Lacklustre Loughmore Castleiney disappoint in loss to classy Ballygunner

AIB Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship Semi-Final

Ballygunner 1-26

Loughmore Castleiney 1-16

By Darragh O'Flynn

Four in a row, chasing Ballygunner, were on blistering form against Tipperary, double-chasing Loughmore today in Walsh Park, and they eased into their seventh Munster final in a row.

The game was a tip for that for the opening 26 minutes with a John McGrath free, reducing the gap back to a single point, 0-9 to 0-8. However, that seemed to wake the Gunner beast as they scored 1-6 in the final 6 minutes to go into the break with a commanding 1-15 to 0-8 lead at the break.

However, the second half was more like a Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson contest if you want to compare it to other sporting events this weekend.

The first half, in general, was a stop-start affair with referee Ciarán O’Regan having a busy day writing in his notebook with five Ballygunner getting yellow cards, with Peter Hogan’s one being perhaps the most fortunate one that could have been a different colour as he swung back on Ed Meagher with the Cork man deciding that two cards for both players were the best solution.

Ballygunner’s old guard stood up today, especially Pauric Mahoney and Conor Sheehan, who came to the fore for Darragh O’Sullivan’s side.

Loughmore tried to raise green flags throughout the second period, but Stephen O’Keeffe’s brilliance and a goal-line save from Philip Mahoney on a  McGrath free prevented any comeback.

The only time the Gunners' defence was breached was more of a fluke than a design: a Ciarán McCormack 65 managed to find its way into the back of the net to reduce the gap back to 10, but the game was over as a contest long ago.

From a Loughmore perspective, they were lucky that the damage wasn’t worse when goalie Aidan McGrath's blushes were saved when his clearance was clocked down by Dessie Hutchinson.

To everyone’s amazement, he managed to miss the open goal, and perhaps to the Tipp side's luck the Waterford champions took their foot off the pedal when the contest was won

In what many people thought would be the second instalment of a classic contest, as we had in Fraher Field a few years ago, it was more like a sequel that failed to live up to the hype of a Hollywood flop.

Ballygunner will now play Sarsfields in a Munster final, while Loughmore will have to dust themselves down and turn their attention to the big ball as they play Eire Og of Ennis in Clare.

Scorers: Loughmore Castleiney: John McGrath (0-9, 0-7f, 0-1 65), Ciaran McCormack 1-0f, Ciaran Connolly 0-2, Ed Meagher, John Ryan, John Meagher, Liam Treacy all 0-1 each, Noel McGrath 0-1f.

Ballygunner: Pauric Mahony (0-9, 0-4f); Kevin Mahony 1-3; Peter Hogan 0-4, Dessie Hutchinson (0-4, 0-1 65); Conor Power 0-2; Stephen O’Keeffe, Conor Sheahan, Mikey Mahony, Patrick Fitzgerald all 0-1 each.

Loughmore Castleiney: Aidan McGrath; Eoin O’Connell, Lorcan Egan, Willie Eviston; John Ryan, Brian McGrath, Ed Meagher; Noel McGrath, Ciaran Connolly; Ed Connolly, Tomas McGrath, Tommy Maher; John McGrath, Ciaran McGrath, Liam McGrath.

Subs used: Ciaran McCormack for Maher (HT); John Meagher for E. O’Connell (HT); Paul McCahey for E Connolly (45); Liam Treacy for C McGrath (46); Darragh McCahey for Ryan (53).

Ballygunner: Stephen O’Keeffe; Ian Kenny, Barry Coughlan, Tom Foley; Harry Ruddle, Philip Mahony, Ronan Power; Conor Sheahan, Paddy Leavey; Pauric Mahony, Kevin Mahony, Peter Hogan; Patrick Fitzgerald, Dessie Hutchinson, Mikey Mahony.

Subs used: Conor Power for Fitzgerald (48); Shane O’Sullivan for Hogan (53); Conor Tobin for M Mahony (57); Aaron O’Neill for T Foley (58); Jake Foley for Pauric Mahony (58).

Referee: Ciaran O’Regan (Cork)