Borris-Ileigh GAA Club Match Report
Borris-Ileigh vs Kilruane MacDonaghs (North Junior C Championship)
29th August 2021
Sunday August 29th marked the return of the North Junior C Championship where Borris-Ileigh played host to what is beginning to be a very familiar opponent at various levels, Kilruane Macdonagh’s. The team sheet showed a nice blend of experience coupled with some of the under 19 hurlers looking for valuable senior experience. The game started fairly slow with little scoring chances with both teams wrestling for possession and game time after a long layoff since last competitive action. Borris opened their account when midfielder Micheal Ryan “Larry” made a great catch at the 65” before putting over to finish a well played individual play. John Fitz then showed very quick reactions in the middle of Kilruane back confusion to slot an opportunist point to give Borris momentum. Fellow corner forward Ollie Delaney then started a well worked team play to set up Danny Ryan for the number 11’s first of the game before the score of the game occurred. Dan Ryan fresh off an appearance for the A’s on Friday picked up the ball near the left sideline in the midfield area and showed great power and pace to run through the left side of the defence before shooting a rocket into the top corner with no chance for the goalkeeper. Borris were looking dangerous up front but so were Kilruane, their full forward line looking a constant threat and generating space with good footwork. This coincided with a scoring drought for Borris as they missed some makeable shots both from placed and in game ball. Dan Ryan kept going though and slotted over 3 well taken frees with another Danny Ryan score mixed in to give the Borris men a slight advantage at the half time break on a scoreline of Borris-Ileigh 1-08 to Kilruane’s 1-07. Both teams mirrored each other as attacking threats in the first half, each taking a period of dominance but both teams did very well considering also it was their first game of the group stage.
The third quarter was all about Kilruane as they shut down ball entering the full forward line aswell as generating scoring chances both inside but also around the middle third. Micheal Ryan did add a second to his tally aswell as Dan Ryan increasing his impressive scoring output but Borris entered the second water break trailing on a score of Kilruane 1-12 to Borris’ 1-10. Borris made some changes at the break with Diarmuid Kinnane replacing Dec O’Connell, Dan Brooks replacing Ollie Delaney and Oisin Stapleton replacing John Fitz. The tide of the game turned when Ciaran Hackett pulled off a fantastic close range double save to keep Kilruane at bay before Borris came back into the game led by game changers Danny and Dan Ryan who added a point apiece before Diarmuid Kinnane won a high ball tussle to head for goal but be dragged back by the arm for the referee to give a free in close to goal. Dan Ryan stepped up and hit the roof of the net with a goal line of packed defenders trying to stop it but unable. This gave Borris a boost in the last few minutes but Kilruane were matching them ball for ball to take a one point lead leading into the final moments before Danny Ryan stepped up once more to score a left sided point to level the game and it finished a draw, a deserving result for both teams.
Both teams showed great commitment to the cause from the first whistle and played a good tough brand of hurling with some excellent scores on both sides. Dan Ryan and Danny Ryan deserve mention for carrying the majority of the scoring load on the Borris side with excellent work in the engine room also by Bryan Murray and Micheal Ryan. Borris will be all the better for a tough physical game but will have to wait as their gap week is in next week’s schedule, best of luck to players and management in preparation.
Team and Scorers:
Ciaran Hackett
Daniel Ryan, Cathal O’Connell, John Sadler
Cian Stapleton, Matthew Vahey, Martin Treacy
Micheal Ryan(0-02), Bryan Murray
Aaron Ryan, Danny Ryan(0-04), Dan Ryan(2-06 (1-04fs))
Ollie Delaney, Declan O’Connell, John Fitzgerald (0-01)
Subs:
Dan Brooks for Aaron Ryan
Diarmuid Kinnane for Declan O’Connell
Oisin Stapleton for John Fitzgerald
Jimmy Shanahan for Ollie Delaney
