HISTORY! Three red cards as Upperchurch Drombane win historic Munster title in Limerick

AIB Munster Intermediate Hurling Championship Final

Upperchurch Drombane 3-20

O’Callaghan’s Mills 0-15

Upperchurch Drombane created a new chapter in the club’s history on Saturday evening in Limerick, claiming their first ever Munster title, defeating an ill-disciplined O’Callaghan’s Mills side of Clare in the final at TUS Gaelic Grounds.

The big talking point from this game will be the moments of madness from O’Callaghan’s Mills, who received three red cards in the game.

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First, forward duo Jacob Loughnane and Conor Henry, who both received second yellow cards in their dismissals in the 39th minute, which completely changed what was a really tight, nip-and-tuck tie up until that point, before Gary Cooney received a straight red for an off-the-ball incident in added time.

It proved pivotal in the end, with Upperchurch making full use of the numerical advantage, outscoring the Mills by 3-7 to 0-2 with the goals coming from Conor Fahey, Paddy Phelan and stalwart Colm Ryan to secure a famous win for the Mid Tipperary club.

Upperchurch Drombane have a very settled style of play and rarely has it lent itself to open, swashbuckling hurling, and the first quarter of this game was in that mould once again.

In the first ten minutes, the Mills went into a 0-4 to 0-2 advantage with former Clare senior panellist Gary Cooney picking off a brace of points within six minutes, while Sean Cotter and Jacob Loughnane (free) hit scores in that flurry.

Upperchurch were far from threatening in their attack and had only scores from Gavin Ryan (free) and a well-taken Conor Fahey effort as both sides struggled for clean-cut sights of scores.

Still, it wasn’t long before Upperchurch were level as they began to go through the lower gears with Aaron Ryan prominent with two points from play after Gavin Ryan had picked off another long-range free; the sides sharing the spoils at 0-5 apiece after 17 minutes.

The pre-match build-up was all about the similarities between the teams and how close a contest was in the offing, and the remainder of the half displayed that to a tee, as the sides went score for score for the remainder of the half.

Conor Fahey was having a big influence on the game for Upperchurch as the Tipp senior footballer won at least three frees in scoring range in the final quarter for Upperchurch to pilfer points, which gave Upperchurch the lead after 21 minutes.

It must be said that the Mills were going more change from their danger forwards in the form of Sean Boyce and Gary Cooney, with the pair scoring the Mills' final three points of the half; each one as delightful as the last with some fine shooting on display.

While the Upperchurch forwards were lacking in the scoring zone, they got a lot of joy around the middle in the final ten minutes with the Grants, Diarmuid and Niall, scoring long-range points to level the game at 0-10 all, before Luke Shanahan forayed out to that zone to fizz over the final score of the half; a real beauty to give the Tipperary champions a slender 0-11 to 0-10 lead.

The shooting for both sides in the first half left a lot to be desired, with 14 wides being waved between the teams, as Upperchurch accounted for eight of those, and more composure would be needed from both sides in the second half.

However, what transpired was the polar opposite of composure, with the game livening up significantly but for all the wrong reasons.

After Jacob Loughnane and Luke Shanahan traded frees in the first six minutes, a particularly fiery passage of play where there probably should have been frees awarded to the Mills led to the East Clare men seeing red, literally.

In a 60-second spell, they received two red cards, with Jacob Loughnane receiving a second yellow after a high tackle on Keith Ryan, and stupidly, straight afterwards, remonstrations from Conor Henry led to the wing-forward receiving two yellow cards in the same conversation with the Waterford official.

A moment of sheer madness from the Mills and nothing short of a gift from on high for Upperchurch Drombane, who would have a two-man advantage for the remaining 20-plus minutes.

And that advantage told as the second half wore on. They pushed into a three-point lead after scores from Paudie Greene and Aaron Ryan before the clincher came in the 50th minute when Conor Fahey galloped in on goal to fire home to the back of the net and create breathing space for the Church.

Paddy Phelan added a second after brilliant work from Pat Ryan to turn over the ball and feed the U20 hurler, who finished well to kill the game completely on 54 minutes.

The Mills heads went at that point as Upperchurch continued to fire over points with the space too much to cover in the final ten minutes, and it led to a late fracas that led to Gary Cooney receiving a straight red card for a high challenge. The Mills crowd were less than impressed, but the right call was made on that occasion.

It was plain sailing for Upperchurch, who could scarcely believe their luck at this point, and they put the cherry on top on the stroke of the 60th minute when newly introduced club stalwart Colm Ryan pounced on a rebound from close range to fire home a third goal.

Ecstasy for Upperchurch, sauntering to a historic victory in Limerick.

Scorers: Upperchurch Drombane: (0-5, 0-3f), Conor Fahey 1-2, Paddy Phelan 1-1, Pat Ryan 0-4, Aaron Ryan 0-3, Colm Ryan 1-0, Gavin Ryan 0-2f, Diarmuid Grant, Niall Grant, Padraig Greene all 0-1 each.

O’Callaghan’s Mills: Sean Boyce (0-5, 0-3f), Jacob Loughnane 0-4, Gary Cooney 0-3, Sean Cotter, Aidan O’Gorman, Cormac Murphy 0-1 each.

Upperchurch Drombane: Ciaran Shortt; Mikey Lavery, Keith Ryan, Dean Carew; Niall Grant, Gavin Ryan, Toby Corbett; Aaron Ryan, Diarmuid Grant; Paddy Phelan, Conor Fahey, Paul Shanahan; Luke Shanahan, Padraig Greene, Pat Ryan.

Subs used: Mikey Griffin for Greene (56); Colm Ryan for P Shanahan (56); Paul Ryan for Phelan (59); Ger Grant for A Ryan (61); Sean Ryan for L Shanahan (61).

O’Callaghan’s Mills: Killian Nugent; Cathal McNamara, Conor Cooney, Keith Donnellan; Sean Cotter, Aidan O’Gorman, Aidan Fawl; Fionn Hickey, Cormac Murphy; Jacob Loughnane, Darragh Moroney, Conor Henry; Sean Boyce, Colm Cleary, Gary Cooney.

Subs used: Pat Donnellan for K Donnellan (46); Mark Pewter for Cleary (56); Mike McGrath for Cotter (56).

Referee: Nicky O’Toole (Waterford)

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