Strong Drom & Inch performance seals opening round win in Templemore

FBD Insurance Senior Club Hurling Championship - Round 1 - Group 1

Drom & Inch 2-19

Nenagh Eire Og 1-20

By Michael Dundon

Two first half goals tipped the balance in Drom & Inch’s favour as they saw off the challenge of newly crowned North champions Nenagh Eire Og in the FBD Insurance County Senior Hurling Championship tie at Templemore on Saturday evening.

Drom & Inch deserved to shade the victory but Nenagh Eire Og will be wondering how things might have gone had they had the services of injured county man Jake Morris. In such a tight game one can only speculate on such matters but even as things went Nenagh had their chances and could well have gotten something out of the tie.

That said, Drom & Inch were the better team, more earnest in their endeavours, and were never led from the time Tommy Nolan notched their first goal after 18 minutes from a Seamus Callanan delivery when a Nenagh clearance went astray. 

That put the Mid lads 1-6 to 0-5 in front and though Nenagh fought back to level in injury time in the first half, thanks largely to the free-taking of Mikey Heffernan and the excellence of his brother Tommy, Drom grabbed their second goal in the 32nd minute in somewhat bizarre fashion.

Seamie Callanan, with a point on offer from a free, crossed to Tommy Nolan who returned the pass to the county star when finished to the net with typical aplomb. 

That goal gave Drom a 2-8 to 0-11 advantage at the interval but it was still very much anybody’s game with both sides guilty of some untypical lapses with scoring opportunities.

Nenagh Éire Óg took up the chase on resuming but a solid Drom defence was  comfortably absorbing all that was fired at it, Tommy Heffernan still the big threat for Nenagh. Drom might have had a third goal, but Jamie Moloney was unable to convert the chance. 

Nenagh had a particularly productive spell from the 43rd to the 48th minutes when they hit five points to Jamie Moloney’s riposte for Drom cutting the deficit to a point, 0-18 to 2-13.

When danger threatened Drom responded with three on the trot from Johnny Ryan, Tommy Nolan  and a beauty from Seamie Callanan from 90 yards for a four point lead  after 48 minutes. Nenagh kept coming but they needed a goal to bridge the gap. 

They got it after 59 minutes, Tommy Heffernan getting the vital touch in a goalmouth scramble,  but it was too late to influence the outcome.

Having bowed out of the Mid championship tamely, Drom-Inch will be happy to have got a result here which will be hugely important in determining the qualifying positions for the county quarter-final. 

Injury ruled out Kevin Hassett but otherwise they played off the full deck with veterans Johnny Ryan and Seamie Callanan leading by example but their ace in the pack was Tommy Nolan who finished with 1-3 to his credit having been a constant thorn in the Nenagh side.

Maidhc Fitzpatrick, Pauric Campion, Fintan Purcell also contributed handsomely to the victory, the only damper on which was a late injury to Emmet Moloney.

Having retained the North title, Nenagh are guaranteed a preliminary quarter-final spot irrespective of how they fare in the group. 

That cushion is particularly important as they are likely to be without Jake Morris for at least a few weeks. 

Morris, who is crucial to the Nenagh cause, is due to have surgery this week on the jaw damaged in the North final, and all GAA fans will wish him a speedy recovery over the next few weeks. 

Tommy Heffernan was in sparkling form scoring 1-5 from play, and brother Mikey’s accuracy from frees and play was hugely influential in keeping Nenagh in the hunt when they appeared to be flagging. 

Josh Keller, Adam Carey, Sam O’Farrell and Adam Healy were others to catch the eye but they will need to raise the intensity of their efforts in the upcoming rounds if they are to claim an automatic qualifying spot in the knock-out stages of the competition.

Drom & Inch: Eoin Collins; Emmet Moloney (0-1), Michael Campion, Stevie Nolan; Maidhc Fitzpatrick (0-1), Pauric Campion (0-1), Fintan Purcell; Robbie Long, John Campion; Lorcan Campion, Jamie Moloney (0-2), Johnny Ryan (0-3); Tommy Nolan (1-3), David Collins (0-2), Seamus Callanan (1-6, 0-4f). 

Subs used: Jack Lillis for Long (40); Liam Ryan for S Nolan (50); Tony Cahill for J Ryan (54); John Ryan for E Moloney (56).

Nenagh Éire Óg: Dermot McTiernan; Conor Ryan, Mark Carey, Sam O’Farrell; James Mackey (0-1), Paddy Murphy, Adam Healy; Conor Hennessy, Mikey Heffernan (0-10, 0-8f); Josh Keller (0-1), Barry Heffernan (0-1), Philip Hickey; Sean Phelan, Adam Carey (0-2), Tommy Heffernan (1-5).

Subs used: Ben West for Phelan (HT); Cian Crowley for A Carey (56).

Referee: Conor Doyle (Silvermines)