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Saturday 16th April 2005
Sarsfield Rovers 1
Two Mile Borris (B) 0
Sarsfield Rovers lifted the Peter O’Reilly Cup for the first time as they overcame a gallant Two-Mile-Borris (B) in a hard fought encounter at Cahir Park last Saturday evening.
Despite the inclement conditions there was a good sized attendance for the decider of this competition in honour of the late Peter O’Reilly for Third and Fourth Division sides. This all Fourth Division confrontation saw Sarsfield Rovers create the early chances with Danny Mulcahy producing a fine save from Borris keeper Alex Dyachuk and shortly afterwards Sarsfield Rovers got their first corner-kick and from Eoin Buckley’s delivery, a Fergal Grace strike on target was again saved by the Borris keeper.
The breakthrough came after 20 minutes when a ball over the top saw Eddie
Mulcahy race clear of a static Borris defence before unselfishly squaring the ball for Eoin Buckley who gave Alex Dyachuk no chance with a low drive into the corner of the net.
Danny Mulcahy then saw his direct free-kick fumbled by the keeper but was cleared to safety by Borris central defender Nigel McCarthy. Borris’ only real opportunity of the opening half came just before the break when a Chris Gooney free-kick was headed just wide by Matt Shortall.
The second half saw Borris produce a more positive start and Sarsfield Rovers custodian Denis O’Connor was called into action as he finger-tipped a Nigel McCarthy header out for a corner and from the resultant set-piece, O’Connor dived bravely at the feet of Matt Shortall to smother his shot in a goalmouth scramble. Denis O’Connor kept his side’s slender lead intact as he tipped a header from Pat Carey to safety as the Mid-Tipp outfit started to turn the screw.
With Niall Pearse whose cool and calm composure at the heart of the Sarsfield Rovers defence was mopping up most of the long balls into the area, Borris were finding it harder and harder to breach the opposition rearguard as they tried to get that elusive equaliser. In the end of a frantic finale to this decider it was Sarsfield Rovers that almost doubled their advantage when a pile driver from Pat Buckley rattled the crossbar with the keeper beaten. However that opening half goal proved sufficient for Sarsfield Rovers who not only gained promotion for the first time after eight years in the wilderness but added the Peter O’Reilly Cup to the Fourth Division Shield they won earlier in the season.
TS & DL Hon Treasurer Richard Power complimented both sides on serving up a
sporting contest as he presented the Peter O’Reilly Cup to Sarsfield Rovers captain Denis O’Connor.
The ‘man-of-the-match’ award sponsored by John Quirke Jewellers of Cahir went to former Limerick Oscar Traynor captain and Star Rovers (Limerick) player/manager Niall Pearse, who was the catalyst behind Sarsfield Rovers’
victory with his organisational skills and domination in the air at the heart of their defence.
Sarsfield Rovers:
Denis O’Connor, Robert Creamer, Fergal Grace, Niall Pearse, Alan O’Brien, Pat Buckley, Eddie Mulcahy, Sean Hennessy, Eoin Buckley, Danny Mulcahy, James McMahon. Subs: Ger Dawson, Eoin O’Connor, Diarmuid Grace, Martin O’Brien and Aidan Hennessy.
Two-Mile-Borris (B):
Alex Dyachuk, Cathal Ryan, Sean Smith, Nigel McCarthy, Matt Shortall, John
Quinlan, Pat Carey, Pat Croke, David Maher, Sean Quinlan, Chris Gooney.
Subs: Tom Delaney, Roger Quinlan, William Dempsey, John Kelly, and Sam Ryan.
Officials: M.Coady, T.Keating, N.Coughlan.
Copyright © The Clonmel Nationalist 2005. | 
