Clonoulty pull clear of Mullinahone to retain senior status

GAA: FBD Insurance Tipperary Senior Hurling Relegation Semi-Final

Clonoulty/Rossmore 2-21

CJK Mullinahone 1-15

Report: John O’Shea at Leahy Park, Cashel

Clonoulty/Rossmore galvanised their senior status in the Dan Breen Cup for 2026 when they overcame the challenge of CJ Kickhams Mullinahone in the relegation semi-final on Sunday afternoon.

Both sides were in the mire having finished in bottom spot of their respective groups.

Clonoulty/Rossmore finishing in fourth position in group 1, which also included Dan Breen semi-finalists Holycross/Ballycahill, along with Toomevara and Kiladangan.

Mullinahone finished bottom of group 2, one headed by semi-finalists, Nenagh Éire Óg, which also included Cashel King Cormacs and Thurles Sarsfields.

Such is the competitiveness of this Tipperary Senior Hurling championship.

A good size crowd were treated to a game of honest endeavour with the contest ebbing and flowing throughout and level on three occasions during the opening eight minutes.

Clonoulty played with the aid of a strong wind for the opening thirty minutes, but it was Mullinahone who started the better, with points from Sean Curran and Cillian Direen inside the first minute.

Stephen Ferncombe settled the West men with a brace of minors, including one from play after three minutes.

Michael Dunne put over the first of his eight points before Cathal Bourke cancelled it out.

Mikey Ryan cut in from the wing to fire Clonoulty ahead, but again Mullinahone replied, as the game swung from end to end. Mistakes were forced and capitalised on as the game picked up.

Ferncombe added his third from a placed ball, before Nathan Slattery put two between the sides before Clonoulty struck the opening blow after thirteen minutes.

Stephen Ferncombe won possession from a ruck, took on the defence before laying off to Nathan Slattery, who in turn found Ciaran Quirke on the left, who beat Brendan Kearney with a powerful drive.

Mullinahone were quickly back in the game through a Michael Dunne converted placed ball, which was followed by a goal from Alan Curran at the start of the second quarter, when he steered the ball past Jason O’Dwyer from the edge of the square.

The West men rallied and hit the next four points on the bounce; Nathan Slattery firing over from under the stand, while Ferncombe converted two placed balls from inside his own half, before Enda Heffernan ran through the Mullinahone defence from midfield to tap over one handed from inside the thirteen metre line.

The South side hit a mini purple patch which yielded four unanswered points, three from Michael Dunne and one from Martin Keogh. This cut the deficit to the minimum, with four minutes remaining in the half.

Clonoulty were dealt a body blow when experienced defender Danny Slattery was forced to leave the field through injury, replaced by Tommy Ryan.

However, they restructured and finished the stronger with two converted frees from Stephen Ferncombe to go in at the break, three points to the good, 1-12 to 1-9.

Clonoulty/Rossmore came storming into the game after the restart, with Jack Ryan causing all sorts of problems for the Mullinahone last line of defence. He hit 1-2 in a four minute spell, the goal coming from a cross from out near the corner flag by Ciaran Quirke, who had worked hard to win possession. This gave them an eight point advantage.

Again, Mullinahone hit back with Sean Curran hit three long range frees, before Michael Dunne and Cathal Bourke cancelled out each other. Jason O’Dwyer came to Clonoulty’s rescue on 51 minutes when he saved point-blank from Graham Horan, who opened up the defence. Michael Dunne and Enda Heffernan traded minors before Enda Keane struck a wonderful point from a side-line cut. This reduced the deficit to four with five minutes of normal time remaining, as the crowd sensed a grandstand finish. This was not to be as the Mullinahone challenge fizzled out over the remaining minutes. Clonoulty/Rossmore put up the shutters, with Enda Heffernan, John O’Keeffe and Robert Doyle particularly impressive.

However, it was Stephen Ferncombe who finished on a high as he punished any Mullinahone indiscretion, hitting five points from frees to bring his tally to 0-12.

Clonoulty/Rossmore retain their senior status for 2026, while CJ Kickhams Mullinahone have one more chance as they head to the Relegation final in two weeks’ time, where the take on Lorrha.

Player of the Match: Stephen Ferncombe (Clonoulty/Rossmore).

Clonoulty/Rossmore: Jason O’Dwyer (7); Jimmy Ryan (6), Robert Doyle (7), Danny Slattery (6); John O’Keeffe (7), Enda Heffernan (0-2, 7), Ronan Heffernan (7); Nathan Slattery (0-2, 7), Stevie Quinn (6), Cathal Bourke (0-2, 7), Stephen Ferncombe (0-12, 11f, 8), Jimmy Maher (6), Jack Ryan (1-2, 8), Ciaran Quirke (1-0, 7), Mikie Ryan (0-1, 7).

Subs: Tommy Ryan (6) for D Slattery (26 inj); Thomas Butler (6) for Maher (46), Donnchadh Quirke (6) for Quinn (52), Jamie Davern (NR) for M Ryan (60), Sean O’Connor (NR) for J Ryan (60+2 inj).

CJ Kickhams, Mullinahone: Brendan Kearney (6); Conor O’Brien (7), Paul Curran (7), Colin Shelly (6); Darragh Linnane (7), Eoin Fennelly (7), Martin Keogh (0-1, 7), Eoin O’Dwyer (6), Daire O’Brien (6), Sam Rowan (6), Sean Curran (0-4, 3f, 7), Alan Curran (1-0, 7), Cillian Direen (0-1, 7), Mikey O’Shea (6), Michael Dunne (0-8, 5f, 7).

Subs: Graham Horan (6) for E O’Dwyer (45); Enda Keane (0-1 s-cut, 7) for Dunne (52); Matthew Direen (NR) for Direen (60).

Referee: John Dooley (Thurles Gaels)