Brotherly love in short supply as Tooreen ‘pearse’ hopes of Exiles
Shane Morley (centre) and his management team have overseen back to back wins by a combined margin of 61 points for Tooreen over Four Roads of Roscommon and Brothers Pearse of London. Picture: David Farrell Photography
Another week, another record.
Tooreen followed up their 37 points thrashing of Four Roads – the largest winning margin in the history of the Connacht intermediate club hurling championship – by issuing the heaviest defeat ever experienced by the club champions of London since entering the provincial competition in 2018.
The slide since St Gabriel’s that year lost to Tooreen by two points and Robert Emmets took the Blue Devils to extra-time 12 months later has been quite alarming. St Gabriel’s lost by 22 points when hosting Tooreen last season and when Brothers Pearse made their Connacht debut on Saturday, the margin had increased by another two points.
Time was when Tooreen – and Ballyhaunis – had fears of being undercooked for the provincial championship because the Mayo final was generally the only competitive game either would have had. And sure enough Tooreen scraped past Four Roads by a single point in the first ever match of the newly introduced Connacht intermediate championship in 2013 while Ballyhaunis were beaten by the same opposition two years later. These days, however, the Mayo final is proving the only competitive game Tooreen are getting before the Connacht final – and they even won that by 15 points this year against Ballyhaunis, in what was the most one-sided county final (on the scoreboard at least) since Tooreen beat Castlebar Mitchels 3-18 to 0-4 all the way back in 1994.
Contrast that with Kilconieron who Tooreen will now play in the Connacht final on Saturday week. After 140 minutes of hurling between themselves and Mullagh, there was just one point between them on the scoreboard as the replayed Galway intermediate final went to extra-time last Saturday. Factor in the restructuring of the Galway senior championship, which almost inevitably produced a higher quality intermediate champion, and Tooreen can expect a major challenge for their Connacht crown. But do they look in excellent shape for the battle to come? Absolutely.
All but two points of their 3-32 was scored from play against a Brothers Pearse side that had also won London titles 2020 and 2023 but for whom this – for various reasons – was a first appearance in Connacht. 13 players raised flags for Tooreen while the visitors were overly reliant on the outstanding Paul Kennedy, the Cork native finishing with ten points, including five from play.
Kennedy might have had a goal too, but he drilled into the side-netting in the eighth minute at which stage Tooreen were already 1-3 to no score in front.
Their goal, by Fionn Delaney, came after points from Liam Lavin and the Boland brothers, Shane and Fergal, and when Aidan O’Brien was set-up by Shane Kelly and Mark Kilgannon to eventually get Brothers Pearse off the mark with an excellent long range point, Fergal Boland and Liam Lavin immediately doubled their tallies with a point apiece.
Next to score for Tooreen was Oisin Greally whose deployment at full-forward was an interesting move for a player more accustomed to the full-back line but who had also featured at midfield against Four Roads. His point left the six-in-a-row Mayo champions 1-6 to 0-1 ahead after only 12 minutes. And his wasn’t the only versatility on show as half-backs Stephen Coyne and Joe Boyle split the posts within minutes of each other while a third point for Lavin and three in the space of 90 seconds by Eoin Delaney extended the lead to 1-12 to 0-3, with Paul Kennedy having now scored his first two points for the Exiles.
He struck three more in-a-row, one of them a free from 65 metres, before Brothers Pearse were dealt a hammer blow in the 30th minute when Fionn Delaney rifled home his and Tooreen’s second goal.
It was incredibly cruel on the Londoners that both goals had come as a result of the sliotar rebounding high off the right post when Tooreen had actually sought points, with Delaney alert and well positioned to capitalise on the slackness of Brothers Pearse beneath the dropping ball on both occasions. A point by Shane Boland rounded off the first-half scoring and left Tooreen 2-13 to 0-6 in front.
It took a flying save by goalkeeper Mike Noonan to prevent Fionn Delaney from completing his hat-trick just four minutes into the second-half, the exquisite final pass by Shane Boland complementing the build-up play involving Tooreen stopper Bobby Douglas, Stephen Coyne, Daniel Huane, Fergal Boland and Joe Boyle.
The two Bolands did strike points to negate those scored at the other end by Noah Quinlan and Paul Kennedy, a free, and Douglas drove over a free for Tooreen before Liam Lavin slipped in from the right wing and drilled home their third goal.
Eight of the next ten points also went the way of Shane Morley’s side, with Daniel Huane, two, and substitute Brian Morley becoming the newest contributors, helping to leave 23 points between the teams (3-24 to 0-10) with over 15 minutes still left to play.
It should be said that Brothers Pearse never threw in the towel; Mark Kilgannon pucked over a glorious point from the tightest of angles inside the 13 metre line on the right while Noah Quinlan had goal on the mind but instead blazed high and wide in the 46th minute. They were finally rewarded with a green flag on 53 minutes when a 20-metre free by Paul Kennedy was blocked into the path of substitute Mikey Garvey who pulled on the loose ball.
Another sub, Brendan Kelly, added a point not long after while it’s arguable the best score of the day was delivered by Paul Kennedy on 59 minutes when he superbly caught a clearance by Darragh Bolger, turned and fired over from 65 metres from in front of the stand. But Tooreen had long since planted both feet in the Connacht final, as Fionn Delaney, Brian Morley, Oisin Greally, Daniel Huane and Eoin Delaney each bolstered their hauls with points, while substitutes Sean Kenny, twice, and Cathal Freeman also got in on the scoring act, rounding off another comfortable afternoon for the East Mayo outfit.
Scorers – Tooreen: Fionn Delaney 2-1, Liam Lavin 1-3, Fergal Boland 0-6, Shane Boland (1 ’65) and Eoin Delaney 0-4 each, Daniel Huane 0-3, Oisin Greally, Joe Boyle, Sean Kenny (1f) and Brian Morley 0-2 each, Stephen Coyne, Bobby Douglas (f) and Cathal Freeman 0-1 each.
Brothers Pearse: Paul Kennedy 0-10 (5f), Mikey Garvey 1-0, Aidan O’Brien, Noah Quinlan, Mark Kilgannon and Brendan Kelly 0-1 each.
Tooreen: Bobby Douglas; Padraic Mooney, Conal Hession, Michael Morley; Joe Boyle, Stephen Coyne, David Kenny; Daniel Huane, Fergal Boland; David Delaney, Shane Boland, Liam Lavin; Fionn Delaney, Oisin Greally, Eoin Delaney. Subs: Cathal Freeman (for Hession 15-16, temp), Sean Kenny and Brian Morley (D Delaney and S Boland 41), Sean Regan (for M Morley 42), Cathal Freeman and David Harrison (for Lavin and F Boland 46).
Brothers Pearse: Mike Noonan; Ruairí Cummins, Padraig Muldoon, Darragh Bolger; Adam Cunney, Denis O’Farrell, Malcolm Flannery; Tom O’Regan, Niall Fitzgerald; Conor Walsh, Noah Quinlan, Aidan O’Brien; Paul Kennedy, Shane Kelly, Mark Kilgannon. Subs: Brendan Kelly (for S Kelly 28), Dean Bruen (for Walsh 39), Mikey Garvey (for O’Brien 42).
REF: Brian Keon (Galway)
