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Flanagan flair is towers’ edge  By
Larry Cooney
A superb point in the dying minutes by Ger Flanagan secured safe passage
for Round Towers into the next round of the Tipperary Cup at Ruislip on
Saturday.
The tie also doubled as the Jimmy Daly Memorial Cup which was also contested
by the same two teams in Mitcham last year.
However despite Towers successful defence of the Jimmy Daly trophy the
South London team will be more relieved to have advanced to the next round
of the Tipperary Cup after a fine second-half performance.
Fulham Irish also played well in their opening game of the season but
the newly-promoted 2006 Intermediate champions will also realise how tough
life will be in the senior grade in the year ahead.
In perfectly sunny conditions Round Towers registered the opening score
with a Shane O’Sullivan point from a free after five minutes.
However the Fulham Irish midfield partnership came more into contention
by the end of the opening quarter and after Noel Nicholson equalised from
play within three minutes of O’Sullivan’s score, the Towers
rearguard, splendidly led by Timmy O’Donovan, were being asked some
serious question.
Although Gary McGovern kicked a nice point to tie the scores after 12
minutes Fulham Irish were clearly beginning to take control as the game
entered the second quarter.
Incessant Fulham pressure resulted in Towers conceding two 45s in quick
succession which gave Noel Nicholson the opportunity to push his side
into a one point lead after 21 minutes.
The Towers continued to battle however and were rewarded with an equalising
point from Tim O’Donovan three minutes later.
Although a David Connolly free gave Fulham the lead for the second time
soon afterwards the Towers were unlucky not to score a goal as the first-half
drew towards a close. A superb pass from O’Donovan found Mick Hanily
well placed in front of goal but the midfielder blazed his effort over
the bar to tie the scores 0-4 each at the interval.
Round Towers started the second-half brightly and after some early pressure
were rewarded with two points in a minute as they visibly upped the tempo.
Ger Flanagan picked off the first of his two superb points seven minutes
after the resumption.
Following a foul on Gary McGovern, a free by O’Sullivan gave him
his second point. However Fulham responded strongly and after the in-form
Noel Nicholson converted a free in the 40th minute David Connolly tied
the scores for the fourth time two minutes later.
An O’Sullivan free after a foul on Hanily edged the Towers in front
once again after 46 minutes and although Connolly tied the scores with
10 minutes remaining the dismissal of Roger Morgan two minutes later for
a second yellow card tipped the balance firmly in Towers’ favour.
Fittingly it took a superb point from Ger Flanagan to finally separate
these two evenly-matched teams with just five minutes remaining.
Fulham battled valiantly for a match-saving score but it was all in vain
for Liam Barry’s team. |
