Roscommon SHC Final: Impressive Four Roads triumph
Four Roads retained the Roscommon SHC title.
Roscommon SHC Final
Four Roads 2-18 Oran 0-15
By Kevin Egan at King & Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park
Two goals from Conor Morris broke Oran’s stubborn resistance and powered Four Roads to a fourth Roscommon SHC title in a row, and a 38th in all, at a pristine King & Moffatt Dr. Hyde Park.
Morris, who now has two county medals before his 19th birthday, pounced on a defensive error to score his first goal from close range and then collected a pass from Man of the Match Conor Mulry before rattling the top corner for his second.
Mulry also chipped in with six points from play for the winners, crowning an incredible year in which he also lifted the Nickey Rackard Cup as Roscommon captain in Croke Park.
Four Roads were strong favourites going into this game on the back of their recent run of success and their outstanding performance against Pádraig Pearses in the semi-final, but they were wary of the threat posed by an Oran club that has a reputation for emerging out of nowhere to win county titles.
Mulry scored four of his points in the opening 13 minutes to give Four Roads a very strong foothold, with Connacht Poc Fada champion Noel Fallon stretching the field while Conor Kelly hurled a lot of ball through the middle third.
Oran for their part were heavily dependent on Paddy Fallon to create and finish chances and he stepped up to the mark, nailing a series of tough frees en route to scoring 0-8, three from play.
Joe Henry offered a fine physical presence on the edge of the square to some primary possession, Micheál Hussey and Kevin Crehan produced some big plays in the back line and with a slight breeze set to favour Oran in the second half, the contest was finely poised with Four Roads 0-10 to 0-8 in front at the interval.
Fallon scored the first point of the second half but Four Roads hit back immediately from Tommy Morris, who along with James Cunniffe and Conor Coyle, made a massive contribution after coming off the bench for the winners. Cunniffe in particular was crucial to Four Roads retaining the trophy that bears the name of his uncle Mickey Cunniffe, as he won several contested possessions and fired over an inspirational point from the right wing.
Oran manager and stalwart Francie Quine didn’t have the same range of options off the bench and once Conor Morris hit his brace of goals after 37 and 44 minutes, they never looked like getting the goals they needed to hit back in kind. Fallon, Cathal Kenny and Eoghan Grady all picked off impressive scores from distance to keep the scoreboard moving but Four Roads continued to have plenty to spare, with Morris nailing three late frees to see them through to yet another bid to break Roscommon’s poor run of results in the AIB Connacht IHC.
Scorers for Four Roads: Conor Morris 2-5 (5fs), Conor Mulry 0-6, Conor Kelly 0-2, Liam Óg Coyle 0-2, Noel Fallon 0-1f, Tommy Morris 0-1, James Cunniffe 0-1.
Scorers for Oran: Paddy Fallon 0-8 (5fs), Cathal Kenny 0-2, Micheál Hussey 0-1, Joe Henry 0-1, David McDermott 0-1, Eoghan Grady 0-1, Gary Concannon 0-1.
Four Roads: Noel Fallon; Jimmy Hoey, Darren Fallon, James Dillon; Jack Donnelly, Eamon Mulry, Daniel Bolger; Conor Kelly, Eoghan Morris; Liam Óg Coyle, James Fitzmaurice, Adam Donnelly; Conor Morris, Conor Mulry, Rory Coyle.
Subs: Tommy Morris for E Morris (h-t), James Cunniffe for Fitzmaurice (37), Conor Coyle for Bolger (45), Brian Mannion for L Óg Coyle (45), Trevor Fallon for R Coyle (59).
Oran: Jerry Fallon; Michael T McCormack, Declan Leonard, Kevin Crehan; Micheál Hussey, Paul Kenny, Darragh McCormack; Eamon Kenny, Eoghan Grady; Paddy Fallon, Thomas Fallon, Shane Keane; Cathal Kenny, Joe Henry, David McDermott.
Subs: Brian Diffley for D McCormack (58), Gary Concannon for Keane (58), Jonathan McDermott for T Fallon (60), Liam Ryan for McDermott (60).
Referee: Francis Kelly (Tremane).
