Tipperary SHC final/Toomevara 2-12 Eire Og/Golden 2-12: Toomevara remain the masters of Tipperary. In perfect autumnal conditions in Thurles yesterday, they lengthened their domination of the local scene with a comfortable win over the curiosity of this year's county championship, Éire Óg/Golden.
Traditional west Tipperary adversaries, the clubs managed to merge together and fashion a senior entity capable of making it as far as this year's county final at the first time of asking.
For neutrals, that novelty was a mixed blessing, as the fear had been that the "Combo" would be brushed past by Toomevara, who have won nine of the past 13 Tipperary championships and six of the last seven.
Although the last 15 minutes lacked oomph, it was not the mismatch that commentators feared. Combo will long rue their almost comically terrible start to the final, when they allowed Toomevara to sting them for two goals in the opening five minutes.
It was, inevitably, Tommy Dunne who set the ball rolling, beating Mark Bargary with a low, dribbling shot off balance that fell limply into the net. Four minutes later Paddy O'Brien finished a slick outfield sequence involving Ken Dunne and Frank Devanney.
When O'Brien, captain and man of the match on the afternoon, fired a free after seven minutes, it looked as if Combo would be overwhelmed.
But, as so often happens, the superior team became lax and a touch indulgent while their opponents grew desperate and brave.
The 25 minutes that Éire Óg/Golden contributed after shipping those demoralising scores were tremendous.
They were practically hauled back into the match by 40-year-old John Quinn, a Tipp trialist back in the Babs Keating era and now blunt of shoulder and sharp of mind.
Even through the early haze of Toomevara splendour, Quinn looked to have the know-how to work some change out of his smaller marker, Phil Shanahan.
Ronan O'Brien threaded a ball down field towards the veteran and he nimbly pointed to leave the score at 2-4 to 1-5. A minute later, Combo tried the same tactic. This time, Quinn rounded Shanahan, bustled inside full back Tony Delaney and rapped home a goal.
It arrived just as the Combo back line had begun to get to grips with Toomevara's angled passing and free-running forward line. Suddenly, the feisty Vinny Ryan and Combo's excellent wing back Jim Bob McCarthy began clearing balls that initially troubled them.
Aidan and David Fogarty added two more points for Combo as they drew level. By half-time, at 2-5 to 1-8, it appeared as if Toomevara had been sucked into the type of final they could have done without. Combo were so pleased with the first half hour that they apparently decided to replicate it - down to gifting their illustrious opponents yet again.
This time, it took them 10 seconds to concede a goal, Paddy O'Brien again at hand to finish Willie Ryan's low ball at the second time of asking. Handing Toomevara three cheap goals is not the stuff that will win you a county final.
The challengers stayed in touch for the next 10 minutes, but when big Eoin Brislane was posted on the edge of the Éire Óg/Golden box, the game opened up. Powerful and aggressive, he had caused problems at midfield and effectively ended the contest by delivering 1-2 in two minutes.
His goal was typically emphatic - Francis Devenney found him with a gorgeous squared past and Brislane went for velocity. It was a fine goal, but ended the intrigue for neutrals. After that, Toomevara began playing more directly and the points followed.
The game went downhill after that, mired by a few aimless squabbles and the inevitable parade of substitutions. Quinn put a fairer gloss on the scoreboard when he stuck home his second goal at the close of normal time, first-timing David Fogarty's blocked free and squeezing the ball through a crowd.
And so once more it falls to Toomevara to carry the Tipperary light through Munster, where success has been thin on the ground in recent years.
TOOMEVARA: J Cottrell; J Boland, T Delaney, P Shanahan; T Dunne, B Dunne, D Young; P Hackett, E Brislane (1-2); K Dunne (0-3 frees), F Devanney (0-1), T Dunne (1-2); M Bevins (0-1), P O'Brien( 2-3), W Ryan. Subs: B Duff for P Shanahan (53 mins); D Kelly for W Ryan (55 mins); K Cummins for M Bevins (55 mins); A Ryan for T Dunne (56 mins).
ÉIRE ÓG/GOLDEN: M Bargary; V Ryan, K McCarthy, P Fogarty; D Carr, L Mooney, JB McCartthy (0-2, frees); A Fogarty (0-1), B Fogarty; D O'Brien (0-2), David Fogarty (0-3, frees), Daithi Fogarty (0-1); R O'Brien (0-2), S Stapleton, J Quinn (2-1). Subs: J Tierney for A Fogarty (36 mins), G Fogarty for D Carr (55 mins), M Harding for Dáithí Fogarty (57 mins).
Referee: W Clohessy.
