FBD Insurance Senior Championship

Burgess Duharra 2-16

Thurles Sarsfields 0-08

In 2018 Burgess Duharra captured their 7^th county title in a row. The following year Drom-Inch defeated them in the final and in 2019 Clonoulty Rossmore bet them in the semi-final. Last year they failed to reached the semi-final so one can be forgiven for not naming them among the early conversations of potential champions for 2022. On Saturday they made sure to remind everyone that they are serious championship contenders with an impressive 14 point victory against Thurles Sarsfields. A foul on Amy Kennedy in the first few minutes allowed Jenny Grace to slot over her opening free for the games first score.  A minute later Jenny raised a second white flag from a free. Even at this early stage Burgess Duharra’s link up play out of defence was looking very sharp with Jenny Grace and Caoimhe Maher looking so comfortable on the ball and feeding Kaitlin O’Halloran and Amy Kennedy inside who were drawing the fouls. Ciardha Maher was also looking very sharp in the half forward line and was out in front to score Burgess’s 3^rd point in succession as Thurles were struggling to settle into the pace of the game. Karen Kennedy and Laura Loughnane were getting on to some possession and delivering it inside but the Duharra defence was well on top especially Aisling Cremin and soon the play was at the opposite end again. Ciardha Maher was causing her marker all sorts of problems winning 2 frees in succession which Jenny Grace happily pointed to extend her side’s lead to 5 points to no score. A monster free from 65 yards from Kennedy finally got Thurles Sarsfields off the mark but almost immediately Burgess responded with a well taken score from Caoimhe Maher who looked to be really enjoying her partnership with Jenny Grace in midfield. A jenny Grace free followed by a Ciardha Maher point from play to make it 8 points to 1 and Thurles looked to be in real trouble. Aoife Dwyer pointed a free while good work from Lucy Purcell set up Andrea Loughnane with a score to make it 8 points to 3. Kaitlin O’Halloran then pointed to make it 9 points to 3 before a lovely passing movement involving Sarah Satekelum and Andrea Loughnane finished with a Sarah Stakelum point to leave the half time score 9 points to 4.

 Thurles who performed poorly for most of the opening half needed a good start to the second. But instead it was Jenny Grace who won the throw in and immediately drove at the Sars defence winning a free and pointing it to extend their lead to 6 points. There was more trouble for Sars as Jenny Grace won possession again and struck in a high ball that wasn’t dealt with leaving Laura Reid on hand to finish to the back of the net with a lovely ground strike 1-10 to 4 points and Burgess Duharra firmly in control. A great free from Roisin Corbett added to Thurles’s tally. Karen Kennedy who was brilliant throughout drove forward and picked out Lucy Purcell with a lovely pass to put her through one on one with the keeper. The young Tipperary U16 player looked to burry a goal but her shot went barely over to make it 1-10 to 6 points. 

As the half wore on the Thurles Sarsfields forward line continued to struggle against the Burgess Duharra defence where Fiona Kirwan and Aisling Cremin were excellent. Laura Loughnane and Karen Kennedy grew more and more into the game as the second half developed clearing plenty of balls but but poor decision making and some bad wides at the opposite end meant Duharra continued to dominate on the scoreboard. Another Rosin Corbett free was cancelled out by 3 Jenny Grace points from frees (2) and play. Caoimhe Maher then won possession in her half backline, found Ciara McKeogh who struck a  long ball into Amy Kennedy. She gathered possession lost her marker and struck a lovely shot into the back of the net for Burgess Duharra’s second goal. From here on in it was all the homeside as Jenny Grace continued to display her fantastic skill as a dead ball specialist. There was further dismay for Thurles when Emma Carey was given a straight red card for a clumsy tackle late in the game. Thurles will be disgusted with their performance which was well below the standard they have set themselves in recent years and will need a much bigger improvement the next day out. For Burgess Duharra it was a very satisfying win. They look well organised, showed slick intelligent passing and gave a great team performance and won’t fear anyone in the knockout stages.

Burgess Duharra: Ciara Holohan, Grace O’Dwyer, Fiona Kirwan, Una Quigley, Iris Grace, Aisling Cremin Eimear Dwan, Caoimhe Maher (0:01), Jenny Grace (0:12, 0:11 from frees), Kaitlin O'Halloran (0:01), Ciara McKeogh, Ciardha Maher (0:02), Laura Reid (1:00), Amy Kennedy (1:00) Caoilfhinn Maher

Subs used: Danielle Nealon for Caoilfhionn Maher, Katie Grace for Laura Reid, Clara Bourke for Kaitlin O’Halloran, Fiona McGauley for Danielle Nealon.

Thurles Sarsfields: Katie McCormack , Aoife Butler , Niamh McCormack , Rebecca O Mara , Laura Loughnane , Karen Kennedy(0-01, free), Emma Carey (c) , Nicola Loughnane, Ciara Cummins, Emer Kennedy, Andrea Loughnane (0-01), Aoife Dwyer (0-01, free), Róisín Corbett (0-02 frees), Sarah Stakelum (0-01) , Lucy Purcell.