Nenagh ease through past disappointing Toome

GAA: FBD Insurance Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship Group 4

Nenagh Eire Og 3-17

Toomevara 1-14

Report: Shane Brophy

at MacDonagh Park, Cloughjordan

Nenagh Eire Og booked their place in the knockout stages of the County Senior Hurling Championship after easily overcoming a very disappointing Toomevara challenge in this decisive group 4 encounter on Saturday afternoon.

A huge crowd descended on Cloughjordan in the summer sunshine in anticipation of another intense encounter between the two great rivals with progression at stake but it never materialised with Toomevara outgunned by a much more intense and polished Nenagh Eire Og side who didn’t have to dig that deep to have the game won from a long way out.

They were assured and controlled in everything they did, with the platform laid in the defence who were outstanding as a unit, led by Barry Heffernan who pulled the strings at centre-back. Nenagh’s work-rate was hugely impressive with their swarm-tackling very effective, turning Toomevara attackers over time and again.

That work-rate continued up the field with Conor Ryan and James Mackey (tagging Darragh McCarthy well) to the fore, plus the half-forward line of Ben West, Josh Keller, and Filip McIntyre doing their best work out of possession in not allowing the Toome half-backs time to find their men.

Inside, Nenagh had the difference-maker in captain Jake Morris who overcame the challenge of the tight-marking Seamus O’Farrell with his two goals either half of half time key in the overall outcome.

The manner of the defeat will be what frustrates everyone in Toomevara over the long winter months as they exited with a whimper, which is not what you would associate with a club with such a rich tradition.

Despite a lively start, they were tentative in much of their play, particularly in defence where they didn’t attack the ball with the required purpose. Centre back Conor O’Farrell and Darragh McCarthy were among the few to come out of the game with credit, the Tipp star ploughing a lone furrow at times in attack, taking the game to Nenagh and contributed 11 points, including eight frees, some of those won himself.

That Toomevara were resorted to tapping over frees late on to stave of finishing bottom of the group isn’t what they are about and that the final scoreline issue from the Mullinahone defeat to JK Brackens has been resolved whereby Toome avoid the relegation playoffs will come as a huge relief considering the worrying lack of belief in this performance.

The early stages of the game suggested a battle of old between the rivals as following Darragh McCarthy’s lead score on eighteen seconds, Conor O’Farrell and Michael Heffernan were involved in a skirmish on the ground, which was quickly settled, that being the only flashpoint in the game.

The greyhounds were quick out on the traps, forcing Josh Keller to overcarry with Darragh McCarthy converting the long range free but three wides prevented them from putting on greater pressure by the time Conor Ryan got Nenagh up and running on six minutes, beginning a scoring burst of 1-5 unanswered, the goal coming from Ben West on the quarter hour, running onto a Philip Hickey handpass and batting past Rory Brislane.

Already the signs were ominous for Toome as they struggled to create space in attack while their lack of conviction in defence was punished on twenty minutes when a long delivery from Jake Donelan-Houlihan wasn’t dealt with by Seamus O’Farrell with Jake Morris presented with a clean run in on Rory Brislane before finishing clinically.

A Michael Heffernan free stretched the lead to ten points but a rare piece of sloppy play by Nenagh in defence led to Austin Duff scoring a much-needed goal for Toome in the 23rd minute, which sparked them into life momentarily with Barry O’Connell pointing as they managed to get back within six at the break, 2-10 to 1-7.

They cut the margin by a further two early in the second half as their work-rate improved but they struggled to turn the possession into scores, with it being thirteen minutes into the half by the time Nenagh registered again through Conor Ryan, which woke them from their slumber and when Jake Morris ran onto a raking Ben West clearance on 48 minutes to score his second goal, it was game over in terms of the outcome.

From there, Nenagh were able to run their subs bench while Toomevara set about making the final margin as small as possible with Darragh McCarthy’s last two pointed frees in injury time proving decisive in terms of them avoiding a relegation battle.

Player of the Match: Barry Heffernan (Nenagh Eire Og).

Nenagh Eire Og: Dermot McTiernan (6); Jake Donelan-Houlihan (7), Mark Carey (8), Conor Hennessy (7); Paddy Murphy (7), Barry Heffernan (8), Sam O’Farrell (0-1, 7); Conor Ryan (0-2, 7), James Mackey (0-1, 7); Ben West (1-0, 7), Josh Keller (8), Filip McIntyre (7); Michael Heffernan (0-8, 6f, 7); Jake Morris (Capt, 2-4, 0-2f, 0-1 ’65) 8), Philip Hickey (6).

Subs: Sean Phelan (0-1, 6) for Keller (42-45 HIA, 54); Emmet Jones (6) for M Heffernan (52); Adam Gratton (6) for Mackey (56); Tommy Heffernan (6) for McIntyre (56); Jamie Cotterill (NR) for Murphy (59).

Toomevara: Rory Brislane (6); Andrew Ryan (7), Seamus O’Farrell (6), Liam Ryan (7); Josh McCarthy (6), Conor O’Farrell (7), Jack Ryan (7); Barry O’Connell (0-1, 7), Kevin McCarthy (Capt, 0-1, 7); Paul Ryan (6), Darragh McCarthy (0-11, 8f, 1 ’65) 8), Jack Delaney (6); Austin Duff (1-0, 6), Adam Hall (0-2, 6), Patrick Hackett (6).

Subs: Josh Powell (6) for Delaney (46); Eoin Grace (6) for Hackett (52); Mark McCarthy (6) for P Ryan (54).

Referee: Ciaran O’Donovan (Burgess).