Eire Og defeat Tinryland in Carlow county final

COUNTY CHAMPS: Eire Og's Jordan Morrissey lifts the trophy. Pic: ©INPHO/Evan Treacy

Carlow senior football championship final 

Eire Og 2-13 Tinryland 0-7 

For a club with a rich Leinster club Senior Football Championship tradition, beating Tinryland in the Carlow final looks like a great omen for Turlough O'Brien and his Eire Og crew.

When the Carlow town club last beat Tinryland in the county decider, back in 1992, they went on to claim their first ever provincial title.

It turned out that they were just getting started at the time as they won a total of five Leinster titles between 1992 and 1998.

They were back in the provincial decider four years ago and on the strength of another strong display here, they will be hopeful of extending their season by a few more weeks or even months.

Leading by just 0-4 to 0-2 at half-time, former Carlow manager O'Brien watched his team open up with some superb second-half football, outscoring Tinryland by 2-9 to 0-5 after the break to claim a 31st title.

County attacker Ross Dunphy capped a terrific season with 1-4, 1-2 of which came in the second-half, with all of his tally coming from play.

Substitute Murtough Ware bundled in Eire Og's second goal late on with O'Brien correctly noting that 'we could have had four more goals' such was their dominance.

Next up for Eire Og is a Leinster club SFC Round one clash with the Laois representatives, in Carlow, on October 21/22.

"There is a tradition there for sure," said O'Brien, eyeing Leinster. The only potential stumbling block for Eire Og is that the winners of that Round one tie will then play the Dublin champions. "It's a tough route - tough for Dublin," quipped O'Brien.

Maybe he'll be proven correct. Eire Og are certainly well drilled with Benny Kavanagh and Mark Furey impressively organising their miserly defence, captain Jordan Morrissey excellent in the middle third and O'Brien's son, Darragh, along with Dunphy, capitalising up front.

The really impressive thing about this Eire Og county success was that it was achieved over six consecutive weekends, beginning with the defeat of Old Leighlin in late August. They only beat Rathvilly after a marathon penalty shoot-out on the fifth weekend and with Furey and Sean Gannon picking up injuries in that game, they were up against it.

Yet they were the ones that finished the game strongly, a credit to their conditioning which is overseen by O'Brien's other son, Cian. When the gaps opened up in Tinryland's defence after the break, Dunphy took full advantage with another clinic given by the full-forward in movement, distribution and, ultimately, shot execution.

"They play a very defensive style of football," said O'Brien of Tinryland. "We had done a lot of work on trying to break it down but probably just final nerves kicked in at the start. We weren't at the level we wanted to be at but we got it right in the second-half."

A word of praise for Josh Brady who came on and played a role in Ware's goal. The previous weekend, teenager Brady converted two penalties, including the winner in sudden death.

Scorers for Eire Og: R Dunphy (1-4); D O'Brien (0-4, 3 frees); M Ware (1-0); J Morrissey (0-2); C Hulton, A McCarron, C Kelly (0-1 each).

Scorers for Tinryland: P Broderick (1 free, 1 mark), J McGrath (1 free) (0-2 each); C McGrath, C O'Brien, J Dunne (0-1 each).

EIRE OG: J Furey; B Kavanagh, C Kelly, S Buggy; M Behan, M Furey, D Ruth; K Chatten, J Morrissey; C Mullins, S Gannon, D O'Brien; A McCarron, R Dunphy, C Hulton.

Subs: R Denieffe for Mullins (23); L Moore for Ruth (49); J Brady for O'Brien (55); M Ware for Chatten (58); K Nolan for Kelly (59).

TINRYLAND: C Gaffney; J Murphy, J Dunne, C Ryan; D Moran, N Lowry, C McGrath; S Redmond, C Walshe; M O'Toole, D Walshe, C O'Toole; P Broderick, P Regan, Lawler.

Subs: M Mullen for O'Toole (h/t); C Carew for Lawler (35); C O'Brien for McGrath (44); M Lawlor for C Walshe (46); S Webb for Moran (52).

Ref: P O'Dwyer (Palatine).