Missed chances haunt Loughmore in Munster exit

GAA: AIB Munster Club Senior Hurling Championship Semi-Final

Éire Óg Ennis 2-20

Loughmore/Castleiney 1-16

(After Extra Time)

Report: Stephen Barry at O'Garney Park, Sixmilebridge

MATCH DIGEST

Player of the Match: Danny Russell (Éire Óg Ennis)

SCORERS – Éire Óg Ennis: Danny Russell 1-14 (0-12 frees, 0-1 65); Darren Moroney 1-0; Shane O’Donnell, Marco Cleary 0-2 each; Rian Mulcahy (free), Tom Kavanagh 0-1 each.

Loughmore/Castleiney: John McGrath 0-12 (5 frees, 2 65s); Liam McGrath 1-0; John Ryan, Brian McGrath, Noel McGrath, Ed Connolly 0-1 each.

Loughmore/Castleiney came within seconds of making a first Munster Club hurling final since 2007 before fading to a seven-point defeat in extra-time against Éire Óg Ennis on Sunday.

The Tipperary champions had enough opportunities to win, but a wide count of ten to one in the second half cost them momentum when the game looked in their hands.

Still, John McGrath seemed to have found the 62nd minute winning point until David Reidy was tackled high and Danny Russell sent them to extra-time; 1-13 apiece.

The Townies closed out those extra twenty minutes with a 1-5 burst to secure their spot alongside Ballygunner in the provincial showpiece. Having been subbed back on for that final stretch, Darren Moroney netted the clinching goal in the 77th minute.

In a hard-hitting contest which was level thirteen times, Loughmore held the lead on eleven separate occasions. However, their biggest lead was two points, and they only achieved that cushion twice; both in the first half.

Éire Óg simply never let them get away. The gusting wind at O’Garney Park had the potential to be match-defining. Instead, they outscored Loughmore against the breeze by 2-10 to 0-9 between the second halves of normal and extra-time.

Up against a dominant half-back line, Loughmore were over-reliant on John McGrath’s 0-12 contribution. Clare under 20 Robert Loftus helped to mitigate the damage wreaked by McGrath once he was switched onto the Hurler of the Year.

Tipperary representatives have now lost their last four meetings against Clare champions. Two of those have come after extra-time. The last victory was Loughmore’s ‘07 triumph over Tulla.

The day began with a surprise venue change ninety minutes before the original throw-in time. A burst mains in Ennis town cut off the water supply to Cusack Park. As a result, the game was moved to Sixmilebridge and pushed back 75 minutes for a 2.30pm start.

The Massey Ferguson, operated by former Clare great Sean Stack, was still towing a mower up and down the field in last-minute preparation until the warm-ups began.

The first half was a dour arm wrestle, which suited Loughmore more than the wind-assisted hosts. It featured just four scorers and three scores from play.

John McGrath slung over an early point, but it was all placed balls for the next 22 minutes. That included three from McGrath, while also leaving two wide. The difficulty of judging the wind was underlined by the rare sight of Noel McGrath leaving two shots short.

John also saw one held up in the gale. Ed Connolly almost took advantage by batting the dropping ball goalwards, but Liam Corry got back to clear.

The same wind extended Russell’s free-taking range. He clipped five between the posts across the half, while Marco Cleary tagged on their only point from play. Russell missed just one placed ball in the entire match.

That one was severely punished as Loughmore came downfield for their stoppage-time goal. Ed Connolly floated a ball between the final defender and goalkeeper. Liam McGrath got between the two and took a big hit from Darragh Stack to flick the sliotar home for a 1-4 to 0-6 half-time lead.

Shane O’Donnell had been well marshalled by Willie Eviston in the first half but sparked to life in the second. As did the match. O’Donnell opened with two classy points, which were cancelled out by John McGrath scoring off right and left. Then, O’Donnell’s high catch and imaginative pass carved out a 40th minute goal for Russell.

They led 1-9 to 1-6, but Loughmore responded with five of the next six points, including two from John McGrath. Connolly, John Ryan, and Noel McGrath nabbed the other scores to edge one ahead.

A Cleary goal chance was saved by Aidan McGrath before the Loughmore keeper’s long-range free almost dribbled across the line at the other end. The backtracking Stack scooped it to safety.

Every time Loughmore got in front in that final stretch, Russell nailed a levelling free. John McGrath twice pushed Loughmore ahead, once from a free and once from play. Each time, Russell drilled the equaliser into the wind to force extra-time.

Two John McGrath frees and a surging Brian McGrath score, created by the impressive Ciarán Connolly, had Loughmore back ahead towards the end of that first extra period.

Cleary and Russell eked out a 1-17 to 1-16 advantage for Éire Óg by the change of ends. Loughmore still had the wind in their favour, but they were running on empty.

Substitutes Tom Kavanagh and Rian Mulcahy, who powered over a long-range free, extended the lead to three.

There was an element of luck to the clincher. Ryan came up with a block on Mulcahy before Brian McGrath charged in to block down Oran Cahill. Both times, the sliotar fell into Reidy’s path. The Clare forward fed Moroney. He had been denied by Ed Meagher minutes before. This time, the youngster lashed to the roof of the net.

After a barrage of close-range frees and dropped-in 65s from Loughmore, Russell brought his tally to 1-14 with the final free.

TEAMS – Éire Óg Ennis: Darragh Stack (6); Fionan Treacy (7), Jarlath Collins (6), Ciarán Russell (7); Robert Loftus (8), Aaron Fitzgerald (8), Liam Corry (7); Oran Cahill (6), David Reidy (6); Darren Moroney (7), David McNamara (6), Darren O’Brien (5); Danny Russell (8), Shane O’Donnell (7), Marco Cleary (7).

Subs: Tom Kavanagh (6) for O’Brien (HT); James O’Dwyer (6) for Moroney (52); Rian Mulcahy (7) for McNamara (55); Aidan McGrath (5) for Collins (58); Eoin O’Regan (5) for Cahill (60+3); Moroney for McGrath (70), Cahill for O’Regan (HT ET).

Loughmore/Castleiney: Aidan McGrath (6); Ed Meagher (7), Willie Eviston (6), Lorcan Egan (6); Eoin O’Connell (7), Brian McGrath (7), John Ryan (7); Noel McGrath (6), Ciarán Connolly (7); Tommy Maher (6), Tomás McGrath (6), Ciarán McCormack (6); Ed Connolly (7), John McGrath (8), Liam McGrath (6).

Subs: Ciarán McGrath (6) for McCormack (40), Liam Treacy (6) for Maher (49), Philip O’Connell for C McGrath (51-52, blood), Paul McCahey (6) for E Connolly (60+4), Ciaran McCormack for T McGrath (15 ET).

Referee: Nicky O’Toole (Waterford).