Hurlers sign off season with London loss

London 4-20 Tyrone  1-13

TYRONE’S difficult Christy Ring campaign came to an end at Ruislip with a five-minute London blitz ultimately proving to be their undoing on Saturday.

While Tyrone went into the game with nothing to play for, London needed a win to ensure their place in the 2025 Christy Ring Final.

Despite this, it was a spirited Tyrone performance though the class of the exiles stood out at different stages. There was a frantic start with Sean Duffin opening the scoring after 45 seconds from a free with an immediate response from Sean Glynn. David Devine and James McCann swapped scores before Conor O’Carroll hit the net for the first time in the 8th minute.

Further points from a Devine free and O’Carroll were matched by points from Ciaran Magill and Sean Duffin with the Exiles holding a 1-4 to 0-4 at the end of the first quarter.

Centre-back Enda Egan extended London’s lead before a superb kick pass from James McCann, after he lost his hurl, found Sean Duffin who fired over from range on the 20 minute mark. However, a 3-2 salvo from London between the 23rd and 28th minutes gave them the platform to ensure they reached the Christy Ring Final.

Goals from O’Carroll and Glynn, with 1-1 from Dylan Dawson and a further point from Owen Sheil gave London a lead which Tyrone couldn’t match, despite a purple patch before the end of the half. A fine score from Tiernan Morgan along with two frees and a 65 from Sean Duffin left Tyrone trailing 4-7 to 0-9 at the short whistle.

A Sean Glynn double opened the scoring for the second half before Tiernan Morgan hit the net in his 101st appearance for the county. Devine, O’Carroll and Glynn swapped points with Lorcan Devlin and Duffin before London hit four on the bounce through Glynn, Devine, Egan and O’Carroll by the 61st minute.

Mark McCann and Sean Duffin hit Tyrone’s final points among scores from Donie Reale, Conor McCormack, Egan and Devine which brought a tough year for Tyrone to its end. As Tyrone’s third year in the Christy Ring came to an end, despite relegation to Division 3 of the NHL and the Nickey Rackard, the fact that six of the Under 20 B All Ireland
finalists gained experience should mean that they should be competitive in both competitions next year.

Scorers
London: Conor O’Carroll (2-3), Sean Glynn (1-4), Dylan Dawson (1-2), David Devine (0-5), Enda Egan (0-3), Owen Shiel, Donie Reale, and Conor McCormack (0-1 each)
Tyrone: Sean Duffin (0-8), Tiernan Morgan (1-1) Ciaran Magill, James McCann, Lorcan Devlin and Mark McCann (0-1 each)
Teams
London: Mark Kilgannon; Niall Fitzgerald, Conor Byrne, Stephen Whelan; Tom Millerick, Enda Egan, Padraig Muldoon; Adam Cunney, Paul Kennedy; Owen Shiel, Sean Glynn, Dylan Dawson; Conor McCormack, Conor O’Carroll, David Devine: Subs: Rory Lodge for Paul Kennedy, Tom Hanafin for Padraig Muldoon, Niall Geoghegan for Tom Millerick (HT), Donnacha Leahy for Owen Shiel (55), Donie Reale for Sean Glynn (59)

Tyrone: Conor McElhatton; Conall McKee, Fionn Devlin, Dean Rafferty, Seamus Sweeney, Sean Duffin, James McCann; Mickey Little, Ciaran Magill; Tiernan Morgan, Lorcan Devlin, Rory Weir; Turlough Mullin, Ruairi Devlin, Kiefer Morgan: Subs: Correy Bell for Seamus Sweeney (HT) Mark McCann for Rory Weir (50), Cian McGuigan for Dean Rafferty (54), Ronan Maguire for Ciaran Magill (60), Mickey Coyle for Conall McKee (64)