Tullaroan always in control in commanding  victory over ‘Boro

Tullaroan made it two wins from two with a relatively convincing success over a disappointing Dicksboro side in Pairc Lachtain on Saturday evening.

The Sash backed up an opening round win over Danesfort, and with Dylan Simpson again standing out alongside goalkeeper Niall Holland, who knocked over a series of points from distance, it was an afternoon where Tullaroan controlled the majority of the contest.

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Dicksboro had started well with a Liam Moore goal, but like in the city derby with O’Loughlin Gaels, a lot of their better players didn’t perform to the required standard. With Danesfort the opposition at the weekend, the ‘Boro will be desperate to get their campaign up and running.

Tullaroan made the brighter start, with Niall Holland and Gearoid Dunne pointing within five minutes of the throw-in before Kilkenny star Liam Moore then netted a goal for the ‘Boro. He took advantage of a loose Padraig Walsh clearance to get the Palmerstown outfit up and running.

Niall Holland followed up with two massive efforts in his own half, though Dicksboro remained in touch with Harry Shine and Cillian Hackett both splitting the posts.

Martin Walsh and Shane Stapleton then swapped efforts to leave the sides level at 0-6 to 1-3 approaching the latter end of the opening period.

Two points in succession from Mossy Keoghan, who was relatively well marshalled up to this stage, and Niall Holland’s fourth of the half soon had Tullaroan ahead once again. However, Dicksboro did finish the half quite welll.

Back-to-back Shane Stapleton frees levelled up matters for the fifth time in the opening 30 minutes, before Eoghan Moylan then edged the Boro into a 1-6 to 0-8 advantage as he found the target from distance.

Tullaroan then hit a bit of a spurt with Dylan Simpson, Peter Walsh, Gearoid Dunne and team captain Bill Gaffney all splitting the posts as they went into the break with a narrow one-point advantage. Dicksboro were back on level terms within seconds of the resumption as Shane Stapleton fired over his fourth free of the game. They were almost in for a goal shortly afterwards when a Dan Carroll effort was well saved by Holland.

Points were then exchanged between Stapleton and Anthony Clifford on the Dicksboro side and Dylan Simpson and Eamon Holland for Tullaroan with still very little to seperate the teams.

Successive efforts from Simpson and Gearoid Dunne gave Tullaroan a bit of breathing space on the scoreboard as they edged two clear and aside from Tom McPhillips getting is second score of the game in the 41st minute, the ‘Boro really struggled to make an imprint from play in the second half.

Stapleton kept the ‘Boro honest with his consistency on the placed balls, but Tullaroan would go on to outscore the city side 0-7 to 0-3 over the course of the final quarter. Tullaroan’s attacking play eventually began to bear fruit during this spell with Simpson and Keoghan both scoring from play as they began to push clear on the scoreboard.

Stapleton’s final point of the half in the 49th minute kept the Boro within range but they wilted in the final few minutes with four Tullaroan points on the trot really putting a gloss on the scoreline for the winners as Simpson continued his dominant spell with three more scores before Niall Holland rounded off a fantastic individual display for himself when converting a free from his own 65.

Jim Moore and Mark Nolan then exchanged late scores as Tullaroan showed their battling qualities as they won out by six points in the end and with two wins on the board, the pressure is off a little ahead of a meeting with the Shamrocks on Saturday.

Teams and Scorers

Tullaroan: Dylan Simpson (0-8, 3fs); Niall Holland (0-5, 4fs); Gearoid Dunne (0-3); Martin Keoghan, Peter Walsh (0-2 each); Martin Walsh, Bill Gaffney, Eamon Holland, Jim Moore (0-1 each)

Dicksboro: Shane Stapleton (0-8, 7fs); Liam Moore (1-0); Tom McPhillips (0-2); Harry Shine, Anthony Clifford, Cillian Hackett, Eoghan Moylan (0-1 each)

Tullaroan: Niall Holland; Joe Coughlan, Tomas Dunne, Eamon Holland; Tommy Walsh, Padraig Walsh, Bill Walton; Martin Walsh, Bill Gaffney; Martin Keoghan, Peter Walsh, Dylan Simpson; Mark Simpson, Gearoid Dunne, Ciallin Brennan.

Subs; John Walton for Simpson, 51 mins; Charlie Cleere for Gaffney, 60 mins; Jim Moore for Brennan, 60 mins.

Dicksboro: Darragh Holohan; Niall Rowe, Evan Cody, Eoghan Moylan; Padraic Moylan, Tom Kenny, Tom McPhillips; Kevin Moore, Cillian Hackett; Anthony Clifford, Harry Shine, Timmy Clifford; Liam Moore, Shane Stapleton, Dan Carroll.

Subs: Patrick Lacey for Carroll, 39 mins; Eoin Fennelly for McPhillips, 41 mins; Mark Nolan for Hackett, 50 mins.

Referee: Patrick O’Reilly