Kelly completes a great double

TEAM manager Michael Kelly was cock-a-hoop in Gurteen on Saturday last having completed a junior hurling double with his beloved Tubber.

In 1962, Kelly came on as a substitute for the all-conquering Tubber side that captured the junior A title and 50 years later, he donned the manager’s bib to steer his charges to their first junior B crown.

Although Tubber are always difficult to beat in any grade, championship titles are not very regular for this small rural club, which has a limited pool of players.

In fact, the Fianna Fáil councillor was quick to point out Tubber’s last adult championship title was their intermediate success over Scariff in the 1976 decider.

Making it extra special for Kelly on Saturday was the fact his son Micheál played at midfield on the winning junior B team. Also part of that 1962 team were brothers George and John Taaffe, whose sons Oliver and Dermot respectively were also part of the winning line-up on Saturday.

Tubber 1-18   Crusheen 1-4

 

THERE is nothing like a local derby between two arch rivals to get the pulses racing.

North Clare neighbours, Tubber and Crusheen, showed just how much winning a county title means to a parish, even if it is junior B hurling, with this entertaining contest.

Clinical Tubber were in no way flattered by their 14-point winning margin as a spirited Crusheen side kept battling to the end, although the result was decided a long time before the final whistle.

There was a great championship bite to this clash as neither side wanted to lose but it was Tubber’s second team that captured the Junior Hurling B trophy for the first time to earn bragging rights over their junior rivals.

Michael Kelly’s charges displayed greater hunger and work rate against Crusheen’s third string, who simply lacked the necessary strength in depth to seriously trouble the winners.

According to the Junior B Hurling Championship roll of  honour, Tubber never won this crown stretching back to 1938, while Crusheen’s last title was in 2003.

Having lost narrowly to Kilmaley in the Junior A Hurling League decider earlier in the season, Tubber gave a strong indication they would be serious championship contenders in the B series.

Tubber should be capable of reaching the knock-out stages in the A championship once they can build on the potential they displayed in Gurteen on Saturday last.

Crusheen were left to rue a very disappointing first-half display, when they were 1-9 to 0-1 in arrears with a mountain to climb in the second period. Despite winning plenty of possession, it took Crusheen 32 minutes to open their account from a Luke Hayes free, as they failed to score from play during the opening half.

Spurning a series of gilt-edged scoring opportunities through poor shooting and over-elaboration, the Crusheen front six lacked the necessary penetration on the day with Padraic O’Malley the only starting forward who managed to find the target.

Apart from an early let-off when Tubber replacement keeper, Paul Waters, failed to clear a shot from Pádraig Hassett, which resulted in an unconverted 65’, the winners hit the ground running.

Three early points from Damien Quinn, Declan Ryan and Shane McMahon had them 0-3 to 0-0 ahead after seven minutes.

Crusheen corner-forward Trevor Corbett burst through the Tubber full-back line on a solo run but his shot hit the post and went wide, shortly before another one of his shots also went narrowly wide.

This was typical of Crusheen’s play, some good build-up and support play yielded nothing as shots went wide or into the grateful hands of Paul Waters.

With Lorcan O’Grady, Gerard Brohan and Sean Naughton now dominant in the Tubber half-back line, the winners pressed home their advantage at the other end.

The Tubber goal in the 14th minute was a real cracker. Centre-forward Paddy O’Connor drifted deep to win possession near midfield and found Damien Quinn with a deft flick. Quinn split the Crusheen defence with a blistering 40m solo run and had only a goal on his mind when he unleashed a powerful drive at John Hanrahan, who managed to partially parry it into the right corner of the net, much to his dismay.

Man of the match Lorcan O’Grady fired over an inspirational point from inside his own half, before a brace of points from Nigel Naughton put his colleagues in the driving seat 1-7 to 0-0 after 22 minutes.

Crusheen’s poor finishing was illustrated when Paraic O’Malley was wide from a placed ball but at the other end, Damien Quinn, who notched some great scores and Lorcan O’Grady made no mistake to leave Tubber 11 points clear at the break.

On the resumption, Crusheen, who were now aided by a stiff breeze, threatened a mini revival with a brace of points from play courtesy of Padraic O’Malley.  However, these were quickly cancelled out by Lorcan O’Grady and Cyril Cunningham.

Having made the switch from midfield to corner-forward in a reshuffled attack, Luke Hayes gave his colleagues a glimmer of hope when he grabbed 1-1, the goal from a speculative effort that seemed to catch Paul Walters off guard.

Crusheen failed to score for the last 11 minutes, despite goal attempts from Jason Duffy and Luke Hayes, as Tubber turned the screw with five unanswered points from O’Grady, who converted three frees and another great effort from the impressive Damien Quinn.

Tubber: Paul Waters; Dermot Taaffe, Oliver Taaffe, Mark Waters; Lorcan O’Grady, Gerard Brohan, Sean Naughton; Cyril Cunningham, Micheál Kelly; Shane McMahon, Paddy O’Connor, Damien Quinn; Nigel Naughton, David Fogarty, Declan Ryan.
Sub: Evan O’Donoghue (43 mins) for Shane McMahon.
Frees for: 12; wides: 10.
Scorers: Lorcan O’Grady (0-6, 0-4f), Damien Quinn (1-4),. Nigel Naughton (0-3), Evan O’Donoghue (0-2), Cyril Cunningham, Shane McMahon, Declan Ryan (free) (0-1 each).
Crusheen: John Hanrahan; Paul O’Donnell, Darren O’Connor, Mark Perill; Conor O’Brien, Diarmuid O’Doherty, Enda O’Brien; Jason Daffy, Luke Hayes; Padraic O’Malley, Pádraig Hassett, Anthony Rodgers; Robbie Malone, Raymond Hassett, Trevor Corbett.
Subs: Damien Murphy (24 mins) for Anthony Rodgers, Alan Griffin (half-time) for Robbie Malone, Darragh McNamara (40 mins) for Ray Hassett, Brendan Keehan, (55 mins) for Trevor Corbett, David Kearney (56 mins) for Luke Hayes.
Scorers: Luke Hayes (1-2, 1f), Padraic O’Malley (0-2).
Frees for: 10; wides: 9; 65: 1
Referee: Fergie McDonagh.