Upperchurch-Drombane break Tooreen hearts in see-saw All-Ireland final epic

The goal hungry Tipperary champions eventually came out on top in another club thriller

The Upperchurch-Drombane team celebrates

All-Ireland Club IHC final: Upperchurch-Drombane 4-20 Tooreen (Mayo) 2-24 AET

Where to start with any sort of coherent summary of this rollercoaster All-Ireland club IHC final at Croke Park.

Afterwards, in the tunnel beneath the Hogan Stand, Liam Dunphy described it as a sort of controlled 'chaos'.

Thankfully for the Upperchurch-Drombane manager, it was one of those dramatic, schizophrenic evenings that ultimately swung his side's way after 80 or so intoxicating minutes.

Extra-times goals from Paddy Phelan, Conor Fahey and Paul Shanahan secured the win for the Church who are the first club from Tipperary to take the title since Kiladangan in 2005.

But there was so much more to this rollercoaster encounter which yielded 50 scores across a freezing evening at GAA HQ.

Tooreen, agonisingly, have been here before having lost to Monaleen of Limerick in the decider three years ago.

Conor Fahey of Upperchurch-Drombane celebrates his goal. Pic: ©INPHO/James Lawlor

But the Mayo men went down swinging at least, turning a 10-point deficit late in extra-time into a mere two-point game as they reeled off 2-2 without response in the dying moments.

Liam Lavin and David Harrison grabbed those late goals for Tooreen and they were followed by points from Fionn Delaney and the excellent Fergal Boland.

Remarkably, if Mayo football star Boland had only been a few inches lower with his point, his sixth of the evening, Tooreen might have grabbed the goal they needed to tie it up all over again.

But the Church escaped and had heroes all over the field. Fahey struck two goals in all for them while Luke Shanahan top scored with seven points in front of 5,916 hardy souls on a freezing evening in Dublin.

Injuries ruled Paudie Greene and Phelan out of the lineup for the Munster champions, two big losses though not immediately felt.

Fresh off big wins over the Cork, Waterford and Kilkenny champions since being crowned premier intermediate county champions, Upperchurch hit the ground running.

In fact, with 25 minutes on the clock the near 50-50 pre-match billing seemed generous to Tooreen.

The side in black and amber had surged 0-4 to 0-1 clear initially and were 0-9 to 0-2 to the good with just five minutes remaining in the half.

Mikey Griffin, wearing number 21 though a starter in the semi-final win over Danesfort, grabbed an eye-catching point. Gavin Ryan followed his lead with a couple of long-range missiles. And when Pat Ryan crouched down and chopped a sideline cut over the bar from beneath the Hogan Stand to leave seven points between them, it looked ominous.

Surprisingly, Liam Dunphy's side didn't score again until the 36th minute. Tooreen, in turn, closed out the first-half by outscoring their opponents 0-7 to 0-1.

The 35-times Mayo senior champions picked off the last five points of the first-half, capitalising on pockets of space they created in the middle third to convert a series of monster scores.

Joe Boyle drilled over two of those though for sheer inspiration it was hard to top Eoin Delaney's 29th and 31st minute points which were followed by a couple of guttural roars.

Tooreen still trailed by a point at half-time, 0-9 to 0-10, but kept the foot on the throttle after the restart.

And it was no surprise to see them open up a 0-14 to 0-11 lead 10 minutes into the second-half. Now they were the ones who looked to be on a highway to success.

If the Church ever needed divine inspiration, it was now. Fahey duly responded with a 41st minute goal. He beat his man on the left wing, raced clear and sneaked a low shot in below Tooreen goalie Bobby Douglas.

And that's how it was for the last 20 minutes, Tooreen hitting some big blows in the form of Kenny Feeney and Brian Morley scores, Tooreen counter-punching with heavyweight shots from Pat and Gavin Ryan.

They were tied again at the hour, 1-16 to 0-19. Morley thought he'd won it for Tooreen in the 63rd minute but Ryan popped up with a huge score from his own half for Upperchurch to force extra-time at 1-17 to 0-20.

Gavin Ryan of Upperchurch-Drombane receives the Player of the Match Award from Eimear Fitzgerald, AIB Head of Business Banking Branch Network, representing AIB, after the AIB GAA Hurling All-Ireland Intermediate Club Championship final match between Tooreen of Mayo and Upperchurch-Drombane of Tipperary at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Two Church goals in the first-half of extra-time left them sitting pretty with a 3-17 to 0-22 advantage. Sub Phelan grabbed the first after being set clear by Fahey who then turned poacher and registered their third himself.

Upperchurch were a full 10 points clear with 78 minutes on the clock when Tooreen launched that scoring siege to leave just two in it at the death.

Upperchurch-Drombane scorers: Luke Shanahan 0-7 (0-5f), Conor Fahey 2-0, Gavin Ryan 0-5 (0-4f, 0-1 65), Paul Shanahan 1-1, Paddy Phelan 1-0, Pat Ryan 0-3 (0-1 s/l), Colm Ryan 0-1, Mikey Griffin 0-1, Diarmuid Grant 0-1, Jack Butler 0-1.

Tooreen scorers: Fergal Boland 0-6, Brian Morley 0-4, Liam Lavin 1-0, David Harrison 1-0, Joe Boyle 0-3, Eoin Delaney 0-3, Kenny Feeney 0-3, Sean Kenny 0-2, Bobby Douglas 0-1 (0-1f), Shane Boland 0-1 (0-1f), Fionn Delaney 0-1 (0-1f).

UPPERCHURCH-DROMBANE: Ciaran Shortt; Mikey Lavery, Keith Ryan, Dean Carew; David Harrison, Gavin Ryan, Niall Grant; Diarmuid Grant, Aaron Ryan; Conor Fahey, Colm Ryan, Paul Shanahan; Mikey Griffin, Luke Shanahan, Pat Ryan.

Subs: Paddy Phelan for Colm Ryan 42, Jack Butler for Aaron Ryan 49. Aaron Ryan for Diarmuid Grant 64, Ger Grant for Corbett 69.

TOOREEN: Bobby Douglas; Conal Hession, Michael Morley, Oisin Greally; David Kenny, Stephen Coyne, Joe Boyle; Fergal Boland, Sean Kenny; Eoin Delaney, Brian Morley, John Cassidy; Liam Lavin, Shane Boland, Keeny Feeney.

Subs: Daniel Huane for Michael Morley 22, Sean Regan for Cassidy 43, Fionn Delaney for Feeney 56, Padraig Mooney for Hession 59. Jake Glavey for Kenny 70, David Delaney for Brian Morley 74, David Harrison for Shane Boland 74.

Ref: Caymon Flynn (Westmeath).