Goal hungry Tubberclair triumph as Tang's brave fightback falls short

Tubberclair overcame an epic second-half fightback from Tang, at Pairc Chiarain, Athlone, last Saturday evening, to secure their place in the final of this year's intermediate championship. A ruthless first-half showing by the men in green and yellow saw them take a 3-5 to 0-6 lead at the interval and seemingly fulfil those prophesies that they would have a comfortable passage to the final. But Tang came out for the second-half a team transformed and blitzed Tubberclair for 1-3 in the space of ten minutes to set up a frantic finale. Tang outscored Tubberclair in the second-half by 1-6 to 0-4 but it was those four points that just enabled Tubberclair to hold on for a three-point victory. Tubberclair's victory owed a lot to the attacking duo of Ian Coffey and Fergal Wilson, who crafted some wonderful moves particularly in the first-half. Conor Elliot and Francis Spollen chipped in with 1-1 and 1-0 respectively while, in defence, Rory Walsh stood out in the first thirty minutes. As for Tang, they once again relied heavily, as they had done in the quarter-final against Ballinagore, on both the long ball into an isolated Paul Conway at full-forward and the free-taking capabilities of Aidan Burke. Burke was once again in sublime form, finishing the game with 1-8 (five from frees) to his name, but the Paul Conway tactic was negated, for the most part anyway, by Tubberclair bringing an extra man back to mark the full-forward. Tang were quickest off the mark and had the game's opening score after just sixty seconds when Tommy McCormack - another one of Tang's top performers on the day - fed the ball to Burke, who curled over his and his team's first of the day. It took Tubberclair just two further minutes to equalise through an Ian Coffey free but, on ten minutes, Tang were hit for two quick-fire goals. The first came about when a David Ganley handpass released Francis Spollen through on goal. And as the 'keeper advanced, Spollen rifled the ball to the near top-corner. Still in the tenth minute, a Simon Lawless - operating around midfield despite wearing number two - ball into the full-forward line ricocheted off a Tang defender before falling kindly to Spollen. Spollen quickly transferred it to Conor Elliot who ran at the goal and finished neatly past Michael Galvin. By the 13th minute, Tubberclair had added to their two goals with points from Fergal Wilson, his first, and from goalscorer Conor Elliot to stretch their lead to eight-points. Tang's response was good, however, and three points in a row between the fourteenth and twentieth minute, all from the boot of Aidan Burke, saw them stay in touch. But once again, in the 21st minute, they were hit by a Tubberclair attack in ruthless form. Fergal Wilson won the ball out in his corner before turning his man in along the end-line and passing to Elliot. Elliot then quickly moved the ball to Ian Coffey who threw a quick dummy before firing the ball low to the Tang net. All looked lost for Tang who, although enjoying a similar amount of possession to their opponents, had been shell-shocked by the three goals. A Fergal Wilson point on 26 minutes was cancelled out by a Denis Bannon effort a minute later and both sides registered a further point each before the half-time whistle was blown, to leave Tubberclair holding a commanding eight-point lead. Whatever was said in the Tang dressing-room at half-time seemed to work as the men in maroon and white came out flying for the second-half. Robert English was switched from centre-back to midfield and the move immediately paid dividends, with English landing a nice score having received a pass from Paul Conway. Burke continued to impress from the placed ball on 35 minutes but, on 38, he really gave Tubberclair something to worry about. A high ball was, not for the first time, aimed at Paul Conway. The ball broke kindly to Burke off the big full-forward and he had a clear run on goal before slamming it past Gary Connaughton to the roof of the net. Two minutes later, Paul Conway fed Burke once again and he pointed after selling a clever dummy. In the space of a blistering ten minutes, Tang had reduced the deficit from eight to just two. Tubberclair, it seemed, had forgotten to come out for the second-half but a vital Michael Hopkins score on 45 minutes steadied the ship for them. A minute later Fergal Wilson took full advantage of a defensive lapse to stroke over another point. But points from Niall Bannon and another from Aidan Burke brought the gap once again down to two points before Robert English landed an inspirational score to put the bare minimum between the teams. In a frantic final ten minutes, Tang had ample possession of the ball but just couldn't find that elusive equaliser. Instead, Tubberclair went about closing out the game. A 45' from James Martin, up from full-back, put two between the teams again on 53 minutes and, by the time stoppage-time rolled around, Tang still hadn't found another score. And so it was left to Ian Coffey to seal a three-point win when he a converted free from a tight angle. SCORERS - TUBBERCLAIR: I Coffey (1-2, 0-2f), F Wilson (0-4), C Elliot (1-1), F Spollen (1-0), M Hopkins (0-1), J Martin (0-1, 45'). TANG: A Burke (1-8, 0-5f), R English (0-2), N Bannon (0-1), D Bannon (0-1). TUBBERCLAIR: Gary Connaughton, Simon Lawless, James Martin, Rory Walsh, Bernard Cassells, Niall Walker, Enda McGee, Michael Hopkins, David Ganley, Ian Coffey, Jeffery Farrell, Conor Elliot, Fergal Wilson, Francis Spollen, Robert Buckley. SUBS: Thomas Doogan for E. McGee (45 mins), Liam Doogan for D. Ganley (49 mins), David Cassells for B. Cassells (59 mins). TANG: Michael Galvin, Damien Gill, Kieran Duncan, Chris Conor, Eamon Carey, Robert English, Alan Murray, Joe Conlon, Niall Bannon, Colm Conlon, Alan Higgins, Denis Bannon, Aidan Burke, Paul Conway, Tommy McCormack. SUBS: Greg Carey for C. Conor (24 mins), Colm Donoghue for J. Conlon (57 mins), Sean Egan for D. Bannon (59 mins). REFEREE: Sean Sheridan (Tyrrellspass).