Tyrone hang on to claim Nicky Rackard Cup
Nicky Rackard Cup Final: Tyrone 1-17 Fingal 1-16
Tyrone held off a late comeback from Fingal to win the Nicky Rackard Cup for the first time in part two of Saturday’s hurling triple-header at Croke Park.
The Red Hand County became the third Ulster team in a row and the fourth in total to lift the third-tier title after an exciting finish.
A Christopher Cross goal and a string of points from the likes of Damian Casey, Mark Winters and Tiernan Morgan had Tyrone in charge for much of the first half, but John Matthew Sheridan hit seven points to keep Fingal in touch and they trailed by just the minimum at the interval: 1-8 to 0-10.
Casey, the competition’s top scorer, continued to puck over the points after the restart and he had good support, with all six Tyrone forwards getting on the scoresheet and corner-back Conor McNally also getting up to hit a point.
Tyrone were seven points up inside the final quarter of an hour, but Fingal rallied strongly and a late goal by Dave Smyth brought them within a point.
Mattie Lennon’s side held out, however, to secure a 1-17 to 1-16 win, which earned them a second piece of silverware this year.
They will put their 2014 unbeaten record on the line again in next Saturday’s relegation/promotion play-off.
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Scorers for Tyrone: D Casey 0-8 (4f), G Gilmore 0-4, C Cross 1-0, C McNally 0-1, M Winters 0-1, C Grogan 0-1, T Morgan 0-1, M Mulgrew 0-1.
Scorers for Fingal: J M Sheridan 0-11 (7f, 2 ‘65s), D Smyth 1-2, D Kelly 0-1, D Butterly 0-1, C Foley 0-1.
Tyrone: J Devlin; C McNally, R Devlin, M O’Gorman; M Grogan, S Donnelly, A Kelly; M Winters, G Fox; C Grogan, T Morgan, C Cross; M Mulgrew, D Casey, G Gilmore. Subs: M Devlin for M Winters, D Marshall for G Gilmore.
Fingal: H Murray-Hession; P Coyne, N Ring, A Morris; B Kelly, D Vaughan, I Kennedy; D Hattie, P Sheridan; D Kelly, A Richardson, P Daly; C O’Flynn, D Smyth, J M Sheridan. Subs: D Butterly for A Richardson, C Foley for D Kelly.
Referee: D O’Driscoll (Limerick).
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Report: Colm Shalvey
