O’Farrell stars as Nenagh down Sars

GAA: FBD Insurance Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship Group 2 Round 1

Nenagh Eire Og 1-26

Thurles Sarsfields 3-15

Report: Michael Dundon at The Ragg

Eire Og’s big guns came up trumps as the Nenagh boys saw off the challenge of Thurles Sarsfields in a keenly contested County Senior Hurling Championship group two opener on Saturday afternoon.

The experience of Mikey Heffernan and Jake Morris, allied to the quality of county man Sam O’Farrell, were central to this Nenagh win which sets them up nicely for a qualifying spot from the group with games against Mullinahone and Cashel to follow.

In recent years these sides have been no strangers to each other, and the honours have been fairly evenly shared, but on this occasion, Eire Og were full value for their win, the 27 scores to eighteen a fair reflection of the edge they enjoyed. Factor in too that Sarsfields’ third goal arrived in injury time, underlining the fact that this was Nenagh’s day and a huge boost for their championship campaign.

This was one of the plum ties of the opening round and it didn’t fail to live up to expectations even if there were shortcomings on both sides in terms of their distribution and use of the ball.

Nenagh were playing the better, but Sarsfields got two first half goals and led to the three quarter stage when Nenagh got a lucky break as a James Mackey long-range effort skewed off Patrick McCormack’s stick into the net. Two quick Nenagh points followed, and they were in the driving seat to the finish.

First blood went to Sarsfields as Ronan Maher netted a fifth minute penalty after Paddy Creedon was fouled. Creedon and Liam McCormack were causing problems for the Nenagh defence, but Barry Heffernan was cleaning up for them in the sweeper’s role and brother Mikey was impeccable off frees.

Sarsfields were leading 1-6 to 0-7 in the 24th minute when Liam McCormack set up Darragh Stakelum for Thurles’ second goal and at the break they led 2-8 to 0-10.

Having faced the fresh breeze in the first half, Nenagh’s position was comfortable. It got even better with points from Mikey Heffernan, Sam O’Farrell, Conor Ryan, and Philip Hickey to level the game after 36 minutes.

Four points were shared in the next six minutes before Liam McCormack had a great goal chance for Sarsfields but misfired. Paddy Creedon pointed for Sarsfields but came the decisive moment in the 46th minute when James Mackey’s long-range effort for a point caught Sars goalie Paddy McCormack’s stick awkwardly and ended in the Thurles net to put Nenagh ahead 1-16 to 2-11.

Jake Morris and Mikey Heffernan quickly whipped over Nenagh points for a four point lead, 1-18 to 2-11, and it now looked as though the game was Nenagh’s to lose.

Sarsfields were not throwing in the towel however but could make no real headway as the sides swapping points. Nenagh extended their advantage to six points as the game moved into injury time.

A Darragh Stakelum goal for Sarsfields after 63 minutes had them within a score of their rivals but time was against them. In any event it was Nenagh who finished strongest, Jake Morris and Mikey Heffernan adding points for a five point win.

Nenagh Eire Og could hardly have asked for a better start to their championship campaign and the challenge for them now is to build on this result in the coming rounds.

The club has never been short of quality players and with leaders on the field like Barry Heffernan, Mikey Heffernan, Jake Morris, and Sam O’Farrell they are well-placed to challenge for the top honours. O’Farrell was particularly impressive with five points from play while Mikey Heffernan and Morris each notched four points, Heffernan adding a further six from placed balls. Conor Ryan, Philip Hickey, Josh Keller, and Ben West early on were others to significantly contribute to this win.

Thurles Sarsfields have some work to do to stay in the championship with no room for error in their remaining games against Mullinahone and Cashel. They were without the injured Pa Bourke and Aidan McCormack and will also be hoping to have Billy McCarthy back in action having been away last year and just recently returned to training.

Paddy Creedon and Liam McCormack were their main threat in an under-performing attack. Conor Stakelum did well off frees while Darragh Stakelum took his goals well. Denis Maher and Ronan Maher were solid at the heart of the defence on a day that did not go well for them.

Player of the Match: Sam O’Farrell (Nenagh Eire Og).

Nenagh Eire Og: Dermot McTiernan (6); Conor Hennessy (6), Mark Carey (6), Conor Ryan (0-1, 6); Paddy Murphy (6), Barry Heffernan (8), Jake Donelan-Houlihan (6); Sam O’Farrell (0-5, 9), Mason Cawley (0-1, 6); Josh Keller (0-1, 6), Jake Morris (0-4, 7), Adam Healy (0-1, 6); Ben West (0-1, 6), Philip Hickey (0-2, 7), Mikey Heffernan (0-10, 6f, 8).

Subs: James Mackey (1-0, 6) for Carey (27); Adam Gratton (6) for Murphy (46); Sean Phelan (6) for West (57); Adam Carey (NR) for Hickey (60+3).

Thurles Sarsfields: Paddy McCormack (6); Harry Fitzgibbon (6), Denis Maher (7), Paul Maher (6); Stephen Maher (6), Ronan Maher (1-1, 1-0 pen, 7), Cathal Moloney (0-1, 6); Stephen Cahill (6), Tommy Doyle (6); Darragh Stakelum (2-0, 6), Conor Stakelum (0-6, 4f, 6), Eoin Purcell (6); Liam McCormack (0-2, 7), Paddy Creedon (0-3, 7), Kieran Costello (6).

Subs: Michael Cahill (6) for Costello (41); Seanie Butler (0-1, 6) for Purcell (44); Keith Loughnane (6) for S Cahill (49); Robbie Stapleton (0-1, 6) for Doyle (51).

Referee: John McCormack (Knockavilla-D Kickhams).