Harps will be disappointed but have the platform now to push on
CONGRATULATIONS to Tourlestrane for achieving the elusive double over the team that stopped them on their previous two attempts Eastern Harps, in what proved a hard-fought contest.
Last week I didn’t give Harps any chance but they proved me wrong with a determined challenge getting their tactics spot on in the first half, pushing up hard on the Tourlestrane kick outs where they fancied themselves under the long ball.
They also got their defenders well set up when Tourlestrane were in possession forcing them into a number of rash shots on goal with the winners shooting seven wides in the first half. In this first period Eastern Harps had the favourites rattled getting under the skins of the Tourlestrane players who started to lose their discipline and were unable to get their shooters on the ball.
Eastern Harps did rely on the accuracy of Shane O’Grady from placed balls with all six of their points coming from his frees in the first half.
The reality is, half time came at the wrong time for Eastern Harps and the right time for Tourlestrane giving Eamonn and Gerry a chance to get them settled and reorganised.
In this regard Tourlestrane having to come out and go at Eastern Harps, did what they do best when playing attacking football as opposed to playing on the counter attack and had reeled in the fourpoint margin within 9 minutes.
Tourlestrane inadvertently also benefited from the injury to Stephen Henry (hopefully nothing too serious) which forced the move of Pat Harte out to midfield who had a major influence in turning the game in their favour in the opening fifteen minutes of the second half.
If Johnny Kelly was man of the match a close second had to be Cathal Henry who was outstanding in trying to take the game to Eastern Harps when things weren’t going his side’s way and capped off a lovely flick down by Liam Gaughan with an outstanding goal which gave them the platform to toy with Harps for the last ten minutes.
Others to impress for Tourlestrane other than the aforementioned were the Dunne brothers who worked tirelessly all over the field,
Brian Egan who got a number of important scores and Gary and Liam Gaughan with Liam’s movement a joy to watch. Adrian McIntyre showed his usual leadership qualities best typified when saving a point going over the bar in the first half at a very crucial stage when Harps were in control.
In fairness Harps never gave up and were always in the game with Ross Donovan getting the best score of the day in injury time to leave it a one score match but Johnny Kelly had the last say with a fisted point that made sure of the double.
While Harps will be disappointed with the loss I feel they can be very proud of what they achieved this year, as if they were told at the beginning of the year they were going to reach a county final they would have taken it and will be very pleased that they left everything on the pitch giving them a great platform to push on next year.
In Shane O’Grady they have a marksman from placed balls who is hugely reliable and it’s great to see Tony Taylor preforming after a number of interrupted seasons.
County minor Evan Lavin is another player that has the potential in future years to make a senior county breakthrough.
For Tourlestrane they now play the winners of Mohill and Castlebar in the Connacht semi-final which will be more than likely Castlebar who must be feeling the effects of a very heavy schedule playing week in week out in addition to a mid-week replay which gives Tourlestrane an opening to qualify for a Connacht Final as Castlebar are not the team of a couple of years ago. Since 1994 Tourlestrane have now won 10 Senior County titles which matches Tubbercurry’s 10 titles in 23 years from 1917 to 1940, which is a huge achievement in the modern era with the current joint manager Eamonn O’Hara involved as either a player or Manager in all 10 which is no coincidence.
For Eamonn and the O’Hara family, it was a bitter sweet and emotional moment after the passing two weeks ago of his father Jack who had a huge influence on his career and his number one supporter, but there is no doubt he was giving his advice and cheering from his seat in the sky.