Bro Leo Cup Final
St Patricks 1-11 Tinryland 0-13
The home side coached by Tinryland’s Niall Barrett won the battle of last years beaten Intermediate and senior finallists in an entertaining Bro Leo Cup final in Bro Leo Park Tullow on Saturday evening.
Both sides were short a half dozen regulars but this did not deter the players on the field serving up a good hour’s entertainment.
The key score in this game was a cracking goal from St Patricks substitute Eoin O’Toole who crashed the ball past Tinryland goalie Ciaran Byrne with 5 minutes remaining which enabled his team to edge ahead for the first time after Tinryland had looked in control for long periods in this game played in ideal conditions.
Despite being short a number of regulars it was Tinryland who were fastest out of the blocks and they had 3 points on the scoreboard within 8 minutes of the throw in courtesy of Cillian Fagan and the excellent Cormac O’Brien (2). Jack Kennedy settled the home team in the 9th minute when he converted a free before Tinryland replied with another beauty from Cormac O’Brien following good play from Glen Doyle and Shane Redmond. St. Patricks full forward Craig Staunton kept the hosts in contact with a well taken point in the 11th minute before Glen Doyle for Tinryland and Jack Kennedy traded points mid-way through the opening half. Tinryland then enjoyed a purple patch scoring 3 unanswered points from Paddy Regan and Conor Carew (2) which gave the men in blue and white a five- point advantage entering the latter stages of the opening half. St Patricks enjoyed the better of the exchanges in this period scoring a further 3 points from Kennedy (2) and Craig Staunton with Cormac O’Brien closing the first half account for the senior team before referee Marion Hayden sounded the half time whistle. Half time score Tinryland 0-9 St Patricks 0-6.
When the teams re-appeared for the 2nd half Tinryland had replaced Shane Redmond (Injured) with Luke Broderick while the Tullow mentors had introduced Eoin Cleary. St. Patricks with the slight breeze advantage made their intentions known with 2 Jack Kennedy points in the opening 13 minutes. Tinryland finally got back on the scoreboard with a Mark Mullen point after good play by Cathal O’Toole but Jack Kennedy reduced the margin to the minimum in the 50th minute and within seconds the same player lofted over the equaliser as the holders sensed victory and were enjoying the best of the exchanges. With 4 minutes remaining Tinryland to their credit edged ahead once again via a Cillian Fagan conversion after a free won by Cormac O’Brien but in the next phase of play the crucial goal arrived from Eoin O’Toole after a Jack Kennedy free was not dealt with by the Tinryland defence and suddenly the home side now were ahead for the first time. Jack Kennedy consolidated the St Patricks lead with his 9th point as the game entered stoppage time and despite a late rally from Tinryland who scored 2 further points via Conor Carew and Conall O’Shea the home side held on for a deserved victory.
St Patricks: Gerry McGill, Niall Gahan, Niall Sherry, Leo Kavanagh, Mubatsiri Mudawapi, Dylan Gorman-Comerford, Patrick Doyle, Will Doran, Cian Doran, Ronan Healy, Cian Gorman-Comerford, Jack Kennedy 0-9, Brian Byrne, Craig Staunton 0-2, Padraig Murphy. Subs: Eoin Cleary, Eoin O’Toole 1-0.
Tinryland: Ciaran Byrne, Sam Byrne, Conor Ryan, Adam Mullen, Conor O’Toole, Peter Hennessy, Michael Hosey, Mark Mullen 0-1, Shane Redmond, Cormac O’Brien 0-4, Paddy Regan 0-1, Cillian Fagan 0-2, Cathal O’ Toole, Glen Doyle 0-1, Conor Carew 0-3. Subs: Luke Broderick, Sean Murphy, Conall O’Shea 0-1.
Referee Marion Hayden Eire Og.
