Thurles Sarsfields 1-12 Drom Inch 0-9 Thurles Sarsfields landed the Tipperary Under 21 Championship title last Sunday with a hard earned victory over rivals Drom Inch last Sunday at Templemore. Inspiring performances from county Under 21 star Padraic Maher, who netted the game's crucial goal, and free-taker Pa Bourke, who notched over 0-10, proved the ultimate difference here to overcome a gallant effort from Drom Inch. It was two early frees from Bourke that established the first advantage in the game for the champions, but they were quickly cancelled out by Drom Inch's score-getter Johnny Ryan in similar fashion. On nine minutes Drom Inch took their first and only lead of the game through Seamus Callinan, and from there Bourke and Ryan traded scores back and forth but it was the Thurles marksman who was presented with more opportunities and, along wit Eoghan O'Dwyer, pushed his side into a 0-8 to 0-4 lead at the interval. Bourke's only point from play came within 10 seconds of the restart for Thurles, but Drom Inch battled away and secured the points through Ryan and Callan, with the wind at their backs, that kept them within a goal heading towards injury-time. It was there that Maher summed up his Man of the Match performance when he stormed through Drom Inch's defence to take an offload pass from Conor Maloney and smash to the back of the net, assuring his side of the title. Tweet

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