Junior joy as Tullogher-Rosbercon bring All-Ireland crown back to Kilkenny!

A blistering start saw Tullogher-Rosbercon storm their way to junior club All-Ireland glory.

Fifteen years after losing the decider to Dripsey, the Kilkenny junior champions etched their name on the trophy with a dominant display over another Cork side, St Catherine’s.

Tullogher tore into action from the off in Croke Park, taking an early lead as they cemented their authority on the game. Cian O’Donoghue’s opening free was quickly followed by their first big strike, Marty Murphy running on to Danny Glennon’s third minute layoff before batting the sliotar to the net.

Tullogher were up and running - and didn’t stop. O’Donoghue added more points, one from an impressive line ball, before they hit St Catherine’s with another hammer blow. Walter Walsh did all the damage. After winning a puck-out on the Catherine’s 65m line he turned for goal and couldn’t be halted, pausing only to rifle an unstoppable shot into the bottom left corner of the Canal End net.

Tullogher were relentless in the first half, shutting off a supply of ball at midfield. With O’Donoghue leading the way on the scoring front their impressive attack kept pulling away. The defence was just as good, keeping Catherine’s on a tight leash - they limited the Cork side to just three points from play in the opening half (2-14 to 0-9).

The second half didn’t produce the same fireworks, but Tullogher won’t mind. A  series of points from Conor Hennessy, Danny Glennon and Walter Walsh helped stem an early Catherine’s revival, before the sure-shooting of Cian O’Donoghue helped push them towards the title. Catherine’s did grab a late goal through Rory Galvin, but there was no denying Tullogher their night of glory.

See this week’s Kilkenny People for full match report and reaction.

SCORERS
Tullogher-Rosbercon - Cian O’Donoghue (0-10, 0-6 frees, 0-1 line ball); Walter Walsh (1-3); Marty Murphy (1-2); Conor Hennessy (0-3); Colman O’Sullivan, Jason Shiely, Danny Glennon (0-1 each).

St Catherine’s - Rory Galvin (1-1); Eoin Davis (0-4, frees); Sean O’Donoghue (0-3, frees); Kian O’Donoghue, Oisin Fitzgerald, Kyle Wallace, Brian Mulcahy, Conor Hegarty (0-1 each).