SFC: Harte and soul win it for Tyrrellspass

Shay Murtagh Precast SFC quarter-final: Tyrrellspass 1-14, Caulry 1-10

Led ably by inter-county stars Nigel Harte and Jamie Gonoud, Tyrrellspass rose from their slumber in the second half against a game Caulry side at TEG Cusack Park yesterday evening (Saturday), to book their place in an SFC semi-final.

After a forgettable first half from a Tidy Town perspective, Ray Sheridan’s troops were well and truly on the ropes early in the second when a fisted goal from Caulry’s Paddy Sleator put the Mount Temple men in the driving seat.

But from the 40th minute, Tyrrellspass rallied and hit their opponents with 1-4, including a well-crafted goal from Dean McNicholas, and a fancied Caulry side – who were theretofore in control for long stretches of the game – were left downcast.

Losing experienced defender Damien Dolan to injury didn’t help their cause, while Tyrrellspass had that little bit more quality coming off the bench.

After an uninspiring and nervy first half, the sides were locked at 0-6 apiece, though Shane Curran’s Caulry charges looked a surer bet. Tyrrellspass were profligate going forward, and made little inroads when Caulry’s Eoghan Grennan was sin-binned after a 13th minute black card.

Sleator’s goal (33) looked decisive, but some canny substitutions, the Harte-Gonoud factor and McNicholas’s major made Tyrrellspass, on the whole, deserved winners.

Conor McCormack, an impressive playmaker and scorer-in-chief for the Reds, opened Caulry’s account with a nice point off his left after two minutes, and moments later, Alan Malynn doubled the lead with 40-metre free off the ground.

Tyrrellspass got off to an error-ridden start, registering a couple of wides before McCormack made it 0-3 to nil with a free. Caulry – in particular, Eoin Fox, Kevin Maguire, Damien Dolan and Sean Clinton – were defending well, but they suffered a setback on 13 minutes when Grennan was black-carded for a foul on Ger Egan.

Uncharacteristically, Egan shot the resultant free wide, but he made amends by hitting the target on 21 minutes. Four minutes earlier, Jamie Gonoud – now pushing further forward for the Tidy Town – had opened Tyrrellspass’s account with a curled effort.

However, they continued to miss the target and were almost caught out badly on 22 minutes, when Conor McCormack gave their defence the slip and netted for Caulry; the goal was ruled out due to McCormack’s fisted pass to an onrushing teammate crossing the goal line. When Damien Dolan made it 0-4 to 0-2 two minutes later and Grennan returned to the fray, it was a real psychological fillip for the Mount Temple men.

Tyrrellspass responded well, with Cathal Dunne grazing the right side of the upright before Tommy Ryan levelled matters with an accurate kick off the outside of his right boot.

With the game beginning to open up, it remained level at the break (0-6 apiece), with scores from Nigel Harte and Ger Egan (a free) cancelling out a brace from Conor McCormack (including a tremendous sideline ball from a tight angle on the terrace side).

Three minutes after the restart, Caulry set out their stall when the excellent McCormack showed pinpoint accuracy to pick out Paddy Sleator with a long ball down the centre. Sleator climbed high and fisted to the roof of the net, giving Tyrrellspass netminder Darren Quinn no chance.

The Tidy Town doubled up on McCormack, but this allowed some space for highly-rated corner forward Senan Baker to exert more influence. Baker kicked a fine 37th minute point to negate an earlier score from Tyrrellspass sub Adam Flanagan.

The men in sky blue continued to yap at Caulry’s heels, with a superb sideline ball from Tommy Ryan picking out Dean McNicholas for his first point, but the Reds maintained their one-goal lead with a score from Stephen Connolly.

Dolan’s injury followed, and Tyrrellspass’s strength in depth began to show, with subs Flanagan and Peter Pierson contributing greatly to the revival.

On 43 minutes, Ger Egan set the Tidy Town on their way with an excellent long-range score, before a magnificent run from Nigel Harte teed up Kieran Geraghty, who finished his angled run with a drive over the bar.

At the other end, Tyrrellspass survived a gilt-edged goal chance for Caulry’s Emmet Nally after an awkward bounce of the ball, before going on to take the lead for the first time following terrific scores from Harte (preceded by a lovely dummy) and Tommy Ryan.

Then came the key moment. After Caulry’s Senan Baker had a goal chance snuffed out, Tyrrellspass worked the ball downfield well – Nigel Harte was again at the centre of things – before Jamie Gonoud pumped a swerving ball towards the Caulry goal. Dean McNicholas rose high and claimed it before turning his marker and firing to the roof of the net, and Tyrrellspass were now four up (1-12 to 1-8) with nine minutes to go.

Alan Malynn pulled one back for Caulry with a free off the ground, before Harte restored the four-point gap with another superb point, this time off his left. In the 58th minute, Tyrrellspass moved five ahead when Peter Pierson seized on a sloppy kickout and drove the ball low at goal; the outstretched leg of Caulry ‘keeper Jack Connaughton managed to deflect it over the bar.

Senan Baker and Paddy Sleator combined for a late onslaught on the Tyrrellspass goal, with the latter getting two bites of the cherry, but encountering timely blocks from Adam Flanagan and Jamie Corcoran.

All that Sleator could muster was a stoppage-time point, as Tyrrellspass advanced to the penultimate round against The Downs, leaving Caulry to ponder what might have been.

Scorers – Tyrrellspass: D McNicholas 1-1, G Egan (2f) and N Harte 0-3 each, T Ryan 0-2, J Gonoud, C Dunne, A Flanagan, K Geraghty and P Pierson 0-1 each. Caulry: C McCormack 0-4 (1f, 1 s/l), P Sleator 1-1, A Malynn 0-2f, D Dolan, S Baker and S Connolly 0-1 each.

Tyrrellspass: Darren Quinn; Stephen Quinn, Jamie Corcoran, Jamie Gonoud; Val Sizychas, Conor Slevin, Nigel Harte; Denis Glennon, David Lynam; Kieran Geraghty, Aaron O’Brien, Ger Egan; Cathal Dunne, Dean McNicholas, Tommy Ryan. Subs used: Adam Flanagan for O’Brien (inj., h-t), Peter Pierson for Lynam (43), Peter Clarke for Dunne (52), Eoghan O’Neill for S Quinn (inj., 56).

Caulry: Jack Connaughton; Eoin Fox, Kevin Maguire, Sean Fox; Damien Dolan, Eoghan Grennan, Sean Clinton; Stephen Connolly, Sean Doyle; Conor McCormack, Paddy Sleator, Ben Moran; Alan Malynn, Colin Murphy, Senan Baker. Subs used: Harry Hughes for Moran (35), Emmet Nally for Murphy (37), Tom Cloonan for Dolan (inj., 40), Luke Buckley for Nally (inj., 46), Neil Clinton for Connolly (inj., 60 + 2).

Ref: Barry Pierce (St Mary’s, Rochfortbridge).