Loughmore advance to County Tipperary senior football semi finals with powerful display

Loughmore Castleiney  ---------------------5-11

Arravale Rovers ------------------------------ -- 2-8

Loughmore Castleiney cruised to victory in a one sided county football quarter final against Arravale Rovers  in Cashel on Saturday.

The victory was just as comprehensive as the scoreline suggests, Arravale Rovers were obliterated in a devastating goal blitz from the opening whistle.

Although Arravale Rovers did enjoy a good spell  in the second half  the game was over as a contest from very early on and Arravale Rovers never recov ered from a dreadful start.

Loughmore were just imperious.It was a powerhouse display from Loughmore in the first half and if they continue  to perform with such rich form they will be very hard to stop this year.

Arravale Rovers had no hope of stopping the Loughmore machine when it was in such a mood to destroy and finish off the game as quickly as they could.

With their direct football, and with the magnificent  Noel McGrath effortlessly linking defence with attack, they  just simply blew Arravale away.

The ball was in the back of the Arravale net as early as the second minute as Loughmore  opened them up with an excellent move that saw Brian McGrath release a clever pass across the face of the goal to the in rushing John McGrath who finished to the net.

Darrren Lowry pointed for Arravale Rovers but Loughmore struck again after five minutes with Liam McGrath setting up Joseph Nyland who applied a clinical finish in front of goal.

It was the w orst possible start for Arravale who could do little to stop the onslaught.Liam Treacy added a point for Loughmore after thirteen minutes but it was a three goal blitz from  Loughmore in a five minutes spell that  finished  this quarter final as a contest.

Goals from Joseph Nyland,Evan Sweeney and Liam Treacy, each goal as good as the other , came in a devastating spell starting after fifteen minutes.

Arravale had no answer to the  relentless pressure applied by a an inform  Loughmore  as they cruised to victory.

Arravale managed two points from James Hogan    in the closing minutes of the first half giving them a total of just three scores for the half  the same number of points as their opponents  but Loughmore also had five goals to show for their efforts.

In fairness to Arravale they did put in a much improved performance in the second half.Brian Jones,James Hogan and the two Leahy’s,Donough and Shane  , all  continued to work very hard  and their efforts were rewarded when Darren Lowry converted a penalty eight minutes into the second half and they went  to take four of the next five points scored in the game in their best spell.

It was never going to be enough however as Loughmore continued to pick off the points  to protect their lead.

In the dying seconds of the game Johnny Lowry added Arravale’s second goal  to put a reasonably respectable look on the final score 5-11 to 2-8

.Noel McGrath impresses again