Tullamore 9 Monivea 3

Tullamore captain Andy Deverell paid tribute to his side's discipline as they became the first club to win the cup twice when they edged out Monivea in a tense decider at Dubarry Park.

In the process, Monivea from Co Galway became the first club to lose two All-Ireland Junior Cup deciders, having also lost last year's final.

"Our discipline was crucial, we didn't give away soft penalties and we were on top in the forward battle," said Deverell, whose side edged the match with three drop-goals, which all came in an eight-minute spell in the second half.

The Tullamore forwards were on top throughout, but they couldn't edge ahead during a scoreless opening half.

Things looked bleak for Monivea when Eoin Rooney was sin-binned three minutes from half-time for pulling down a maul close to their line. But the Galway club kept the line intact with resolute defending.

Tullamore continued to dominate after the break and were rewarded two minutes after the restart when winger Colin Draper struck a sweet drop-goal. Then, after Monivea out-half Ger O'Connor was narrowly wide with a close-range penalty, Tullamore struck for another drop-goal through David Clavin.

Three minutes later, Deverell made it 9-0 and, while O'Connor reduced the gap with a 71st-minute penalty, it was not enough to prevent a second final loss in a row for the Galway club.

Tullamore -- B Geraghty; R Deverell, D Clavin, T Gilligan (I Scully 70), C Draper (C Hughes 63); A Deverell, R Hughes; T Bennett (G Molloy 60), C Glennon (K Browne 66), E Brady (T Bennett 66); D Hanlon (P McNiff 49), I Deverell; J Clancy (K Browne 33, E Brady 74), D Milne, A Hanley.

Monivea -- S Fahy; C Maher, C Neary (G Divilly 52), K Higgins, G Divilly (J Culkin 28); G O'Connor, D Blade; G Fitzmaurice (C Divilly 54), B Ryan (M King 66), R Coughlan; P Fitzmaurice, W Parker (B Murphy 40); M King (D McNeilis 46), K Concarr (J Connolly 66), E Rooney.

Ref -- S Gaffikin (Ulster)

& Irish Independent