Tipperary Water County Minor A Hurling Championship Final – St Mary's 2-15 JK Brackens Óg 2-11

By Jonathan Cullen Sun 16th Oct

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captain Tipperary Water County Minor A Hurling Championship Final

St Mary’s 2-15 JK Brackens Óg 2-11

Round-up by Ed Donnelly (sites.tipperary@gaa.ie)

St. Mary’s retained their County Minor A Hurling title by virtue of a deserved four point victory over JK Brackens Óg on Sunday in Semple Stadium Thurles.

Click here to view photos from the game

The Brackens played with wind assistance in to the Town End in the opening half but it was the defending champions St. Mary’s who made the brighter start scoring two points in the first five minutes. JK Brackens Óg eventually opened their account in the ninth minute with a point followed by a goal in the 12th minute when Shane Doyle dispatched the ball to the net after his initial shot was blocked. There was little between the sides for the remainder of a low scoring first half and at the interval, the Brackens led by the minimum – 1-4 to 0-6.

St. Mary’s raced out of the blocks in the second half, scoring 1-2 without reply – the goal courtesy of Gavin Ryan to go in to a 1-8 to 1-4 lead. Lyndon Fairbrother got one back for the Brackens side before St. Mary’s struck again for another goal, this time from Niall Hoctor who tapped home from close range to take a commanding six point lead after 40 minutes.

The JK Brackens Óg side to their credit responded in the best possible way, scoring 1-4 over the next seven minutes of play, the goal coming from Denis Russell and the sides were level after 47 minutes. 2-9 to 2-9. Exchanges were tight in the closing quarter but St. Mary’s ability to use the wind to shoot long range points proved crucial as they scored 6 of the final 8 points of the game to run out four point winners on a scoreline of 2-15 to 2-11.

Afterwards, Tipperary County Board Vice-Chairman John Devane presented the Sean Treacy Cup to the St. Mary’s captain Kyle Peters while the John Quirke Jewellers sponsored Man of the Match award was presented to the St. Mary’s wing-forward Niall Hoctor who scored 1-5 from play.

St. Mary’s: Enda Dunphy; Sean Adamson, Kyle Peters (Captain), Joe Gunne; Jamie McGuire, Jamie Ahearne, Adam Peters; Kyle Farrell, Josh Ryan; Conor O’Sullivan (0-2), Michael Murphy, Niall Hoctor (1-5); Sean Kennedy (0-5 frees), Gavin Ryan (1-2, 0-1 free), Ryan Lambe (0-1)
Subs: Simon Farrell for Adamson (53m)

JK Brackens Óg: Nick Keane; Aidan Coffey, Neil Quinlan, Michael Egan; Éanna McBride, Tom Murphy, Denis Russell (1-0); Stephen Quinlan, Paddy Cadell; Shane Doyle (1-3), Conor Sheedy (0-1), David O’Shea; Andrew Ormond (0-1), Radek Natheneicz, Lyndon Fairbrother (0-6, 0-4 frees)
Subs: Anthony Ryan for Murphy (34m), Dáire Kavanagh for Natheneicz (42m), Jack Prout for Russell (61m)

Referee: Phil Ryan (Knockavilla Donaskeigh Kickhams)

Click here to view photos from the game