Toomevara attack sharper

Most of the action in this match was packed into the last 10 minutes at Semple Stadium in Thurles yesterday. During that lively closing period Toomevara seemed to have taken a firm hold of the match with a goal but Blackrock fought back gamely to get their goal with only a couple of minutes remaining to be only two points adrift.

For the better part of the hour both defences were on top but in that last 10 minutes Toomevara's attack always seemed that little bit keener and in the end they were merited winners.

Just before Toomevara's goal the score stood at nine points to eight in their favour and up until that stage the sides were seldom more than two points adrift of each other with Toomevara's mostly in the ascendant.

The score sheet shows that two players dominated the scoring with Thomas Dunne of Toomevara contributing 1-6 of his side's total and Alan Browne of Blackrock making a similar impact. Leading by a point in the 20th minute of the second half, Toomevara swept in for yet another raid on the Blackrock goal and when Wayne Sherlock mishit his clearance the lively Thomas Dunne nipped in to drive the ball passed Trevor Barry in the Blackrock goal.

Within a minute Blackrock were making their own waves and when Brian O'Keeffe was fouled to win a penalty the Cork supporters were jubilant. Sadly Noel Keane who came up from the fullback position to take the puck mis-timed his pick-up and drove the ball over the bar when a goal seemed possible.

Blackrock were now, however, a mere goal adrift and when the teams exchanged points that situation remained until two frees by Thomas Dunne opened up a gap of five points to give Toomevara supporters every good reason to start their celebrations.

However, Alan Browne slammed a 35-yard free into the top corner of Justin Cotrell's net and the Toomevara fans were biting their nails for a tense two minutes until Pat O'Connor of Limerick blew the final whistle.

The last action packed minutes made up for a rather drab match but several players from both sides did make a good impression. Chief among these were Tony Delaney, the Toomevara centre half back who played splendidly all through and was given great support by his team-mates Michael Bevans who made a big impression once he came out from the left corner of the attack to the wing early in the match.

For Blackrock fullback Noel Keane had a very sound match and Alan Cummins, David Dempsey and Alan Brown made the biggest impression.

Wayne Sherlock apart from one costly lapse also had a fine match and after a slow start Jim Cashman came into his own.

Although Toomevara always seemed to have a slight edge both on the field and the scoreboard the sides were level at six points each at half-time.

In the second period the lively Michael Bevans cut loose on several occasions but Toomevara spurned an excellent chance of a goal after nine minutes when Thomas Dunne who found himself free in front of the goal kicked the ball wide of a gaping net.

Paddy O'Brien and Kevin Cummins, on the left flank of the Toomevara attack were now also causing Blackrock lots of problems and although they had scored two points each in the opening half, they could not make any further impression on the scoreboard until the Blackrock defence conceded that crucial goal.

Toomevara: J Cottrell; G Frend, R Brislane, A Maxwell; P Hackett, T Delaney, P Shanahan; P King, Terry Dunne (0-1); K Dunne (0-1), Thomas Dunne (1-6, four frees), P O'Brien (0-2); M Bevans, K Kennedy, K Cummins (0-2).

Blackrock: T Barry; J Browne, N Keane (0-1, free), G Murphy; J Smith, F Ryan, W Sherlock; J Cashman, A Cummins; B O'Keeffe (0-1), D Dempsey (0-1), A Coughlan (0-1); J O'Flynn (0-1), A Browne (1-5, all from frees), C O'Flaherty. Subs: E Kavanagh for J Smith (21 mins), P McGrath for O'Brien (44 mins), A Ryan for Maxwell (46 mins).

Referee: P O'Connor (Limerick).