No ifs or buts about it - Upperchurch-Drombane fully deserved this memorable win over hotly fancied Thurles Sarsfields in the Mid Tipperary senior hurling semi-final at Holycross on Sunday.
They are in the senior final for the first time against Drom-Inch and though again outsiders, will have great grounds for optimism on the evidence of this display.
Upperchurch-Drombane supporters will be the first to acknowledge that this was no
t their best display of the year, but it was their most significant victory, and it brings with it, not just a place in the Mid final, but also progress to the closing stages of the county championship.
Granted they were helped by a spiritless display from The Blues who seemed devoid of life or ideas in a free-riden encounter, but from the word go Upperchurch set out their stall, stuck to their game plan, and it is a major coup for coach T J Connolly and his squad to have claimed the scalp of a side which harboured ambitions for a county title.
Sarsfields have not been helped by injuries and absentees this year but their campaign to date has fallen well below expectations. They struggled to beat Upperchurch in the league series, and so cannot have been unaware of the task confronting them, but on this day they showed no appetite for the contest, and the body language of players suggested that they had accepted their fate well before the finish and while the game was still there to be won.
Not so Upperchurch-Drombane who were lively and combative in the exchanges and even against the fresh breeze in a pedestrian first half carried the game to their opponents. After fifteen minutes The Church led 0-5 to 0-3. Deploying James Barry as an extra defender, they comfortably mopped up what Sarsfields had to offer and had to be very pleased with themselves when they reached the break trailing by only two points, 0-7 to 0-9.
The Sarsfields attack made little headway against the Upperchurch defence while, in contrast, the Shortts and Padraig Greene, were stretching the Thurles defence. Little was seen of Sarsfields inter-county men in play, though Pa Bourke's accuracy from frees kept their noses in front. County minor Denis Maher and Liam cahill were working hard in attack but Upperchurch were profitting from the solid work of Jack Ryan, Colm Ryan and Padraig Stapleton.
Sarsfields needed a big improvement after the break, but it was Upperchurch who lifted their game, points by Padraig Greene and a brace from Colm Ryan edging them ahead by the 10th minute. Pa Burke levelled for Sarsfields from a free but with confidence growing by the minute, Upperchurch stretched three clear with efforts from Jody Brennan, Pat Shortt and James Barry as the third quarter came to a conclusion.
The gauntlet was down now and in the 16th minute, a Michael Cahill delivery was fielded in typical style by Larry Corbett who careered through for a levelling goal for Sarsfields.
If anyone doubted Upperchurch's spirit they got their answer very promptly as three minutes later two Sarsfields defenders collided allowing the ball to run through to Eoin Shortt who raced through to blaze past a helpless Patrick McCormack.
Pa Bourke again pointed a Sarsfields free but three points on the trot for the Church from James Barry (2) and Joe McGuire had their side five clear with two minutes of playing time left. Pa Bourke twice pointed to bring it back to a goal in injury time and then a great run by Johnny Enright ended with his shot for goal whizzing over the bar.
That's how it stayed and Upperchurch supporters gave vent to their delight when referee Martin Ryan blew full time. It was a big win for the Church, one which should do immense good for their self-belief as they face into their final tilt against Drom-Inch.
As we said, the better team won, and probably did so with more comfort than they would have expected. Basically, apart from a brief spell in the second quarter when Sarsfields hit five points to their one, they were calling the shots all the way, and when the crunch came as Sarsfields tried to engineer a rally late on, Upperchurch had the nerve and composure to hold on to what they had.
Needless to say, all were heroes in the eyes of the Upperchurch-Drombane supporters who have waited patiently from the past three years for such a moment having being on the fringes of the break-through in that time. However, the contributions of James Barry, Padraig Greene, Jack Ryan,Colm Ryan, and Eoin Shortt were particularly influential. There was a lot of solid work too from the midfield pairing of Joe McGuire and L J Ryan.
Sarsfields have some real soul-searching to do. Their performance was well below club expectations and there will have to be a fairly radical change in approach if the season is to be saved through the county championship. Even the absence of such as Stephen Lillis, and Gary Mernagh and with Ger O Grady only into the action late in the game, does not explain a sub-standard display in which only Padraig Maher, Michael Gleeson, Denis Maher, Liam Cahill and Michael Cahill, late on, came close to doing themselves justice.
Upperchurch scorers - J Barry 0-5; P Shortt 0-4; E Shortt 1-1; C Ryan 0-2; P Greene 0-2; J McGuire and J Brennan 0-1 each;
Sarsfields scorers - P Bourke 0-9; L Corbett 1-1; J Enright 0-2; M Gleeson, D Maher 0-1 each;
Upperchurch-Drombane - Gerry Quinn; Matt Ryan, Jack Ryan, Peter Ryan; James Greene, Padraig Stapleton, Andy Kinane; Joe McGuire, L J Ryan; Pat Shortt, Colm Ryan, Padraig Greene; Eoin Shortt, Jody Brennan, James Barry; Sub- Paul Ryan for Brennan;
Sarsfields- Patrick McCormack; Michael Cahill, Kevin O Gorman, Tom King; Barry O Dwyer, Padraig Maher, John Lawlor; Michael Gleeson,Alan Kennedy; Shane Ryan, Larry Corbett, Denis Maher; Pa Bourke, Liam Cahill, Johnny Enright; Subs- Ger O Grady for S Ryan; R Ruth for Lawlor;
Ref- Martin Ryan, Moyne-Templetuohy
