McGrath masterclass as Loughmore Castleiney trash abject Drom & Inch

Centenary Agri Mid Senior Hurling Championship Quarter-Final

Loughmore Castleiney 2-30

Drom & Inch 1-23

Loughmore Castleiney finished the stronger team in this quarter-final clash with rivals Drom & Inch last Saturday in Templetuohy as they completely overpowered their opponents with an impressive second-half display to book a semi-final place.

And the bulk of the impressive scoring power of the dual club came, once again, from Noel and John McGrath who notched 2-14 of their sides total come the final whistle.
Noel in particular gave the crowd in Templetuohy a real treat of ball striking and with eight points from play he was in unstoppable form.

Despite a good start to the game from Drom & Inch in which they flew into a 0-3 to 0-1 lead after three minutes - Tommy Nolan proving a handful in that time with two of those points - but Loughmore slowly came into the contest as the first half wore on with the McGrath trio of Noel, John, and Ciaran the scorers in chief as Loughmore looked like heading in at half time ahead 0-15 to 0-13 by the time Noel McGrath hit his fourth.

But Drom & Inch struck late in the half with Seamus Callanan - who had a very quiet game - bagging a very well taken goal, taking the ball in the 45 and turned down an easy point to pin his ears back and race past a few defenders and drilled a left-sided effort low to the far corner.

Drom had enjoyed the small breeze present in Templetuohy in the first half, and were their own worst enemies by hitting ten wides in the opening 30 minutes with that advantage, and it became clear after ten minutes of the restart that they were going to struggle to curtail Loughmore who really found their groove in the third quarter.

Again, it was the McGrath clan who were hitting the scores with Mossy, Aidan, John and Noel opening up a two point lead by the 36th minute as Drom were finding it hard to hold possession in their forward division with David Collins frees the main source of scores in the second half.

It was the next ten minutes up to the 45th minute where the damage was done for Loughmore with Ed Connolly, a sixth of the day for Noel McGrath and John McGrath's clever finish after Ciaran McCormack picked him out close to goal, and despite shipping a heavy knock in the process of striking the ball, the Tipperary hurler found the back of the net to open up a 1-23 to 1-16 lead with the tide flowing firmly in one direction.

A pair of David Collins frees pulled it back to five points at one point in the next few minutes, but the gander was well and truly up now for Loughmore's forwards Liam McGrath scoring his three points in the final ten minutes, along with Noel hitting his seventh and eighth point, while goalie Micheal McGrath hit the score of the game from play in the 53rd minute from a huge distance.

There was still time for more late on as John McGrath bagged his second goal in the 60th minute, and only for some poor finishing from Ed Connolly the final score would have been much worse for Drom, as the Loughmore Castleiney men eased into a semi-final.

Drom & Inch: David Collins (0-11, 0-9f), Tommy Nolan 0-4, Seamus Callanan 1-1, Robbie Long, Fintan Purcell, Lorcan Campion 0-2 each, Podge Campion 0-1.

Loughmore Castleiney: Micheal McGrath (0-1); Lorcan Egan, Willie Eviston, Darragh McCahey; John Ryan (0-1), Brian McGrath, Tommy Maher; Aidan McGrath (0-2), Tomas McGrath (0-1); Ed Connolly (0-3), Noel McGrath (0-8), Ciaran McCormack (0-2); John McGrath (2-6, 0-5f), Ciaran McGrath (0-3), Liam McGrath (0-3).

Subs used: Ed Meagher for Maher (44, inj); Tommy Maher for A McGrath (55); Philip O’Connell for McCormack (57).

Drom & Inch: Eoin Collins; Kevin Hassett, Michael Campion, Stevie Nolan; Fintan Purcell (0-2), Podge Campion (0-1), John Ryan; John Campion, Robbie Long (0-2); Lorcan Campion (0-2), Jamie Moloney, Tony Cahill; Seamus Callanan (1-1), David Collins (0-11, 0-9f), Tommy Nolan (0-4).

Subs used: Maidhc Fitzpatrick for Ryan (39); Jack Lillis for Hassett (44).

Referee: John Dooley (Thurles Gaels)