Final Agony

Moloney’s heroics not enough to save gallant Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry

   The storm clouds had gathered over Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry by half-time of Sunday’s All-Ireland Club Intermediate Hurling Final at Croke Park.

   For there was a sense of inevitability about the outcome as the Galway champions trailed by four points – they were lucky it wasn’t more – to slicker, sharper if wasteful Watergrasshill opponents from Cork.

   But by the end of an absorbing battle, one’s heart went out to Mattie Kenny’s men as they were desperately unlucky not to have at least forced extra-time after a stirring second-half display.

   No wonder, many of the Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry players slumped to their knees in dejection at the final whistle.  They had been heroic over that closing 35 minutes, including stoppage time, only to come up just short in a fluctuating decider.

   Given little chance of success against a Cork outfit which contained three players from divisional side Imokilly – winners of the county senior title last year – Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry had Watergrasshill on the rack for long periods of the second-half, but though edging a point ahead on three occasions, they crucially couldn’t put any more daylight between the teams.

   The central figure in their admirable comeback was Shane Moloney, who reminded us why he was mentioned in the same breath as Joe Canning during his juvenile days.  Moloney had a brilliant third quarter after being switched from midfield to wing forward on the resumption.

   He lofted over four superb points from play and converted a mighty sideline cut from 55 yards to help turn the final on its head.  Moloney, however, was starting to struggle with damaged ribs and that may have accounted for a couple of wayward frees during the same period.

   If the 2015 All-Ireland senior county semi-final match winner had been the catalyst for Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry’s revival, Ben Moran was the player who stood out in the closing stages, nailing two frees and also splitting the posts with a couple of crackers from play which looked as though they might be enough to get the Galway challengers over the line.

   Unfortunately, Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry were hit by a sucker punch in the fifth minute of stoppage time.  Watergrass midfielder Anthony Cronin delivered up-field and though there appeared enough defensive cover, the ball broke to Seán Desmond and he surged through open territory before planting the sliotar past Brendan Lynch.

   In that moment, Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry’s hopes of All-Ireland glory vanished.  It was a cruel outcome in the circumstances, but for periods of the match their last line defence and goalkeeper Lynch, had been jittery.  It didn’t help them either that none of the starting forwards – Shane Moloney began in midfield – scored until Niall Moloney split the posts in the 55^th minute.

   Ultimately, Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry had their problems at both ends of the field, but that can’t take away from a noble effort which saw Paul Killeen – another player with an injury issue – producing a fine first-half performance in a deep-lying role, making his switch to the attack on the resumption a little baffling.

   There were no big-day nerves from Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry early on.  They flew out of the blocks and had established a 0-4 to 0-1 after just seven minutes.  Defenders David Jordan and Kevin Moloney picked off excellent points; while Shane Moloney added another and also converted a free.

   In that context, to only manage three more points for the rest of the half was disappointing and two of those were Moloney frees.  Killeen did fire over an inspirational score in the 32^nd minute but, by that stage, Watergrasshill had assumed control.

   Desmond and Adam Murphy were proving a handful in the central attacking channels, while their overall pace had the Galway title-holders in difficulty too.

   Lynch wasn’t looking assured between the posts and Watergrasshill’s opening goal from Murphy in the ninth minute would have been stopped on another day.

   The goalkeeper did deny Brendan Lehane with a fine save subsequently, but Watergrasshill were finding space and creating opportunities against opponents who occasionally created their own problems.

   Murphy and Desmond were taking advantage, but the Cork men also had quality points from Anthony Cronin and Brendan Lehane to deservedly lead by 1-8 to 0-7 at the break.

Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry were in big trouble, but Moloney’s switch to the half-forward line ignited them while they also began pressing up successfully on the Watergrasshill puck-out.  In jig time, the dynamics of the final changed.

   Moloney started making hay on the right wing; David Jordan’s move to the last line of defence gave them greater security; while all about the field there was more energy about Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry as Watergrasshill began to lose their shape.

   They were also restricted to just a solitary point in the third quarter – a smashing effort from Murphy – but his free-taking was to suffer a meltdown over the closing stages, contributing to a match tally of eleven wides compared to six for Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry.

   When Moloney landed his fourth consecutive point from play, his team now led by 0-13 to 1-9 in a dramatic turnaround.  All bets were off now and a Watergrasshill outfit which had looked in control were instead being asked serious questions.

   They began taking wrong options as well, notably when Desmond had a point at his mercy only to unsuccessfully try to create a goal chance – his pass across the square being intercepted by John Whelan.

   Watergrasshill did stop the rot with points from Murphy and Padraig O’Leary to edge back in front, but up stepped Ben Moran to exert a major influence at the other end.  His haul of four points left them on the brink of a famous victory only for white flags from substitute Dylan Roche and Desmond to leave the teams deadlocked after 63 minutes.

   The crowd of about 4,000 was preparing for extra time but the decisive moment went Watergrasshill’s way and Desmond made no mistake to break the hearts of a gallant Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry team which had come a long way over the past two years.

   Shane Moloney lit up Croke Park with his second-half heroics; Paul Killeen was immense in the opening 35 minutes; while Moran finished in a blaze of glory.  They needed more from key-men, Padraigh Breheny and Johnny Conroy, even if there was no shortage of effort from either player.

   David Jordan, despite the odd mistake, was their top defender in a sector which occasionally got the wires crossed even if the likes of Garry McHugo and Micheál Power lacked nothing in industry on a challenging day for them.

   The failure of the full-forward line to make a scoring impact also hurt Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry; while they were entitled to have complaints about some of the Antrim referee Colm McDonald’s opening-half decisions.

   Another blow was the surprise mid-week decision to uphold the harsh dismissal of Thomas Murphy in their semi-final win over Rathnure.  His physical presence alone wouldn’t have gone astray in the closing minutes.

   But the overall impression of the Galway champions leaving Croke Park on Sunday evening was that of a team which had left everything out there.  You can’t ask for anymore.

   At times, Watergrasshill looked in a different class but they had got to the final without being seriously tested and when it came down to a battle, their cohesion and fluency suffered.  In the end, however, they did enough to carry the day with Shane Field, Daire O’Leary, Anthony Cronin, Murphy and Desmond their stand-out players.

Editor’s Note

For the benefit of all those East-Galway fans and diaspora who did not get to read John McIntyre’s excellent commentary in the Connacht Tribune, on last Sunday’s All-Ireland Club Intermediate Hurling Final at Croke Park, we have reproduced it here.  In years to come this will provide a record of this unbelievable game of hurling.  All photos are from the Connacht Tribune of 17 January 2025.