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Great Celebrations As Tullamore Capture All-Ireland Junior Cup

Thursday, 23 February 2012

Aaron Deverell, Tullamore Captain raises the Ulster Bank All Ireland Junior Cup assisted by David Milne. TT083813

Tullamore won the Ulster Bank All-Ireland Junior Cup for the second time when they defeated Monivea by 9-3 in a closely fought final at Dubarry Park in Athlone on Saturday last.
There were great scenes of celebrations when Tullamore captain Aaron Deverell was presented with the trophy after the game. Tullamore previously won the trophy in 2009 and have now become the first club to win it twice.
It was a hard earned win against a Monivea team which was in the final for the second year running. Unfortunately for them they suffered their second successive final defeat as they were also beaten in last year's decider by Crosshaven.
Tullamore were much the better team on the day and if they had converted their possession into scores they would have won by a much more comfortable margin. However, as it was, they had to be on their guard to the very end as they held on to their six point lead but it proved sufficient at the final whistle.
Tullamore were dominant for most of the first half but despite being camped on the Monivea line for long periods they couldn't force their way over and the game was scoreless at half time.
Early in the second half Tullamore struck the front and in fact they scored three drop goals from three different players in the first 11 minutes of the half to go 9-0 in front. Monivea replied with a penalty in the 72nd minute and with a Tullamore player in the sin bin it gave them the chance to snatch victory, but Tullamore held out well to secure the title.
Coach John Moylan said he was very proud of his side but did admit there was a little concern at half time that they hadn't manage to convert any of their possession into scores.
'Always when you have so much pressure and don't score it gives the other team maybe some momentum for the second half but we knew we had the wind in the second half and that was a big factor as well in the second half. We stayed going. We said there would be no let up. We were happy with our start, just keep the foot down and we knew we would see it out,' he said.
'The backs were super in the second half. I think in the first half we got a bit too predictable. We were a bit tight in our attack. We addressed that at half time and we worked a bit more off 10 and got the ball a bit wider. We have a lot of speed on the wings as well. We got the ball out to them and our backs really had a great second half and I think that was the difference in winning the game,' the coach added.
Team captain Aaron Deverell said it was great to bounce back from their defeat in the Provincial Towns Cup the previous week and win the All-Ireland trophy.
'We were disappointed with last week so it is nice to get a monkey off our back. We have been to a few finals in the last three years and I know lads were thinking going into another final that we mightn't do it again but we kept the head and I think we deserved it on the day,' he said.
The out half had great praise for the All-Ireland Cup competition. 'This is a great competition. You get to play against clubs all over the country, teams you never ordinarily get to play. We are playing week in week out in the Leinster League and it is nice to get a break and go to play Monivea or go and play teams up in Belfast so it is a great competition.'
Brian Geraghty returned from injury to fill the full back role and won the man of the match award for his performance. He said they didn't take their chances in the first half but rectified that after the break.
'We had some chances in the first half. It was a case of getting through the last phase and working through the hands. It just didn't come but thankfully in the second half things went well. We pushed into their '22' and we took our points well when we got the opportunity,' he said.
'It is strange that three different guys got the three drop goals but that sort of game with low scoring, you have to take your chances when they are there and thankfully we did,' he said.

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