Brackens make championship statement with stunning win over Nenagh

Four-goal blitz powers Mid champions to emphatic opening-round victory as last year's county finalists are left with plenty to ponder.

FBD Insurance County Senior Hurling Championship - Group 4 - Round 1

JK Brackens 4-18

Nenagh Éire Óg 0-22

JK Brackens crossed the divisional divide to deliver a real statement of intent in Templederry on Saturday evening in the first round of the FBD Insurance county senior hurling championship as they swept aside last year's county finalists Nenagh Éire Óg in emphatic fashion.

Four goals pilfered against a side adopting a sweeper and insisting on playing out from the back, Brackens were full value for their win with four late points from Barry Heffernan only reducing the deficit and sparing some blushes for the Nenagh men – they may yet be thankful for those scores if scoring difference comes into play later on.

Brackens also hit sixteen wides in the game meaning they had close to 40 shots on goal with the Ormond brothers, Jamie and Andrew, hurling up a storm which Nenagh simply could not come to terms with. Put in simple terms, the mid men hit 4-11 from play whereas Nenagh Éire Óg, by contrast, had nine of their total from placed balls.

Despite the frustration of their supporters with their laboured approach play, proceedings seemed to be going according to plan for the Nenagh lads in the first half as they faced into a stiff breeze and were just two in arrears as the half slipped into injury time.

However, a Shane Doyle goal for Brackens, after an Andrew Ormond effort had been saved by Dermot McTiernan, proved a real shot in the arm and Lyndon Fairbrother landed his 6th point – five from frees – to give Brackens a 1-11 to 0-8 interval lead – Jamie Ormond (2), Ned Delaney, Andrew Ormond and Eanna McBride getting the other Brackens scores.

A crucial moment had arrived right at the end of the first quarter when Jake Morris had a typical burst for goal, but his shot was saved brilliantly by Jack Kennedy to keep his side in front – a goal at that stage would have given Nenagh a 1-3 to 0-4 lead – Sam O’Farrell, Paddy Murphy and Mason Cawley having gotten their scores up to that incident.

Sam O’Farrell would add two more frees on a day when his antenna was off somewhat, while Paddy Murphy had a second point from his half back berth, and Conor Hennessy and Ben West also added scores for Nenagh.

JK Brackens had wasted a lot of chances, and their 11 wides in the first half could well have proved costly – two of those came direct from the puckout, such was the strength of the breeze. That breeze would aid Nenagh Éire Óg in the second half, and the big question at the break was, would six points be enough of a lead considering the breeze?

Nenagh had added four points to their first half tally through Sam O’Farrell (3) and Barry Heffernan, against two from Shane Doyle and Jamie Ormond, when the decisive score of the game emerged. Dean McEnroe’s 39th-minute goal after great combination play from Andrew Ormond and Shane Doyle gave Brackens belief that they could go on and win the game.

They still had more than 20 minutes to hold out, but the seven-point cushion was decent enough, especially as Fairbrother hit two scores from play and two from frees within ten minutes to more than compensate for Filip McIntyre (2) and Michael Heffernan scores for Nenagh – Heffernan had replaced Jamie Coterill as scores became the real currency for the now under-pressure Nenagh lads.

Josh Keller and Jake Morris pointed to cut the lead to two clear goals, but that lead was doubled in three minutes when Andrew Ormond and then Eanna McBride raced through the Nenagh defence for goals to create a 12-point differential with five minutes to go.

Brackens were home and hosed, and Nenagh looked a defeated lot with only Barry Heffernan continuing to take the fight to the mid men. His sense of urgency saw four scores flashed over in as many minutes, but the damage had been done and Heffernan’s efforts were geared more towards what could happen down the line in the group, rather than what was happening on the night.

Scorers: JK Brackens: Lyndon Fairbrother (0-10, 0-7 f); Jamie Ormond 0-4; Andrew Ormond 1-1; Shane Doyle 1-1; Eanna McBride 1-1; Dean McEnroe 1-0; Ned Delaney 0-1

Nenagh Éire Óg: Sam O’Farrell 0-6f; Barry Heffernan (0-5, 0-3f); Paddy Murphy 0-2; Filip McIntyre 0-2; Ben West 0-1; Jake Morris 0-1f; Josh Keller 0-1; Conor Ryan 0-1; Mason Cawley 0-1; Conor Hennessy 0-1; Michael Heffernan 0-1.

JK Brackens: Jack Kennedy; Luke Ormond, Cathal Scully, James Corcoran; Michael Cahill, Paddy Cadell, Ned Walsh; Eanna McBride, Conor Cadell; Lyndon Fairbrother, Ned Delaney, Jamie Ormond; Ciaran O’Shea, Andrew Ormond, Shane Doyle.

Subs used: Dean McEnroe for Ciaran O’Shea (25); Padraic O’Shea (6) for Fairbrother (56).

Nenagh Éire Óg: Dermot McTiernan; Conor Hennessy, Barry Heffernan, Philip Hickey; Jake Donelan Houlihan, Paddy Murphy, Mason Cawley; Conor Ryan, Jamie Cotterill; Billy O’Brien, Josh Keller, Filip McIntyre; Sam O’Farrell, Jake Morris, Ben West.

Subs used: Michael Heffernan for Cotterill (42); Emmet Jones (6) for Cawley (47); James Mackey for O’Brien (48).

Referee: Shane O’Neill (St. Mary’s)