1991 - U-21 Final Defeat
St. Brendan's Retain U/21 Hurling Title
St. Brendan’s 3-12 ....... St. Mary’s 1- 8Report By: Eddie Rogers
THE
galeforce wind sweeping down from the Stieve Bloom mountains onto the exposed
Rath pitch made last Sunday's long delayed 1991 Under 21 hurling final a bleak
experience for players and spectators alike. For St. Brendan's, however, the
day had its compensation as they swept to a convincing 3-12 to 1-8 victory over
St. Mary's to retain the Teehan Cup which they were awarded under controversial
circumstances in 1990.
Contesting the final for the fourth consecutive year, the Birr-based St. Brendan's must have been surprised that they had matters so much their own way. Gaining first benefit of the elements proved a major factor in shaping the outcome, for St. Mary's never recovered from the early pounding which they received.
Shaken by early scores when Oisin O'Neill's pointed "65" was followed in the 2nd minute by Alan Hennessy's goal, St. Mary's began to f1ounder. Try as they would they simply could not contain an opposing side which showed great proficiency in picking off long range points, with Oisin O'Neill being the master in this respect. He simply devastated the opposition with the accuracy of his shooting under the most difficult circumstances.
Good Lead
By half time the rampant St. Brendan’ss had established a 1-10 to 0-1 lead, and even allowing for the strength of the wind that would favour St. Mary's on the resumption there were few who doubted the ultimate outcome at that stage.
St. Brendan's had shrewd hurling heads on the sideline also, and t he switches which brought Brian Whelehan back to buttress the defence against the wind, with Johnny Pilkington taking over leadership of the attack, flanked by Noel Hogan and Oisin O'Neill, went a long way towards enabling them to maintain their stranglehold.
Needed Goals
St. Mary's needed early second half scores if they were to have a ghost of a chance, but such was the inadequacy of their attack that they managed just four points in the third quarter, only one of which came from play.
Having failed to get within an ass's roar of the holders, St. Mary's fell away completely as the game ebbed, and successive goals by Noel Hogan and Alan Hennessy inside the closing twelve minutes ensured that Donal Golden's late goal for St. Mary's" augmented by points from Declan Maher and Colm Bourke, remained little more than meaningless statistics as the game meandered to its inevitable conclusion.
Superiority
Individually, collectively and tactically St. Brendan's held all the aces in a game in which they were clearly the superior side, This was scarcely surprising in view of the fact that they included on their line-out no fewer than 11 of the Birr senior panel defeated by Kiltormer two weeks earlier. The all-round strength displayed by the winners tends to make the singling out of individuals a bit invidious, but few will argue with the choice of Oisin O'Neill as the outstanding hurler on view. Apart from his own contribution of seven points, three of which were scored from play, he was the instigator of many other fruit-bearing attacks.
Invaluable
Alan Hennessy's brace of goals also proved invaluable, and other outstanding performers included full-back Neil Tierney, Johnny Pilkington, Brian Whelehan, John Carroll, Conor McGlone and Noel Hogan.
Effort alone proved insufficient for St. Mary's, whose hopes of repeating their 1978 victory had little foundation. The Shinrone/Ballyskenagh alliance never looked like depriving St. Brendan's of their third title in four years despite the game and genuine endeavours of goalkeeper Donal Franks, Eugene Ryan, Liam O'Toole, John Maher and Colm Bourke, the latter bearing the brunt of the attacking chores and equalling O'Neill's scoring feat by notching 0-7.
The Scorers
Scorers: St. Brendan's O. O'Neill (0-7), A. Hennessy (2-0), N. Hogan (1-2), B. Whelehan, R. Hogan and A. Rosney (0-1 each).
St. Mary's - C. Bourke (0-7), D. Golden (1-0), D. Maher (0-1).
ST. BRENDAN'S: Robert Sheils; Brian Guilfoyle, Neil Tierney, John Kirwan; Conor Hanniffy, Johnny Pilkington, John Carroll; Conor McGlone, Frankie Pilkington; Oisin O'Neill, Noel Hogan, Brian Hogan; Arnold Rosney, Brian Whelehan, Alan Hennessy.
ST. MARY'S: Damien Franks: Keith Russell, Flannan Ckary, Donal Franks; Eugene Ryan, John Maher, Denis Doughan; Liam O'Toole, John Dooley, Colm Bourke, Donal Golden, Declan Maher; Tomas O'Toole, Liam Clear, Pddraig. McLoughlin.
Referee : Dan Lawless (Kilcormac/Killoughey)