Walter Walsh stars as dominant Tullogher Rosbercon too good for St Catherine's
LEVEL ABOVE: Walter Walsh of Tullogher Rosbercon takes a shot during the AIB GAA Hurling All-Ireland Junior Club Championship final. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach, Sportsfile
Motivated by the defeat of 2009, Tullogher Rosbercon claimed their first AIB All-Ireland club JHC title at a foggy Croke Park on Saturday evening.
Three-times All-Ireland senior winner with Kilkenny, Walter Walsh and 37-year-old centre-back Pat Hartley - a former county player - are two survivors from that three-point loss to Cork’s Dripsey 15 years ago.
And both men were central figures in a victory that was wrapped up in the early stages after goals from Marty Murphy and Walsh put them 2-14 to 0-9 up at the interval.
All through this campaign, the south Kilkenny club were not shy of scoring, having negotiated Leinster and semi-finalists Castleblayney with ease, and with such an array of talent to choose from, it was simply more of the same.
They were strong all over.
From the off, Tullogher Rosbercon showed their intent with Murphy smacking home the opening goal in the third minute, it came after a sublime flick forward from Danny Glennon. It enabled the Kilkenny champions to race into a 1-5 to 0-1 lead inside 10 minutes.
Points arrived from St Catherine’s duo Brian Mulcahy and Rory Galvin, but the margin remained at seven. That’s until the Leinster champions opened up a bigger gap when Walsh sped through the middle to record a second goal, 2-6 to 0-3 midway through the half.
St Catherine’s were reliant on frees from goalkeeper Eoin Davis and Seán O’Donoghue - both players finished the opening 30 minutes with three apiece.
While the Cork side struggled for scores from open play, Tullogher Rosbercon continued to pick off points at the other end, with Walsh, Cian O’Donoghue (one splendid sideline cut), Murphy, captain Colman O’Sullivan, Jason Shiely and Conor Hennessy splitting the posts - sharpshooter O’Donoghue had eight chalked to his name by the break, when they led 2-14 to 0-9.
The seriousness of the situation for the Cork outfit was reflected in St Catherine’s making three substitutions at the break, and they did make better headway in the second-half.
A fourth Eoin Davis free from distance and another long-range effort from wing-back Kian O’Donoghue kept St Catherine’s hope alive, Tullogher not registering until the 40th minute from Hennessy.
That their scores dried up didn’t matter a whole lot, as they still managed to remain in the ascendancy by double scores, 2-16 to 0-11.
The fourth quarter petered out to its inevitable conclusion, St Catherine’s rewarded with a 63rd minute goal from Rory Galvin.
Since losing the Cork final, it’s been an amazing end of season for the Cork outfit, they too were seeking their first All-Ireland final win, but they were second best on this occasion.
C O’Donoghue (0-10, 0-6 frees, 0-1sl), W Walsh (1-3), M Murphy (1-1), C Hennessy (0-4), C O’Sullivan, J Shiely and D Glennon (0-1 each).
R Galvin (1-1), E Davis (0-4 frees), S O’Donoghue (0-3 frees), K Wallace, B Mulcahy, K O’Donoghue, O Fitzgerald, C Hegarty (0-1 each).
D Walsh; R Gill, D O’Connor, S Murray; L Murphy, P Hartley, C Mooney; J Lyng, C O’Sullivan (Capt); M Murphy, W Walsh, J Shiely; D Glennon, C Hennessy, C O’Donoghue.
M Handrick for J Shiely (42), S Lawlor for C Mooney (57), N O’Shea for R Gill (59), T Conway for S Murray (60), B Walsh for M Murphy (62).
E Davis; F O’Connell, E O’Riordan (J-Capt), L O’Connor; K O’Donoghue, O Fitzgerald, K Neville; K Wallace, S Cotter; S O’Donoghue, R Galvin, W Leamy; B Mulcahy, E Condon, M Mulcahy.
E Wallace for E Condon, G O’Brien for W Leamy, C Hegarty for K Neville (all half-time), K Barry for M Mulcahy (46), N Sheehan for B Mulcahy (53).
Colm McDonald (Antrim).
A collection of the latest sports news, reports and analysis from Cork.
