Tipperary SHC Round-up: Holders Kilruane MacDonaghs out and facing relegation battle
HOLDERS OUT: Evan Fitz, Roscrea, under pressure from Kilruane/MacDonagh in the FBD Insurance Tipperary County Hurling Championship. Picture: Brendan Gleeson
Holders Kilruane MacDonaghs are out of the Tipperary senior hurling championship and could be facing a relegation battle following their 4-21 to 3-19 defeat by last year’s Premier intermediate champions Roscrea in a thriller at Nenagh.
Two goals from Cian Darcy had Kilruane 2-5 to 0-5 ahead playing into the breeze but in the closing minutes of the first half Roscrea struck for three goals through a Shane Fletcher brace and Alan Tynan to be ahead 3-11 to 2-9 at the break.
A Conor Dooley goal five minutes after resuming gave Roscrea a huge boost as Kilruane sought to make up ground lost.
Conor Cleary’s goal after 55 minutes cut the deficit to a goal - 4-17 to 3-17 - and in a tense finish, Roscrea added two points for a win that keeps them in the frame for the quarter-finals.
Kilruane, suffering a second defeat are out of the championship and needing a win in the third round to have a chance of avoiding the relegation play-offs.
Nenagh Eire Og hit J K Brackens for five goals, 5-15 to 1-15, to leave the Templemore boys, last year’s Mid champions without a win and with a relegation threat hanging over them.
Mikey Heffernan had Nenagh’s first goal after 20 minutes to put them 1-5 to 0-5 ahead and they led 1-9 to 0-6 at half-time.
Two minutes after resuming Barry Heffernan netted a Nenagh penalty and Adam Carey hit number three four minutes later.
A Brackens goal kept them in touch but Nenagh finished with a flourish, goals by Philip Hickey and Cian Crowley sealing their win. Mikey Heffernan with 1-10 was Nenagh’s top marksman.
Drom had goals from Tommy Nolan and Seamus Callanan in the opening nine minutes and they held the advantage at half-time, 2-10 to 0-10.
A David Collins goal in the 46th minute put them 3-17 to 0-16 clear and looking unassailable but Mullinahone produced a late surge which yielded goals from Mikey O Shea and Eanna Ryan to trail by a goal approaching the hour mark.
Drom held their nerve, points from Callanan and Tony Cahill easing them through to a quarter-final spot.
Seamus Callanan scored 1-7 for Drom and Johnny Ryan five points while Mikey O Shea (1-3) was top scorer for Mullinahone ,who had former All-Star Eoin Kelly in goal.
Loughmore-Castleiney held on in a nail-biting finish for a 1-27 to 3-20 win over Holycross-Ballycahill.Â
Holycross made the early running and with goals from Cathal Barrett, Joe Caesar and Dara Woods were leading 3-9 to 0-11 approaching half-time.
An Ed Connolly goal and a John McGrath point boosted Loughmore’s chances as they trailed at half-time 1-12 to 3-9.
Loughmore hit six early points in the second half to take the lead but Holycross never let up and were on the offensive when time was called.
John McGrath shot 0-12 for Loughmore while county defender, Cathal Barrett, operating in attack, scored 1-6 for Holycross.
Four unanswered point in the last six minutes steered Sarsfields to a 1-20 to 1-17 win over Clonoulty-Rossmore.
Darragh Stakelum gave Sarsfields the ideal start with an early goal and this score helped them to a slender interval lead of 1-8 to 0-10, despite shooting twelve wides.
Cathal Bourke netted for Clonoulty to put them ahead and they were still 1-17 to 1-16 in front as the game neared the final whistle.
Sarsfields subs Tommy Doyle (2) and Seanie Butler, along with Aidan McCormack produced the winning surge that got Sarsfields over the line.
Brendan Maher came off the bench to save Borris-Ileigh with an injury time goal for a 2-22 to 2-21 win over Kiladangan.
In an extraordinary contest, Borris led 1-18 to 1-8 at half-time. Paddy McCormack had their goal after two minutes and they hit 1-4 without reply in the first six minutes, but Paul Flynn netted for Kiladangan to get them moving.
At half-time Borris were 1-18 to 1-8 clear but Kiladangan came after them in the second half, reeling them in point by point to level after 50 minutes, and then go two points clear.
In a hectic finish, Borris were two points down in injury time when Brendan Maher, who had gone off with an illness at half-time, came back on in the closing stages and netted the vital goal that gave Borris the points.
Upperchurch-Drombane got their campaign back on track with a 1-23 to 1-18 win over Templederry Kenyons.
The Church led 0-13 to 0-10 at the end of a low key first half. Templederry had a penalty by Seanie Ryan saved by Upperchurch goalie Ciaran Shortt.
The sides were locked together through the second half but Paul Shanahan’s goal for Upperchurch after 56 minutes and four points eased Upperchurch to their win.
Seanie Ryan had a 61st minute goal for Templederry, too late to make a real difference.
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