Nenagh one step from county success
Nenagh Éire Óg 1-8
Clonakenny 0-5
North champions Nenagh Éire Óg booked their place in the County Junior ‘B’ Football final after a strong second half showing pushed them past Clonakenny in the semi-final at The Ragg on Sunday.
The big moment came during the second half in the 34th minute when Adam Healy's powerful shot was well saved by Clonakenny goalkeeper Harry Fleming, only for the rebound to fall into the path of Philip Hickey who batted home to put Nenagh in the lead and gave them a cushion that they wouldn't give up.
To say the game was slow to get going is a bit of an understatement as neither side got into an cohesive pattern of play in the opening minutes, but Nenagh were the ones with most of the possession in the first quarter, getting into some good shooting positions, but they were butchering those opportunities with some wayward shooting with ten wides being registered in the first half.
Clonakenny made the most of any chances they got, and it took a good possession play for the first score to come from the Mid champions, with Diarmuid Ryan finishing with his right foot in the thirteenth minute. It didn't take long for the next score as Clonakenny pointed again as John O'Meara found the target straight from the kick out, with former underage Tipperary goalie Callan Scully kicking straight to the corner forward who floated an effort over the bar.
Éire Óg were maintaining patience in their build-up play but their lack of scoring prolificacy was costing them and it was Clonakenny who were producing the goods in front of goal, with full forward Cian O'Dwyer making it 0-3 to nil in the 24th minute.
Nenagh were in danger of being kept scoreless coming up to half time, but it took a class individual effort from Jake Morris in the 27th minute to get their scoring off the mark, with a powerful run ending with a cool finish off his left. Morris also had the final act of the half when he slotted a close range free to leave just a point between the sides, 0-3 to 0-2 at the break.
The big moment in the game came in the 34th minute when Adam Healy's powerful shot was well-saved by Clonakenny goalkeeper Harry Fleming, only for the rebound to fall into the path of Philip Hickey who batted home to put Nenagh in the lead. Hickey had the eye in now and added a point in the 43rd minute as the Nenagh pace was beginning to tell, but Clonakenny were keeping in touch with Cian O'Dwyer pointing a free three minutes later to reduce the gap back to two points.
The Nenagh bench was then rolled out with Mikey and Tommy Heffernan, along with Josh Keller, proving very effective, with Mikey Heffernan's sweetly struck point in the 53rd minute edging Nenagh into a three-point lead.
Clonakenny had a big goal chance a few minutes later when Cian O'Dwyer found himself in on goal only to prod the ball past the left hand post, and from here, Nenagh took over with the pace of Keller proving too hot to handle for the Clonakenny rear-guard with the sub scoring two fine points to make it a bridge too far for the mid men.
Jake Morris handpassed the last score late on which clinched a final spot for his side who will play Aherlow or the South champions in the final on 27/28 November.
Player of the Match: Philip Hickey (Nenagh Eire Og)
Nenagh Éire Óg: Callan Scully; Gerard Mitchell, Barry Heffernan, Adam Gratton; Alan Kelly, Conor Hennessy, Daire Quinn; Paddy Murphy, Brendan Long; Jake Morris (0-3, 1f), Conor Ryan, James Mackey; Sean Shanahan, Philip Hickey (1-1), Adam Healy (0-1).
Subs: Mark Carey for Long; Tommy Heffernan for Shanahan; Josh Keller (0-2) for Ryan; Brian Duffy for Healy; Mikey Heffernan (0-1) for Mackey.
Clonakenny: Harry Fleming; Alexei Harty, Delacy Byrne, Proinsias Matthews; Brian Mullally, Tom Carroll, Paul Bergin; Diarmuid Ryan (0-1), Conor Shanahan; Bobby Bergin (0-1), Peadar Byrne, MJ Carroll; Stephen Maher, Cian O'Dwyer (0-2, 1f), John O'Meara (0-1).
Subs: Nicky Ryan for Mullally; William Costigan for Bergin; Donie Greed for O'Meara.
Referee: Richard O'Connor (Arravale Rovers)