TIPPERARY STAR
Saturday 13th September 2003

Gortnahoe see off Inane

Credit Union's Tipperary Minor Football 'A' Championship semifinal 2003

Gortnahoe-Glengoole 1-12, Inane Rovers 3-03

• Gortnahoe-Glengoole qualified for the County Minor 'A' Football Final by virtue of a hard fought win over a game Inane Rovers team.
  
  Straight from the throw-in in Templemore, Gortnahoe went on the attack and landed their 1st score within a minute when Keith Houlihan kicked a lovely point from the right hand side of the field. The response from Inane Rovers was swift and Patrick Stone scored a goal within a minute. Shane Long added a point for Gortnahoe in the 4th minute and in the 9th minute, the same player went on a solo run from midfield and left the Inane Rovers back line in his wake before crashing the ball to the net, to leave the score Gortnahoe 1-02, Inane Rovers 1-00. However, Inane Rovers responded with their second goal after 12 minutes, again from Patrick Stone.
  
  Gortnahoe were not put off by the concession of a 2nd goal and with Shane Long, John Coleman and Jeff Brennan doing well, they were soon level. Gortnahoe earned a penalty in the 20th minute but Shane Long was desperately unlucky, as he sent the keeper the wrong way, only to see the ball rebound off the post at the other side. From the resulting play, John Coleman fired over a lovely point after some good work on the wing by Patrick Phelan. Inane Rovers then responded with a point of their own, in the 25th minute before Patrick Phelan rounded off the scoring for the 1st half by pointing in the 30th minute to leave the half-time score Gortnahoe-Glengoole 1-05 Inane Rovers 2-01.
  
  Gortnahoe started the second half well and had their first point of the half from Jeff Brennan in the 34th minute after some good play on the right hand side of the field. Shane Long further extended Gortnahoe's advantage after pointing in the 36th minute, before Inane Rovers got their 1st score of the half, a point in the 44th minute. Jeff Brennan then pointed 2 frees for Gortnahoe in the 51st and 54th minutes to extend Gortnahoe's lead, while Michael Heffernan and Stephen Bourke added their names to the score sheet with points in the 55th and 57th minutes respectively. Inane Rovers were not finished though and with a minute of normal time left, substitute Paul Guerin 1 broke through for an excellent goal to leave just 3 points between the sides.
  
  Inane Rovers went in search of another goal that would have sent the game to extra time but they ran out of time as the referee blew up for full-time.
  
  Best for Gortnahoe on the night were Shane Long, John Coleman, Niall Teehan, Mark O'Dwyer and Shane McCarthy, while Jeff Brennan shone in patches.
  
  Gortnahoe Glengoole scorers: Shane Long (104), Jeff Brennan (0-03), Michael Heffernan (0-01), Patrick Phelan (0-01), Stephen Bourke (0-01), John Coleman (0-01), Keith Houlihan (0-01)
  
  Inane Rovers scorers: Patrick Stone 2-1, Paul Guerin 1-0, C. Cordial 0-1, and D Stone 0-1