportune time as Borris were really upping the intensity and were able to score the goal but little scoring chances after that. The backline did very well to hold Toome to just 4 points in the quarter but still a gap as the second half arrived. Micheal Ryan Larry replaced Seamus Ryan early in the half as Shane McCormack went on another run, this time fouled to set up Mixie’s first free of the evening. Borris then unfortunately went on another scoring drought but this time Toome were popping over points on a more consistent basis to balloon what was a 3 point advantage to a 8 point advantage and just rewards for their performance. Sodge scored a cracking point to end the drought which was followed by two Jack Fitz runs ended by Toome defenders illegally and frees 2 and 3 duly slotted by Mixie to put some life into the comeback. Borris still trailed at the second water break with a score of 1-14 to 1-9. Jack Fitz scored his 6th of the game early in the 4th quarter aided by good Borris hustling in the middle third, this was followed soon after by a Sodge point from midfield but Borris weren’t able to generate many goal scoring chances whilst Toome were still slotting over the frequent point to negate Borris’ attempts to claw in the deficit. Sodge scored a second from around the same area before Jack Fitz finished an excellent scoring game with a 7th but Toome kept an arm’s length through ill-discipline by Borris allowing Toome frees to keep the score board ticking over. Shane Mc scored another in a high work rate performance and Maurice Ryan scored the team’s final chance but Toome still ran out winners as the final whistle blew on a score line of 1-19 to 1-15.
As mentioned at the beginning, thanks to Nenagh defeating Kilruane both Borris and Toome will meet again in the North semi final which promises to be a cracking affair. Borris had secured qualification two games ago so perhaps the edge of competition wasn’t at its highest but it will have to be as Toome are a good outfit with efficient scoring up front and a physical spine to their team. Borris have used the last two games to tinker with tactics and lineups which should bode well if additional plans are needed in future games. Borris backs, in particular the full back line did well throughout and have managed to gel together after the loss of Mick Ryan earlier in the campaign. Bill O’Connell has slotted into the 6 position very well and provides an attacking threat also. Borris will hope to have DOC O’Connor back in the fold for the crucial semi final and will hope for less scoring droughts in quarters. Best of luck to both players and management in preparation for the semi final.
Team and Scorers:
Jack Bourke
James Kelly, Thomas Fahy, Jack Prior
Maurice Ryan (0-01), Bill O’Connell, Matthew Stapleton (0-02)
Adam Galvin, Shane McCormack (0-01)
Micheal Carey (0-04 (0-03fs)), Cathal Hogan, Jack Fitzgerald (0-07)
Seamus Ryan, Fintan Holland (1-00) , Jack Hogan
Subs:
Danny Ryan for Jack Hogan (Injured)
Micheal Ryan for Seamus Ryan
