Tyrrellspass pull away from Tang in second half

Tyrrellspass 0-16, Tang 0-7

Tyrrellspass pulled themselves together after a disappointing first-half display to emerge comfortable winners in this SFC encounter at TEG Cusack Park on Sunday evening.

Buoyed by the experience of Jamie Gonoud and the returning Ger Egan, Eddie Kinsella’s charges trailed by 0-6 to 0-4 at the break but confidently outscored a limited Tang outfit 0-12 to 0-1 in the second half to secure their second victory in the top section.

Tang just couldn’t build on the progress shown in the first half, and looked completely outgunned and out of ideas in the second, although Tyrrellspass will themselves have plenty of reflection on their performance ahead of round four. The Tidy Town kicked 13 out of a whopping total of 24 wides, with the total wide count accrued by both sides exceeding the number of actual scores.

It was the men in sky blue and navy, however, who had the best of the opening ten minutes, with Ger Egan and corner back Jamie Corcoran kicking superb scores after an initial exchange of wides. Kieran Geraghty also had a goalbound shot blocked.

Tang then drew level with two scores inside the 11th minute, thanks to a free from Adam Neary and a well-taken point by Shane Hanley, who capitalised on some slack Tyrrellspass defending. Tang then took the lead (0-4 to 0-3) with a brace of Neary frees either side of a dead ball effort from Egan.

In the ensuing 15 minutes, Hanley (Tang) and Peter Clarke (Tyrrellspass) threatened the goal at either end but neither conjure a score to lift the game out of a pattern of wides. On 24 minutes, Cathal Dunne had a chance to net for Tyrrellspass after doing well to claim a high ball, but he shot well wide.

Neary tacked on another free for battling Tang and they extended their lead to three on 28 minutes when Kieran Duncan found himself through on goal after a swift move. Surrounded by Tyrrellspass defenders, Duncan went for goal but could only manage a point.

Tyrrellspass, yearning for the short whistle after a poor half, continued to miss the target, with Tommy Ryan kicking short and Egan firing wide. However, right before the interval, Ryan and Clarke combined to tee up Nigel Harte for a much-needed point.

On the restart, Tyrrellspass attacked from the off but after Jamie Gonoud set up Ryan for a point, another wide resulted.

However, within five minutes, scores from Kieran Geraghty, Peter Clarke and a second for Nigel Harte turned a two-point deficit into a one-point lead.

From there, it was largely one-way traffic, although Tang briefly looked to have steadied the ship when, after two consecutive Tyrrellspass wides, Adam Neary dug deep to kick a superb score under pressure, making it 0-7 apiece.

But that was as good as it got for the Maroons, as Tyrrellspass kicked on and closed out the game with nine unanswered scores. Ger Egan added a free before Kieran Geraghty fed Adam Flanagan to impressively handpass over the bar.

A great individual point from Peter Clarke extended the lead to three, and at the other end, John Rock clipped the upright for luckless Tang. By the 52nd minute, Egan (a free) and Flanagan (a terrific individual score) extended Tyrrellspass’s lead to five, and things looked ominous for their opponents.

That lead became six a minute later when Egan converted another free after Rock was booked for a high tackle on Tyrrellspass’s Tommy Ryan.

Along with earlier subs Robert English and Aidan Burke, Tang introduced John Tumelty to shore up the attack but in truth, the Maroons rarely looked like scoring during the final third of the game. Tyrrellspass, meanwhile, should have scored more.

That said, they had the luxury of springing Evan Connell from the bench and he obliged with a decent brace in the dying minutes, before Ryan became the Tidy Town’s eighth name on the scoresheet with his side’s final score two minutes into stoppage time.

Scorers - Tyrrellspass: G Egan 0-5 (4f), N Harte, P Clarke, A Flanagan and E Connell 0-2 each, J Corcoran, K Geraghty and T Ryan 0-1 each. Tang: A Neary 0-4 (3f), S Hanley 0-2 (1f), K Duncan 0-1.

Tyrrellspass: Joe Hyland; Jamie Gonoud, Kai Harte, Jamie Corcoran; Cormac Monaghan, Nigel Harte, Conor Slevin; David Hanlon, Adam Flanagan; Val Sizychas, Kieran Geraghty, Peter Clarke; Tommy Ryan, Cathal Dunne, Ger Egan. Subs used: Evan Connell for Slevin (43), Mikie Mullen for Dunne (57), Chris Daly for K Harte (60).

Tang: Owen Coughlan; Conall McKiernan, Kieran Duncan, Tommy Lennon; Jason Coughlan, Ronan Hanley, Richard Laffan; Ciaran Clear, Fergus Farrell; Adam Neary, Shane Coughlan, Shane Keenan; Martin Rock, Shane Hanley, John Rock. Subs used: Conor Marlow for Clear (43), Robert English for Farrell (43), Aidan Burke for M Rock (46), David Marlow for Lennon (51), John Tumelty for J Rock (56).

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