Tullylease goal blitz helps sink wasteful Millstreet

Tulylease 3-11 Millstreet 2-11

TULLYLEASE reinforced their interest in the Kanturk Co-Op Mart Duhallow JAHC after putting together a gutsy last quarter to better an erratic Millstreet in Dromtariffe on Tuesday evening.

By doing so, Tullylease found inner resolve to steady themselves and three goals in a five minute spell swung the issue at the close of a scrappy contest. In what was largely a disappointing clash, Tullylease won because they made less errors and worked that bit harder as the game aged.

Millstreet operated without county player Mark Ellis owing to a knock incurred against Waterford in the Munster SHC. And an inability to drive home their advantage when on top either side of the interval proved Millstreet’s undoing as 21 wides paints a frustrating picture.

At times, Tullylease were no great shakes in the finishing stakes but at a crucial stage during the second half, they asserted their authority in no uncertain terms with two goals from Markie Sheehy and another by Mark Field decided the outcome.

The initiative belonged to Millstreet early on, Danny Buckley created the opening for a Gerard McCarthy effort to be blocked only for Tadgh Collins follow up to net. That drew a positive response from Tullylease with points by Stephen O’Leary, Aidan O’Gorman and Shane Hehir with James Sheehy denied by Millstreet ‘keeper Patrick Dineen.

Millstreet regained a hold of the proceedings, encouraged by the play of Alan Murphy, Joe Lynch, David Barrett and Michael Vaughan. Let down by faulty scoring, points to Tomás Walsh and Vaughan helped Millstreet take a 1-6 to 0-7 advantage.

Both sides struggled in a scoreless third quarter, Tullylease five wides bettered by seven for Millstreet. The contest took a swing to Tullylease after James Sheehy placed Field for a lead goal.

That score sparked Tullylease to life, driven on by Eamon Hannigan, Stephen Stokes, Niall Collins and Shane Hehir, with Markie Sheehy striking for two goals.

Millstreet attempted to mount a rescue but a McCarthy goal surfaced too late to alter the outcome in favour of Tullylease. TULLYLEASE: D Kearney; E O’Gorman, E Hannigan, R Kiely; M Field 1-0, S Stokes, S McSweeney 0-1; S Kiely, S Hehir 0-1; N Collins 0-1, A O’Gorman 0-5 (4f, 1 ‘65’), M Sheehy 2-1; D Stokes, J Sheehy 0-1, S O’Leary 0-1. Subs: P Denn for Damien Stokes, Don Stokes for J Sheehy.

MILLSTREET: P Dineen; K Sheehan, B Sheahan, D Kiely; S Og O’Connor, A Murphy, D Barrett; B O’Connor, B O’Flynn; M Vaughan 0-5, G McCarthy 1-1, T Walsh 0-3 (1f); D Buckley, T Collins 1-0, J Lynch. Subs: P O’Connor for Kiely (inj), J Kelleher for Collins, T Sheehan 0-3 (2f) for B O’Connor.

REFEREE: M J O’Keeffe (Dromtariffe)