Moycullen………3-3 Carnmore………4-10
At Pearse Stadium on Sunday last Carnmore defeated Moycullen n the 1971 West Board Senior Hurling Final to win the title for the first time. They were deserving winners of a very keenly contested game which was played under very trying conditions.
There is no doubt about it they were the better team, but had Moycullen's finish been on a par with their approach work the final score would have been much closer. There was also a glaring weakness in the Moycullen full back line which was fully exploited by the Carnmore forwards. It was strange that the Moycullen mentors made no effort to plug this gap which cost them dearly.
Playing with a strong breeze Carnmore opened the scoring in the first minute with a point by Martin Leonard, Moycullen replied with points by Tom Bohan and a goal by S. Gavin to lead by 1-2 to 0-1 after five minutes. They continued to do well and looked likely winners at this stage but although enjoying most of the play they failed to add to their score.
Carnmore came more into the game entering the last quarter and a succession of scores followed per J. Duggan 0-1, T. Madden 0-2, S. Murphy 1-0, T. Hughes 1-0 and P. Fahy 0-4, to lead 2-8 to 1-2 at half time. With the breeze behind them Moycullen were a rejuvenated side in the early stages of the second half and a great goal by Tom Bohan from a 21 yard free reduced the leeway.
The standard of play now reached a near high and spectators were treated to some very fast and crisp hurling with both sides having some near misses in turn. Moycullen were awarded another 21 yard free and again Tom Bohan shot to the net, to leave only 3 points between the sides 2-8 to 3-2 with 20 minutes of play still remaining.
Points by Padraic Fahy midway through the second half restored Carnmore's confidence in the closing minutes. They added further scores per S.Murphy 0-1, J.Hughes 2-1. Moycullen's only reply came from Tom Bohan when he pointed a free.
Best for the winners were Peter Fahy J. Hession, J. Conroy (backs), J. Duggan and S. Murphy (midfield), M. Leonard, J. Hughes and Padraic Fahy forwards. For Moycullen B. Faherty, M. O'Sullivan, L. Bohan (backs), J.J. Faherty, M. Darcy (midfield) T. Bohan, S. Gavin and J. Faherty (forwards) were best.