Loughmore Castleiney go back-to-back to lift their sixth Tipperary senior hurling crown

FBD Insurance Senior Hurling Championship Final

Loughmore Castleiney 2-22

Nenagh Éire Óg 1-22

Loughmore Castleiney added to the glory years of the club yet again in FBD Semple Stadium to defend their county title for the very first time and clinch their sixth overall as they consigned Nenagh Éire Óg to another final loss on Sunday afternoon.

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A rip-roaring and full blooded contest was edged by the Mid club with a Man of the Match performance from Liam McGrath, the difference with his 49th minute goal the decisive score.

The eventual winners led the game from the 19th minute onward but were pushed all the way by Nenagh Éire Óg, who gave it their all but some late wides with the game in the melting pot, along with the Loughmore Castleiney bench making a strong contribution, pushed them to victory.

Along similar lines to the first half of the Premier Intermediate final, this one started defensively, and tactically, both sides looked to have gotten their match-ups right in the first quarter.

Barry Heffernan and Brian McGrath dropped to cover the back lines after a few early engagements had Loughmore Castleiney off the mark, with Tomas McGrath pointing from close range after 90 seconds, but Nenagh were settling themselves early.

The return of Mikey Heffernan buoyed the Éire Óg supporters when he announced on the starting team over the tannoy in Semple, and he got his eye in very early in the first quarter, first from a 65 before he put Nenagh in front with a lovely floated effort to give his side the lead in the 14th minute at 0-4 to 0-3.

Liam McGrath was having joy at the other end on Mark Carey, with the yellow helmet floating around the good effect and looking like he had shrugged off the ill-effects of the injury that had him withdrawn before half-time in the football semi-final last weekend. 

It was a tight, attritional opening with the work-rate of the teams in the middle third contributing to handling errors rather than any obvious nerves, but the sides were level at 0-6 apiece by the 19th minute with John McGrath - operating at centre-forward - beginning to come into the game from frees and play.

After McGrath had levelled the game from distance in the 19th minute, Loughmore managed to hit the first unanswered scores in succession with a long-range Noel McGrath score, an opportunistic Ciaran McCormack point and a first for Ciaran Connolly, pushing the defending champions three clear.

Josh Keller responded well to punish a misplaced Brian McGrath pass a minute later, and his industry was key for Nenagh keeping in touch as he set up James Mackey to cut it to two points in the 27th minute after Ciaran McCormack had temporarily re-established the three-point lead.

Nenagh finished the half strongly, though, with Keller again in the main threat, setting up scores for James Mackey and Mason Cawley to cut it to two points in added time, but the last action of the half came from a sublime Ciaran McCormack sideline cut from 55 metres out at the angle, catching in the wind and sailing over the black spot.

Loughmore ahead 0-13 to 0-10, but with work still to do as Nenagh would be benefiting from the breeze in the second half, and would no doubt have been content with their lot from the first half.

The North side started the second half well too, hitting an early brace of scores from key men Jake Morris and Mikey Heffernan to bring it back to a single point after 33 minutes, but disaster would soon follow suit.

John McGrath lined up a free a minute later to get Loughmore going in the second half, but with the wind playing its part, the long-range effort looked to be dropping short of the target and into the grateful hand of Dermot McTiernan, but somehow, the usually reliable netminder dropped the ball into his own net. A big swing after Nenagh’s strong start.

Loughmore pounced on the swing in momentum to make it a five-point goal with a McGrath messrs Brian and John (free) hitting long-range scores. 

But they were lucky to avoid a brilliant Nenagh response soon after in the 37th minute when substitute Tommy Heffernan made an immediate impact by feeding a clever scooped pass to Philip Hickey inside the 21, but with the goal at his mercy, Hickey blasted over the bar when the goal seemed the easier outcome.

A huge miss for Éire Óg, but it must be said, they continued to find their range in the aftermath by hitting another two scores in a row with the Heffernan brothers Tommy and Mikey (free) firing over class scores; although it was to get even better.

