Divine inspiration as Tyrrellspass take title

Tyrrellspass 2-13, Esker Gaels 1-10

Eamon A. Donoghue

Tyrrellspass played with the wind in the first half and that was a major factor as they claimed the Minor football division 3 title at Drumraney last Sunday morning where they got the better of the Maryland/Tang and St Joseph's combination side, Esker Gaels.

Tyrrellspass used the elements to their advantage, getting off to the perfect start. James Tierney and Mickey Devine both scored early goals and Devine kicked a two pointer, and Tyrrellspass were 2-6 in the 15th minute, with Esker still to open their account. Shane Carey kicked a free and Devine kicked his second two pointer to underline their supremacy and they led by 2-10 to 0–1 in the 25th minute. William Geraghty was the only scorer for Esker Gaels at this stage.

Geraghty did cause the Tyrrellspass defence problems, his jinking and sidestepping was creating opportunities but the wind played its part in keeping their score down.

Heading for the interval and Esker had their best moments of the first half: Geraghty jinked in and out between opponents before getting fouled and midfielder Mark Monaghan kicked the resultant free. Then Geraghty again involved and Padraig Keenan scored a goal to give his side great hope for the second half and the advantage of the wind also in their favour. Cillian Clarke kicked Tyrrellspass’ last score of the first half and at half-time there were 11 points separating the sides - Tyrrellspass 2-11, Esker Gaels 1-3.

After the resumption, Esker Gaels needed to make the best use of the wind, but the sun disappeared, the skies went dark and it rained heavy for the third quarter. The rain and wind didn’t help Esker Gaels' cause; they struggled to take any advantage of the elements. Tyrrellspass scored just twice against the wind in the second half but they didn’t need to score any more.

Esker Gaels enjoyed a productive spell. Geraghty kicked a brace of scores, one a two pointer, and both Monaghan and Keegan kicked scores, but they couldn’t put any period of dominance on the scoreboard.

The game then took on a 10 minute period of chaos, with no scores, black cards and frustrations coming to the fore. Both Esker Gaels 'keeper Rafael Barros and Tyrrellspass’ Cillian Daly were shown black cards and Esker Gaels also lost their talisman Geraghty through injury. After that the game fizzled out and in the end, it was a comfortable win for Tyrrellspass.

The game was ruined by the weather, the wind turned the game into a game of two halves and the rain at the start of the second half didn’t help. But Tyrrellspass were the better side and they deserved their victory. Esker Gaels will be back in action quickly, they play in the championship next week and they will benefit from this experience.

Scorers - Tyrrellspass J Tierney 1-5 (2f), M Devine 1-4 (2tp), C Clarke 0-2, C Murphy 0-1, S Carey 0-1f.

Esker Gaels: W Geraghty 0-4 (1tp), P Keegan 1-0, M Monaghan 0-2 (frees), E Maloney, E Fallon, D J Connaughton and D Murray 0-1 each.

Tyrrellspass: Matthew Maloney, Luke Murphy, Mark McGivney, Sean Daly Fuller, Darragh Robinson, Jack Arthur, Liam Newman, Shane Carey, Conor Murphy, Ross Maxwell, Mickey Devine, Michael Connor, Cillian Daly, Cillian Clarke, James Tierney. Sub used: Jack Gill.

Esker Gaels: Rafael Barros, Ethan McCormack, Jamie Rabbitte, Gabriel Barros, Daniel Connaughton, Eoghan Fallon, Luke McDonnell, David Temple, Mark Monaghan, Conor Drake, Ciaran Connaughton, Eoin Conlon, Padraig Keegan, William Geraghty, Evan Maloney

Subs used: Daniel Murray, James Bermingham, Alex O’Toole, Cian Moran and Jack McCormack.

Referee: Des McEnery (Garrycastle).