Nenagh well primed to face ultimate challenge in Loughmore/Castleiney

GAA: FBD Insurance Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship Final Preview

By Shane Brophy

LOUGHMORE/CASTLEINEY

V

THURLES SARSFIELDS

FBD Semple Stadium

Sunday, 26th October

Throw-in @ 3.45pm (E.T.)

Referee: Conor Doyle (Silvermines)

Nenagh Eire Og have arguably gone into the four county senior hurling finals since their one and only success in 1995 with more hype around them, but it could well be that their best chance is ahead of them this Sunday.

Ordinarily, coming up against a Loughmore/Castleiney side chasing an historic back-to-back of Dan Breen Cups, and who haven’t missed a beat for much of the last two years, would appear an insurmountable task.

However, Kilsheelan/Kilcash were in same boat in advance of last Saturday’s senior football semi-final when they did to Loughmore what the defending champions have done to so many teams in recent years, showing the composure in the closing stages to come from behind and win.

There is so much to admire about this Loughmore/Castleiney group, particularly in terms of their preparation, both on and off the field. Some might suggest they have enjoyed luck in terms of avoiding injury on their unbeaten run at county championship level in hurling and football which ended at twenty last weekend.

However, avoiding injury isn’t down to luck, they put the work in the gym to build themselves up physically, however, the timing of injuries to hurling captain Liam McGrath and his cousin John, possibly withdrawn as a precaution has to be a concern considering the key roles they play.

Nenagh Eire Og have their own injury concern in Mikey Heffernan who was rated as “touch and go” by manager Hugh Maloney following their semi-final win over Drom & Inch ten days ago. The veteran attacker, who has played in all four final defeats going back to 2006 as a seventeen-year-old, strained an AC joint in the shoulder in the quarter final win over Kilruane MacDonaghs, and injuries of that kind can be slow to heal.

Nenagh manager Moloney also played in that 2006 final loss, a classic against Toomevara, as well as the subsequent defeats in 2013 (to Loughmore/Castleiney), 2015 to Thurles Sarsfields and 2018 to Clonoulty/Rossmore, but he feels past failures on final day won’t be a weight this group of players will have to carry.

When he speaks about the potential loss of Heffernan, it is a case of next man up and Ben West proved it with a 1-3 contribution in the semi-final. Better Nenagh teams in the past would have crumbled without such a key player, but this group feels like they have that extra element of steel in them.

They have put in the work, arguably the team with the conditioning levels close to that of their final opponents. When you are fit in body, you are fit in mind, and Nenagh have shown that, even in the manner they responded from the loss to Cashel in round 2 of the group stage. It was one of those Nenagh kind of defeats in a game they were expected to win, but twenty wides were much of the reason they lost that game.

That lack of efficiency is an outlier to the way Nenagh have performed this year, a team confident in how they are being asked to play, aided by Barry Heffernan being back to his best at the heart of the defence. The former Tipperary All-Ireland winner is finally back to his peak after two injury-hit years, and provides Nenagh with an experienced anchor at centre back, in front of Mark Carey who has protected goalkeeper Dermot McTiernan well.

Paddy Murphy also provides experience but the other three-backs provide the legs in Conor Hennessy, Jake Donelan-Houlihan and Mason Cawley. Hennessy tends to be the man-marker so it will be interesting to see if it is Liam or John McGrath he is tasked with, or indeed Noel McGrath if Hennessy’s versatility is put to use in the middle of the field.

Conor Ryan’s relocation to the midfield as brought leadership to the heart of the team alongside the work-rate of James Mackey in what will be key area where Loughmore/Castleiney are always strong with the aforementioned McGrath, while Ciaran Connolly is back to his best.

Sam O’Farrell is playing in the same role for Nenagh as he did with the Tipperary seniors and that he was handed the free-taking responsibility in place of Mikey Heffernan, ahead of Jake Morris, shows the belief the management have in a player still so young.

If Heffernan doesn’t start, Morris may well come out to the half-forward line to join O’Farrell and Josh Keller in an all-inter-county line with Ben West, Philip Hickey and Adam Carey inside, with Tommy Heffernan held back for an impact role off the bench which he has performed well in the campaign.

The Loughmore/Castleiney team has had a settled look right from round 1 with the only change coming in the semi-final with Eoin O’Connell coming in for the experienced John Ryan at wing-back in what had a tactical element to it with the younger O’Connell detailed to man-mark Tiarnan Ryan. It could well be that John Ryan gets the nod this Sunday as his experience and physicality against a powerful Nenagh half-forward line will be important.

Both Loughmore/Castleiney and Nenagh Eire Og play the same style where retaining possession is important so it could well be a slugfest instead of an open high-scoring classic. However, that won’t mean it won’t be an engrossing contest as each side looks to break down the other, physically and tactically.

Loughmore/Castleiney are the safer bet to win their sixth Dan Breen Cup, retaining it for the first time in their history. They haven’t shown any reason not to trust them to get the job done but there does seem to be something different about this Nenagh Eire Og team, and that mental toughness will be needed if, as expected, the game is decided in the closing stage, or indeed extra time which there is provision for. Verdict: Loughmore/Castleiney