Tullamore Rovers 4, Shinrone B 1. 05/03/2006

Tullamore Rovers Hit Back

Tullamore Rovers 4, Shinron B 1. 05/03/2006

Cosgrove Double seals victory for blues.

Tullamore Rovers hit back with four goals following conceding of goal against the run of play early in the first half. Rovers put in a solid performance which keeps them in the promotion hunt. Tullamore had been stumbling of late, dropping points at home to Westend and Clara as well as crashing out of the cup, but this was a much better showing and the result will breathe confidence back into the team. The Shinrone goal came after a speculative lob from 30 yards deceived Dave Minton in the Tullamore gaol and sailed into the roof of the net. The goal came on 25 minutes into the first half and it gave Shinrone a boost that seen their best page of play follow suit. Prior to that Tullamroe were well on top and creating plenty of opportunities. Emmet Kenny who was playing on the wide had a shot that narrowly flew over the cross bar, Paul McDonald came close also. Tullamore upped the tempo of the game once gain searching for the equalisers and it wasn’t long coming. The through ball from midfield found Mick Kilmartin in space and he took one touch before firing past the Shinrone keeper. The first half was solid with the Tullamore defence looking particularly good. Brendan Kenny was strong at right full and ventured forward to aid the forwards whenever he could, John Healy at left full had a sound game and wasn’t afraid to play the ball out of when given the chance. Deano Tyrell and Ian Harvey were rock solid at centre back; Tyrell was willing and able to cover all areas as a last man and managed some crunching tackles to keep the Shinrone strikers quiet. Harvey pushed forward whenever he had a chance and crated some good opportunities with some slick passing. Following the half time break Tullamore took complete control. The signs were ominous early on Derek Dolan played in Paul McDonald who fired narrowly wide, then Dolan found Cosgrove whose low drive from 15 yards skimmed the post. Moments later Cosgrove turned up on the opposite side of the 18 yard box, this time he didn’t miss and fired a beauty into the bottom right corner, the ball pinging off the inside of the post for good measure. The goal set Tullamore on their on their way and as Tullamore’s confidence grew Shinrone backed off even more. Dave Sweeny and came in midway through the second half and ran the front line very well. Sweeny providing some nice touches around the box for Mick Kilmartin to latch onto. On the hour Sweeney was reward with a goal after the Shinrone defender struggled to deal with another through ball, the balls seemed to canon off the defenders leg and into the net but it was Sweeny’s persistence in the box that caused the error and no doubt he will claim the plaudits. Pat Tyrell also came on in the second and he was a constant treat. At this stage Phil Evans and Paul McDonald were controlling the middle of the park, Evans was hustling the play as usual, Pat Tyrell came on the right and Ronan Heffernan at right full. Pat Tyrell was immediately in the action with some great runs down the right. It was cross form Tyrell that led to the fourth goal for Tullamore, Cosgrove yet again was ghosting into the box and managed to control the ball and fire into the top corner, the goal completed the rout for Rovers and confidence is back with blues yet again. Rover’s manger Lar Byrne was delighted, he had challenged his players to come up with goals and they did just that. There's five games left for Rovers now and this is just the result that could have them firing toward the finish line on all cylinders. The challenge now from the manager is to win all the remaining games, let’s see how the Rovers players respond to that.

Tullamore Rovers: Dave Minton, Brendan Kenny, Ian Harvey, Deano Tyrell, John Healy, Derek Dolan, Emmet Kenny, Brian Cosgrove, Paul McDonald, Phil Evans, Mick Kilmartin. Subs: Sweeney for Dolan, Tyrell for McDonald and Heffernan for Healy.

Tullamore Rovers would like to thank Joe Lees Bar on Church Street for their sponsorship also thanks to Ted and Keith Garry for the playing facilities in Fentor Park, Killeigh.
All match reports available at www.tullamorerovers.blogspot.com