Borris-Ileigh GAA Club Match Report
Borris-Ileigh vs Lorrha-Dorrha (North Senior Championship)
6th August 2021
By Denis Ryan
Borris-Ileigh began their Senior North campaign with a visit to Nenagh to take on Lorrha on the 6th of August in McDonagh Park. Fresh off a league title, Borris kept the majority of the same outfit on the pitch with the exception being the return of Kieran Maher in the back line in place of Thomas Fahy, Colm Boyle making his competitive senior starting debut in place of Sean McCormack and Paddy Stapleton replacing the injured Tomas Ryan. Borris began the game in a threatening manner manufacturing early chances in the forward line but unlucky to open the account. Lorrha looked like a physical outfit and came quick into the action with a very good run through phases with off ball runners to open the Borris defence for the first goal of the game. Eddie Ryan opened Borris side of the scoreline with good footwork to avoid multiple tackles before the Kenny brothers Niall and Conor linked up with Paddy saint at different intervals for Paddy to score back to back points to give Borris a footing in the game. Borris were showing a clear intent to focus passes to team mates rather than areas and this approach yielded two quick points for JD who worked well to produce space from his marker to open his tally for the evening. JD added a third with good footwork following hard work from Niall Kenny to lead Borris to a 6 points to 1- 2 point advantage which was supported by Lorrha missing two very makeable frees. Borris were doing very well in their full back line to snuff out threats ala the Sars game with Liam Ryan in particular showing good presence in the area. Colm Boyle showed little nerves in his debut and maximised Paddy Stapleton’s interception from an attempted Lorrha breakout to score a well taken point from midfield to put a bonus on a well played first quarter. Borris led by 7 points to 1-2 at the first water break, they showing excellent composure on the ball looking for the free man in space aswell as mixing it up with the long puckouts. Lorrha looked a threat at different times with their athletes in the middle third and off ball running, a very good first quarter. The second quarter began with Jerry Kelly showing excellent vision to find a wide open Kevin Maher to add to Borris’ score but that was the end of the scoring for a small period of time as both teams were hustling to gain proper possession and territory. This was ended by two excellent points from first Conor Kenny on the right wing beside the stand followed by Kevin Maher scoring in difficult conditions on his left side. Jerry Kelly and another Kevin Maher score increased Borris’ score but Lorrha took the ascendency of the half late on with the McIntyre brothers really doing damage and Lorrha in general playing well. The half ended and it was a draw game with Borris putting up 12 points to Lorrha’s 1-9. As mentioned before, Borris were mixing up their play very well with sharp short passes, medium to long passing with vision and purpose and good shooting from multiple scorers. Lorrha played a very good running game and threatened on multiple occasions but a fairly even first half in totality.
Borris came out for the second half manufacturing excellent scoring chances including a possible goal opportunity but returned no points/goals from the action. Eddie Ryan then won a free, the first of the game for Borris in a scoring position incredibly enough and slotted it over, this was followed in quick succession by a very good Colm Boyle run which resulted in Kevin Maher shooting from further out and scoring his first free of the encounter. Lorrha wouldn’t go away though and put together some really good patterns of play in their half forward line to shoot the team back into contention and the lead at one stage with the score reading 1-12 to 14 points. Niall Kenny came more into the game after this though including scoring two quick points to nudge the team ahead again after some good play from Conor Kenny and Ray McCormack. There was a significant stoppage after this with a Borris player down for a few minutes but thankfully all was okay and the game resumed with Eddie Ryan slotting over free 3 and Jerry Kelly finding space and finishing some good set up play from JD, the game however went into the second water break on level terms on a scoreline of Lorrha 1-16 to Borris’ 19 points.
Brendan Maher made his season debut for Borris at the beginning of the 4th quarter replacing Shane Kenny, Borris coming out rejuvenated with the proof being a 3 point start to the quarter, first Jerry Kelly finishing a really good multi phase play, Colm Boyle doubling his scores with a well taken point and Brendan scoring his first free of the evening from the midfield area. Brendan then scored his first from play to maintain a 3 point lead but Lorrha persevered with the pressure thanks to high work rate and production of shooting opportunities, good Borris pressure making those opportunities difficult and resulting in a lack of reduction in the deficit. Borris leaned on their young attackers Eddie and JD to find space and extend the lead with Borris really taking a hold now which was rounded off with Niall Kenny reacting quickest to a Brendan free into the danger area to put the contest to bed and Borris taking a 7 point lead going into the final moments. Borris held on to win a really well fought contest on a scoreline of 1-25 to 1-18
Borris will look back at this game and appreciate the competitiveness of the affair, heavily fancied leading into the game yet Lorrha really put it up to the group for the entirety of the 60+ minutes. Borris began the installing of a new gameplan with more passing, both short and medium and blended it well with the long ball. As mentioned before, Liam Ryan in the first half and Seamie Burke in the second half really performed well to snuff out the Lorrha inside line and the players further out did really well against a game middle third of the opposition. Colm Boyle deserves a mention for performing very well in his debut and huge varied threats were evident up front. The game served a great purpose of introducing the new young players to the demands of senior championship with the positive sign being that they showed no fear, re integrated Kieran Maher back in after injury in a very positive move and Brendan after his county stint. Borris will be thankful for the hard earning victory which should hold them in good stead ahead of a North Quarter final against Templederry Kenyons in Dolla next Tuesday at 7pm. Best of luck to players and management.
Borris-Ileigh 1-25 Lorrha-Dorrha 1-18
Team and Scorers:
James McCormack
Seamus Burke (C) Liam Ryan Kieran Maher
Colm Boyle (0-02) Ciaran Cowan Ray McCormack
Jerry Kelly(0-03) Kevin Maher (0-04(0-01f))
Conor Kenny (0-01) Paddy Stapleton (0-02) Shane Kenny
Eddie Ryan (0-05(0-03fs)) Niall Kenny(1-02) James “JD” Devaney (0-04)
Subs:
Brendan Maher (0-02 (0-01f)) for Shane Kenny