Borris-Ileigh GAA Club Match Report
Borris-Ileigh vs Thurles Sarsfields (FBD Insurance Senior County Hurling League- Round 2)
2nd April 2022
Borris-Ileigh starting lineup
James McCormack
Colm Boyle Ciaran Cowan Liam Ryan (C)
Seamus Burke Sean McCormack Ray McCormack
Mikey Kennedy Tomas Ryan (1-1)
Shane Kenny (1 pt) Jerry Kelly (1-9 (8fs)) Kevin Maher
Conor Kenny (1pt ) Jack Fitzgerald James “JD” Devaney
Shane McCormack for Mikey Kennedy
Bill O’Connell for Colm Boyle
Jody Harkin for Sean McCormack
Jack Hogan for Shane Kenny
Borris-Ileigh resumed their 2022 County League campaign with a short visit to Thurles for a meeting with County Championship runners up, Thurles Sarsfields on Saturday, the 2nd of April. Borris made 2 changes from their first outing with James McCormack and Seamus Burke deputising for Mixie Carey and Brendan Maher respectively. With both teams winning their round 1 matches convincingly, an evenly contested game was expected. Both teams started with a physical approach in tough conditions which limited early scoring, Shane Kenny doing well to set up Jerry Kelly’s first point of the game with a well worked score. Tom Foot added a second for Borris after good team play but attacking play was hard to come by. Thurles were playing against the wind in the first half but showed good passing in their ranks without showing the finishing touch. Borris used the win with a well-directed long puckout to find Conor Kenny who did well to garner a free which was duly finished by Jerry for his first placed ball success of the game. The game then went into a lull for a few minutes with both teams struggling to create chances but Borris then really ramped up the work ethic, especially in the final third which led to two chances, the first was a JD penetrating run towards goal that was well blocked by Sars defenders and the second a Jerry handpass to Conor who brought just reward from the efforts on the scoreboard with Borris coming more and more to grips with Sars possession game. Borris missed two frees in the period but tough windy conditions had arrived to halt Borris’ continued ascendancy on the scoreboard. Borris refused to drop their intensity however and this led to two further frees with Kevin Maher gaining a well earned foul and Mikey Kennedy following suit with Jerry adding the finishing touches for Borris to lead 6-3. A key moment in the game then occurred with Sars opening up the Borris defence before James McCormack made a point blank save to deny the Sars before Borris went up the other end and Jerry ending a fantastic team goal that involved passing from Shane Kenny, Mikey Kennedy and finishing with a cool finish by Jerry to open up a gap between the teams. Sars had went through a significant scoring blight with the dual issue of the windy conditions but also the composed defending of the Borris backs who did well in the tackle and then created numbers quickly to stop any Sars attacking. This changed however as the final minutes of the half occurred with Sars working more patiently through the lines to create better chances and apart from a Shane Kenny score, finished the half well with Borris still leading on a scoreline of 1-7 to 6 points.
Jody Harkin replaced Sean McCormack at half time but the second half started as the first finished with Sars, now buoyed with a wind behind their backs getting on top and moving from third to third more efficiently and giving their forwards opportunities to eat away at the deficit. Borris’ backs did well in the contest but were struggling to adapt to the windy conditions and keep ball in their final third. It took the Borris team 7 minutes into the second half to increase their presence on the scoreboard with Jack Fitz doing very well to win a free which was finished by Jerry, the center forward’s 4th from placed ball. Sars continued their control however, with an exclamation point when Billy McCarthy was the receiver of a very well worked team play and showed a cool head to slot to the top corner of the net to put Sars ahead with Borris needing to change the momentum. Sars had scored 1-4 in a quick period at beginning of the second half but Borris retaliated with Jerry scoring free number 5 and 6 but Sars still leading on a scoreline of 1-11 to 1-10. Shane McCormack replaced Mikey Kennedy in the period but Sars to their credit were looking more the scoring threat with multiple threatening plays whereas Borris were relying on scraps up front for large periods. This changed however when the ball broke for Jerry who passed to Conor who found Tom Foot who finished very well to pump life into the Borris comeback. The game was very tight leading into the final minutes with Sars scoring from play and Borris working well up front to create free taking opportunities with Jack Fitz in particular doing incredibly well without a hurley to gather possession before Jerry finished his 8th free of the game, the team’s final score of the game but Sars won a free in the final moments to finish the game as a draw on a scoreline of Borris-Ileigh 2-12 to Thurles Sarsfield’s 1-15.
Borris will be better off for this contest today in enemy territory against a tough team in tough conditions whilst missing multiple first team players. The team had an excellent purple patch in the first half when the team intensity, in particular the half forward line effort really led to turnovers and cool finishing for points and a well taken goal. Jerry Kelly deserves mention for an excellent all round display including efficient free taking in windy conditions, versatile positioning across the middle third and composed play to set up multiple opportunities. Borris were really under the coil in the second half but long time backs Seamus Burke and Liam Ryan really did well in their 1:1 contests to keep Sars at bay. Stay tuned to the club’s social media accounts for updates on the team’s next game on the weekend of the 16th of April.
