Loughmore-Castleiney sail to Tipperary county final after 10 point win over Nenagh Eire Og 

It was an impressive showing by Loughmore today with John McGrath shooting twelve points. File image.

Loughmore-Castleiney 1-22; Nenagh Eire Og 1-12 

The Tipperary senior double is still on for Loughmore-Castleiney after they recorded an emphatic ten points win over luckless Nenagh Eire Og in the Tipperary senior hurling semi- final at Semple Stadium on Saturday evening.

It was a victory which greatly pleased manager, Frank McGrath. “We had strong opponents. We prepared well and we played well, and we will be there to give the football a right good go when we meet Moyle Rovers in next week’s semi-final” he said.

Incredibly, it was also a victory that was never really in doubt in a contest that never really came to life as the winners called the shots all the way. Loughmore stamped their authority on the game from the start racing into a 0-8 to 0-1 lead by the first water break with county star John McGrath leading the way with six of those points, three from play.

Nenagh lined out without experienced fullback Hugh Moloney who was injured and as they staged a recovery in the second quarter with four unanswered points in six minutes they suffered a second major loss when defender Conor McCarthy had to go off injured after bravely charging down a goal-bound Tomas McGrath effort.

That injury and the delay while McCarthy was being treated robbed Nenagh of their momentum. Lougmore regained their composure and Tomas McGrath’s goal off a Noel McGrath sideline cut pushed them 1-12 to 0-6 after 32 minutes and at half-time it was 1-14 to 0-6 to their advantage.

Nenagh were in serious trouble and things got worse when county defender Barry Heffernan limped out of the game after 35 minutes. He had twisted an ankle just before half-time and tried to continue before reluctantly being called ashore.

And Nenagh’s troubles didn’t end there. Loughmore were 1-18 to 0-10 ahead when Eire Og lost Jake Morris to a red card for an awkward tackle on Lorcan Egan. At the second water break Loughmore led 1-19 to 0-11 and their lead was never seriously under threat afterwards. Tommy Heffernan cut Nenagh’s deficit to ten points(1-21 to 1-11) with a goal after 55 minutes and even though Loughmore lost Conor McGrath to second yellow card on 61 minutes, their place in the final was well secure by then.

Frank McGrath was philosophical afterwards – Semi-finals are there to be won and I hope we have a bit left in the tank. We have a long tradition in football in the parish and we’ll face up to Moyle Rovers next week-end in the county football semi-final and then be back here in two weeks for the hurling final.

Nenagh selector Noel Moloney acknowledged that the injuries did not help them, losing a player of Barry Heffernan’s calibre and also Conor McCarthy, two out of a backline that had to line out without regular fullback Hugh Moloney. “ Loughmore however deserved their victory. They are a seasoned team and right from the start we were not at the right pitch and were chasing the game. We have no complaints. We did not play well and did not reach the level of last week(quarter-final win over Sarsfields)”, he said.

It was an impressive showing by Loughmore. John McGrath was their leader shooting twelve points but John Meagher, Tomas McGrath, Joseph Nyland, Ciaran Connolly, Evan Sweeney and Noel McGrath all made significant contributions.

Daire Quinn and Mikey Heffernan were key men for Nenagh with Paddy Murphy, Conor Ryan, and Tommy Heffernan also figuring prominently.

Loughmore scorers – J McGrath(0-12,7fs), T McGrath(1-2), E Sweeney (0-3), C Connolly(0-2), J Nyland, A McGrath, N McGrath(0-1 each);

Nenagh scorers – M Heffernan(0-5,2fs), T Heffernan(1-1),P Murphy, J Morris(0-2 each),J Mackey, Daire Quinn(0-1 each);

Loughmore-Castleiney – D Kennedy; L Egan, J Hennessy, W Eviston; J Ryan, J Meagher, A McGrath; B McGrath, T McGrath; J Nyland, J McGrath, N McGrath; C Connolly, Ciaran McGrath, E Sweeney; Subs – Conor McGrath for C McGrath(44mins), T Maher for Nyland(54mins), P Nyland for T McGrath(60mins);

Nenagh Eire Og – M Tuite; C Ryan, A Grant, C McCarthy; C Hennessy, B Heffernan, Daire Quinn; J Mackey, K Gleeson; M Heffernan, T Hefferman, P Morris; P Hickey, P Murphy, J Morris; Subs – S Phelan for McCarthy(25mins), A Carey for Morris(h/t), Donncha Quinn for B Heffernan(35mins), A Healy for Gleeson(47mins) Ref – F Horgan, Knockavilla Kickhams.