Sars squeeze the life out of Nenagh

GAA: FBD Insurance Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship Semi-Final

Thurles Sarsfields 2-18

Nenagh Eire Og 1-14

Report: Shane Brophy at FBD Semple Stadium

MATCH DIGEST

Player of the Match: Denis Maher (Thurles Sarsfields)

SCORERS – Thurles Sarsfields: Aidan McCormack 0-10 (7 frees, 1 ’65); Darragh Stakelum 1-1; Kieran Rossier 0-3; Paddy Creedon 1-0; Eoin Purcell, Euan Murray, Robbie Stapleton, Ronan Maher 0-1 each.

Nenagh Eire Og: Michael Heffernan 0-12 (10 frees, 1 65); Sam O’Farrell 1-1; Filip McIntyre 0-1.

Nenagh Eire Og’s wait for a second County Senior Hurling title goes on as they had to give second best to Thurles Sarsfields in the semi-final on Saturday afternoon.

Second half goals from Darragh Stakelum and Paddy Creedon broke the game open in Sarsfields favour but it was their defence who stood out, holding Nenagh to just 1-3 from play, with veteran Denis Maher producing a man of the match performance at full-back.

Nenagh were so good in their quarter final victory over Cashel King Cormacs, it was always going to be hard to get back to that level again but the early indications were promising as the eased into a 0-4 to 0-1 lead with their work-rate and intensity unsettling their opponents.

However, they were unable to sustain it, and in the ten minutes before half time, they started to struggle to make the ball stick in the forwards with, again minus ailing captain Jake Morris from the start, the onus was on his Tipperary colleagues Sam O’Farrell and Josh Keller to take the game by the scruff of the neck but they were unable to impact the game as hoped with only Michael Heffernan making an impact, although only one of his dozen point haul came from play.

1-3 from play was never going to be enough against a team of Sarsfields calibre whose defensive performance was such that Nenagh struggled to even create many openings with two of their seven wides from open play as well.

The development of this Thurles Sarsfields team through the course of this campaign has been hugely impressive with growing similarities to their play that won them a four-in-a-row from 2014-2017 when manager Padraic Maher was to the fore.

In his fourth year as manager, the Tipperary great has instilled his handprint on this team, each player knowing their role in what was a complete team display, with apart from Maher as the star man, there was no other dominant performer in a very even contribution from every player.

The cherry on top was being able to welcome Ronan Maher back onto the field having missed the entire club campaign so far after sustaining a broken ankle in a challenge match in June.

He took full part in the warm-up but the feeling was he would only see action if Thurles under pressure so it was a little surprising to see him thrown into the fray in the 55th minute when there were still just four points between the sides.

The Nenagh defence had played well up to that point with Mark Carey and the fit again Jake Donelan-Houlihan to the fore but the Thurles management felt Ronan Maher’s presence was needed in the full-forward line, and within a minute of his introduction, it paid dividends as he broke the ball into the path of Euan Murray who then played in Paddy Creedon to score the second goal and finally break Nenagh’s spirit.

Eire Og can have no qualms about the outcome but will be frustrated at how they struggled to penetrate the Sarsfields rearguard on a regular basis. At this stage of a championship challenge, injuries will start to hurt, with Jake Morris unable to make an impact when sent in after 36 minutes while Mason Cawley, returning from a broken finger, was replaced at half time.

While it was a semi-final that lacked excitement for the most part, it was no less compelling with two well-coached sides who know each other so well, the first half being a cagey affair with Nenagh making the early running with their ferocious work-rate yielding frees for Michael Heffernan to power into a 0-4 to 0-1 lead before Filip McIntyre got their first from play in the 13th minute.

Aidan McCormack had opened the scoring for Sarsfields from play and he converted three frees to get his side up close with Heffernan converting his fifth for Nenagh who had the best goal chance of the half in the 22nd minute when Sam O’Farrell fired over under pressure after Ben West delayed his pass a little.

Euan Murray pointed for Sarsfields but a free and a 65 from Michael Heffernan pushed Nenagh three clear before Thurles found their flow in the run up to half time with Darragh Stakelum, Kieran Rossiter, Eoin Purcell, and another McCormack free giving them a 0-10 to 0-9 at the break.

Michael Heffernan restored parity with a free after the restart but the big score the game needed came on 32 minutes when a wayward pass in the Nenagh defence was clinically punished by Darragh Stakelum for a goal.

They quickly built on it with points from Rossiter and McCormack but Nenagh stayed close with Heffernan adding two more points and despite Jake Morris coming on, they were unable to get the scoreboard moving on a regular basis. However, they were still within touching distance with five minutes when Ronan Maher made his first appearance of the championship to immediate impact.

Creedon’s goal broke Nenagh’s spirit with Sam O’Farrell’s injury time goal a mere consolation as a tenth Aidan McCormack point was added to by points from subs Robbie Stapleton and Ronan Maher as Sarsfields progressed to a first final since 2023, looking to end a nine year wait for a record 37th county senior hurling title.

TEAMS – Thurles Sarsfields: Patrick McCormack (6); Henry Fogarty (7), Paul Maher (7); Denis Maher (8), Keith Loughnane (7), Conor Stakelum (Capt 8), Cian Stakelum (7); Daniel Rossiter (7), Euan Murray (7); Aidan McCormack (7), Darragh Stakelum (7), Aidan Stakelum (6); Eoin Purcell (6), Paddy Creedon (6), Kieran Rossiter (7).

Subs: Tommy Maher (7) for Purcell (51); Ronan Maher (7) for A Stakelum (55); James Armstrong (6) for Loughnane (57); Stephen Maher (6) for Cian Stakelum (60); Robbie Stapleton (7) for K Rossiter (60+1)

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

Subs: Billy O’Brien (6) for Cawley (HT); Jake Morris (6) for McIntyre (36); Emmet Jones (6) for Mackey (39); Tommy Heffernan (6) for West (48); Sean Phelan (NR) for Hickey (60).

Referee: Conor Doyle (Silvermines).