In a year when Tyrrellspass underperformed at senior level, it was left to the club's minor team to bring home the championship silverware. Team manager Vinny Hoey reflects on the success. After three successive county final appearances, Tyrrellspass suffered an alarming dip in form last season, finishing below Castledaly, St. Loman's, Athlone and The Downs in the league section of the championship. While 2002 will go down as one of Tyrrellspass' poorest years since they joined the senior ranks over a decade ago, the year was not without its highlights. In October, the club provided the backbone to the Clann Braonain team which captured the under 16 'premier' championship. A short time later, the club's second team annexed the All-County League Division 4 title. Then, at the beginning of this year, Tyrrellspass landed the minor 'B' championship following their victory over Castledaly in a thrilling final. "The success we enjoyed at underage level compensated for what was a very disappointing year for the senior team," says Vinny Hoey, manager of the triumphant minor side. "We had expected to be in the shake-up for the senior championship, but I don't think the same hunger was there last year. While that was disappointing, at least we had the underage to fall back on. To win the minor 'B' title and have roughly half of the players on the Clann Braonain team which claimed the under 16 'premier' championship was a great achievement for the club." Under the tutelage of Hoey and his co-selectors Edmund Seery and John Henry, Tyrrellspass defeated Tubberclair, Rosemount and Moate All-Whites en route to the final. The semi-final against Moate was a ding-dong struggle with the 'Tidy Town' only prevailing after a period of extra-time and a replay. In the drawn encounter, Tyrrellspass had trailed by seven points in normal time, but battled back to force extra-time at the end of which the sides were still on level terms. In the replay, Tyrrellspass found themselves a whopping 10 points in arrears coming up to half-time, but produced an astonishing second half performance to win by eight. The final against Castledaly was another enthralling contest which was only decided by David Glennon's late goal. Faced with the wind in the first half, Tyrrellspass trailed by 0-4 to 0-1 after 10 minutes. But a point each from James Carroll and Gavin Hoey had reduced the deficit to the minimum by the end of the first quarter. Castledaly then upped the ante, quickly regaining a three-point advantage. James Troy and Denis Glennon responded with scores for the team in blue, but Castledaly still took a 0-8 to 0-6 lead into the break. The Tyrrellspass attacks became more frequent in the second half, but due largely to the brilliant goalkeeping of David Troy, Castledaly were still three points to the good with a quarter of an hour remaining. However, Tyrrellspass' pressure finally paid off when, after Denis Glennon pointed, his younger brother David grabbed the game's only goal to give them a 1-10 to 0-11 lead. Paul Kelly replied with a point for Castledaly, but Tyrrellspass held on for a dramatic 1-9 to 0-11 victory. "Had David not scored the goal when he did, I don't think we would have pulled through," recalls Hoey, whose sons Shane and Gavin figured on the winning team. "Castledaly had led from the start and we didn't get our noses in front until the goal came. Castledaly probably felt that they deserved a replay, but our battling qualities - which were also evident in the semi-final against Moate - enabled us to hold out." The Tyrrellspass team which started the minor final included six of the Clann Braonain side which had captured the under 16 'premier' championship a few months earlier. Faced with the challenge of St. Earnan's in the decider, the Tyrrellspass/Milltownpass/St. Mary's amalgamation had trailed by 0-3 to 2-4 at half-time, but outscored their opponents by 0-8 to 0-1 on the resumption to earn a replay. Clann Braonain were much quicker out of the starting blocks in the replay, with David Glennon's goal helping them to a 1-5 to 0-4 lead at the break. But St. Earnan's refused to give up the fight and with only minutes remaining, they had cut the deficit to the minimum. However, a late point from Drew Morgan copperfastened a 1-9 to 1-7 victory for Clann. "The under 16 success was almost as satisfying as the minor win. Clann Braonain had been without a title for a few years, and it was great to see them getting back to winning ways again. "We are very fortunate here in Tyrrellspass to have such a strong underage structure. We start off with the under 8s and continue coaching them until they reach the minor grade. This would not be possible but for the amount of people who give up their free time to help out," adds Hoey, who is a native of Galway, but actually played much of his club football with St. Aidan's in Roscommon. The underage successes couldn't have come at a better time for Tyrrellspass supporters who had watched the senior team lose their reputation as one of the top outfits in the county over the course of the summer. In five championship outings, the 1999 Flanagan Cup winners managed just one win with three of the four remaining games ending in defeat. The tone for the championship was set when they lost their opening game to St. Loman's by 0-14 to 0-12. In the second round, Tyrrellspass recovered from a 0-4 to 0-6 half-time deficit to pip Moate All-Whites by 1-9 to 0-11. The only goal was scored by corner forward Kevin Connell early in the second half. A 2-5 to 1-8 draw with The Downs was followed by an agonising 1-8 to 1-9 defeat to Athlone. Ray Sheerin looked to have secured a draw for Tyrrellspass until Joe Fallon coolly slotted over the winning point from a free in stoppage time, exacting sweet revenge for his side's 2001 semi-final replay defeat to the 'Tidy Town' in the process. Whatever hopes Tyrrellspass had of reaching the knock-out stages were well and truly dashed when they were walloped by Castledaly, 0-9 to 2-16, in their final group game. JP Casey had an afternoon to remember for the winners, helping himself to 2-7. Hoey, who lined out at midfield for Tyrrellspass in the 1994 county final against Mullingar Shamrocks, acknowledges that it was a poor year by the club's recent standards, but suggests that wear and tear may have taken its toll. "I think the effort the players had put in over the previous six or seven years finally caught up on them," he offers. "It took five years of hard work to win the championship in 1999 and another two years after that to stay at the top. Evening allowing for fatigue, though, we would still have expected to do better than we did." This year, former goalkeeper Eamonn Gallagher has been appointed physical trainer and will link up with the existing management team of Frank Ryan, Gerry Feery and Gerry O'Neill. With Mark Staunton and Colm Murphy expected to return after missing most of last season, Hoey is confident that Tyrrellspass can rediscover the form of a few years ago. "After the long break we had last year, the players have had plenty of time to recharge the batteries and to focus on the year ahead. Mark Staunton was involved in a car accident last year and was a huge loss to us, but thankfully he is on the mend and should be back playing shortly. "Also, Colm Murphy was away, but he is also coming back to us this year. We'd love to bring the Flanagan Cup back to our new pavilion which has been built at a cost of EUR300,000. If that can't be achieve, we'll be expecting a semi-final spot at the very least," he concludes. The Tyrrellspass team which annexed the minor 'B' championship was: Tom Byrne; Stephen Abbott, Paul Henry, Ger Glennon; Shane Daly, TJ Gonoud, Joe Henson; Denis Glennon, Gavin Hoey; Cathal Daly, Shane Hoey, James Carroll; Declan Glennon, David Glennon, James Troy. Sub used: Daithi Egan. The Clann Braonain team which defeated St. Earnan's in the under 16 'premier' championship final replay was: Tom Byrne; Hugh Burke, Michael Malone, Ger Glennon; Kevin Reid, TJ Gonoud, John McNamara; Gavin Hoey, Martin Dunne; Darragh O'Connor, Declan Glennon, Drew Morgan; Andrew Devine, David Glennon, Keith Scally. Tweet

Most Read Stories