'By God, we’ve hurlers all over the field' - McGrath praises Loughmore’s all-round quality

For years, Loughmore Castleiney’s reputation has been built on heart, hunger, and hard battles, yet behind that relentless edge lies a team capable of spreading the load, and that was underlined once again in Sunday’s county final triumph.

READ NEXT: 'You couldn’t beat days like this' - McGrath revels in county glory for Loughmore Castleiney

Across this year, different players have stepped up to the mark in games when others have been quieter. To say that Loughmore would win a county final with John McGrath failing to score from play says something about the abundance of quality they have outside of the vaunted McGrath brothers.

The younger of the clan, Brian McGrath hopes that kind of display changes how people see them.

“Sometimes, I don't think we get the credit that's due there for the hurling. People say we'll dog it out, we'll dog it out but by God we have hurlers all over the field, boy. We're not relying on John or Noel (McGrath) there.

“You spread the ball around to any of them guys, there's some serious stickmen there. We're well able to hurl the ball around the field. I think we've done that in patches today but more of it to come hopefully.”

The scoring charts back up his claim. Captain Liam McGrath led from the front as top scorer from play against Nenagh Éire Óg, while Ed Connolly stepped up with 1-5 in the quarter-final win over Toomevara.

Brian McGrath was quick to acknowledge his cousin’s impact.

“He was unreal, he's been unreal all year. The boys have been exceptional. There's been days where us as backs haven't helped him with the ball going in but any ball that went in to the boys all year, they fought for it on their backs.”

Their hopes of another famous double were ended by Kilsheelan Kilcash in the football championship just a week before the hurling decider. For a group as seasoned as Loughmore, however, switching focus was never going to be a problem.

“We got beaten by a better team, Kilsheelan, but straight away we knew we had a county final next week. Anybody would give their left arm to be there. So we had to get our heads screwed on and realise the situation that we were in. 

“We couldn't drag on too long with the disappointment; we had to turn our heads on Saturday night.”

The attention now shifts to the Munster series, where Éire Óg, Ennis, await in a semi-final next month. Loughmore Castleiney have not won a provincial hurling match since their 2007 title win, a stat that will surely provide extra motivation.

“I suppose at the start of the year this (winning the Dan Breen Cup) was our goal,” said McGrath. “We want to get back here to the county final and win the county finals. It's something we as a club have never done, not too many clubs have done it. It's an absolutely unreal achievement.

"We'll enjoy this but, yeah look, we were disappointed (versus Ballygunner) last year but we were looking no further than today. I think we're into a semi-final now but we'll knuckle down during the week and we'll get our heads around that and we'll give it one right crack.”

READ NEXT: GLORY DAYS! See the best of the action shots as Loughmore Castleiney retained Dan Breen!