Our junior hurlers were beaten by a late scoring burst from Nenagh Eire Og in the north final played in Toomevara on Saturday evening. Nenagh held a narrow lead for the majority of the game but Moneygall drew level three times in the final 12 minutes, before a goal from substitute Damien Martin a minute from time put Moneygall in front by 1-16 to 0-16. However Nenagh responded with three points to level matters well into injury time, before the killer blow came when substitute Conor Kirwan struck for the winning goal when a mis-hit point attempt from out the field fell kindly for him in front of goal.
Moneygall made one change from last week’s semi final win over Burgess as full-back Tadhg Kennedy missed out through injury. Cathal Kennedy came in at corner back and Martin Deane moved to full-back. Nenagh settled better in a tense opening period and led 0-5 to 0-2 after ten minutes. Moneygall soon got into their rhythm and closed the gap to 0-5 to 0-4. The teams exchanged points throughout the remainder of the half, until two late Nenagh points without reply gave them a 0-11 to 0-8 half-time lead. Moneygall’s points came from John Doughan (4), Tom Toohey (2), Keith Maher and Brian Teehan.
Moneygall gradually got on top in the second half with the backline getting to grips with the Nenagh forwards. Scores from John Doughan (2 frees), Tom Toohey, Donal Doughan and Paul O’Brien brought the scoreline to 0-14 to 0-13, before Brian Teehan brought the teams level with 12 minutes left. Nenagh edged back in front before Teehan’s third point levelled the scores again, and when Nenagh went 0-16 to 0-15 ahead a long-range free from Stephen Maher made it 0-16 apiece with time running out. Then came Damien Martin’s goal before Nenagh’s strong finish captured the title.
Moneygall will now meet the mid champions in the county quarter final, possibly in two weeks time.
Team: John King; Cathal Kennedy, Martin Deane, Michael Hogan; David Gleeson, Stephen Maher (captain, 0-1 free), Michael Kirwan; John Doughan (0-6, 5 frees), Keith Maher (0-1); Michael Cahill, Tom Toohey (0-3), Brian Teehan (0-3); Billy McCormack, Donal Doughan (0-1), Dwayne Collison. Subs: Paul O’Brien (0-1) for Dwayne Collison, Damien Martin (1-0) for Michael Cahill.