As if to even the score, Loughmore conceded an avoidable goal of their own in the 42nd minute, again from a long-range free, as Mikey Heffernan went for a score only for the ball to drop well short of the mark, but the bouncing ball deceived Aidan McGrath in the goal with the ball fizzing into the back of the net.

All square at 1-15 apiece with the final quarter to come.

The sides were going blow-for-blow now, with the status quo restored with four points traded evenly up to the 48th minute, thanks to Josh Keller and Jake Morris firing over for Nenagh, while Ciaran Connolly and Liam Treacy.

However, the moment of quality and differential soon came, with John McGrath pulling from his bag of tricks, dispossessing a Nenagh defender and sprinting clear inside the 45 and with an easy point on, he went for the kill, and after being held up in the 21, managed to find a pass to Liam McGrath who planted the defeat and drilled a shot to the net despite McTiernan getting his stick to the strike.

Mason Cawley took the sting off the goal with a fine strike, finding the target straight after, but the Loughmore reflex kicked in at this point as they assumed control and with the McGrath’s Noel, John (free), Liam, and Tomas all finding scores late on, they had stretched into a six-point lead with four minutes of added time remaining.

Some uncharacteristic misses from Mikey Heffernan from frees in added time killed the Nenagh resurgence with one on the 21-yard line being mis-hit to suck the life from the team, but they didn’t give up regardless.

Nenagh came looking for the scores to salvage the game, and while they did find scores from Jake Morris and Mikey Heffernan (free) in added time, it was too little too late as Loughmore held out to record another famous win to go with their growing list of triumphs with the current crop of players.

The result went along expected lines with Nenagh giving an almighty account of themselves, and they will look back with some regrets when all is said and done. 

The concession of the first goal killed the momentum they had garnered after the restart, while they also failed to get the most out of star players like Sam O’Farrell and Jake Morris, who were subdued largely in the second half.

For Loughmore Castleiney, the performance of Liam McGrath was something to behold, with key scores summing up his tireless efforts, while Ciaran Connolly dominated around the middle, along with Noel McGrath late on, when the game was there to be won.

They will enjoy the fruits of their labours in the next few days, but will also be keen to give Munster a strong rattle after failing to land a blow on the provincial stage in their last two outings. 

They will travel to Ennis in three weeks to face Clare champions Éire Óg Ennis in the Munster semi-final and will be full of confidence having defeated the same opposition in the same venue last year in the football equivalent.

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Scorers: Loughmore Castleiney: John McGrath (1-5, 1-4f, 0-1 65), Liam McGrath 1-3, Tomas McGrath 0-3, Ciaran McCormack (0-3, 0-1 sl-cut), Noel McGrath, Ciaran Connolly 0-2 each, Ed Connolly, Brian McGrath, Liam Treacy, Ed Meagher all 0-1 each.

Nenagh Éire Óg: Mikey Heffernan (1-8, 1-3f, 0-1 65), Jake Morris 0-5, Josh Keller, Mason Cawley, Philip Hickey 0-2 each, Sam O’Farrell, James Mackey, Tommy Heffernan all 0-1 each.

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

Subs used: Liam Treacy for C McGrath (HT); Tommy Maher for Ed Connolly (43); Darragh McCahey for O’Connell (44); Paul McCahey for McCormack (51); Philip O’Connell for L McGrath (62, inj).

Nenagh Éire Óg: Dermot McTiernan; Paddy Murphy, Mark Carey, Jake Donnellan Houlihan; Mason Cawley, Barry Heffernan, Conor Hennessy; Sam O’Farrell, Conor Ryan; Josh Keller, Mikey Heffernan, Sam O’Farrell; Ben West, Jake Morris, Philip Hickey.

Subs used: Tommy Heffernan for West (31); Adam Carey for Mackey (46); Conor McCarthy for M Carey (54); Billy O’Brien for Hickey (56).

Referee: Conor Doyle (Silvermines)