Morris goes to town again for Nenagh Éire Óg who best game Templederry Kenyons in Clough

Hibernian Inn North Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship Semi-Final

Nenagh Éire Óg 2-24

Templederry Kenyons 2-16

Nenagh Éire Óg took another step towards defending the Frank McGrath Cup as they finally got the better of a stubborn and able Templderry Kenyons effort in the first semi-final played on Saturday in Cloughjordan.

It was a tight game for large spells of the contest, with neither side getting their noses too far in front for three quarters of the game, but when Jake Morris flew into the game in the second half it was a case of an uphill task for Templederry who could do nothing to curtail the deadly Éire Óg forward.

Morris scored 0-8 from play in the second half, and like the quarter-final clash against Toomevara, Morris proved to be the decisive difference between the sides as he continues to bring his game forward after a good year at intercounty level with Tipperary.

Templederry were very competitive for large spells of this game, with Sean Ryan causing plenty of issues for Conor Ryan all game, scoring two goals as the Kenyons men threw everything at the town team, but they just couldn’t hold Morris in the finish which proved fatal.

Whatever happened last year to Templederry in this fixture was quickly put to bed as they looked a far tougher proposition from the early exchanges, and they had a 0-2 to 0-1 lead after five minutes of the start with Sean Ryan and Adrian Ryan both scoring from play after Mikey Heffernan had given Nenagh the early lead from a free.

Nenagh were showing their blistering pace in the forward division soon after this early exchange though, first through Tommy Heffernan pointing from close range before they hit the front through a Sean Phelan goal, set up by the quick wheels of Josh Keller who drew defender to him before unloading to Phelan to finish low from an angle.

Both sides were furnished with dangerous inside forward in the form of Sean Ryan and Jake Morris respectively, and the former had responded with a green flag for his team in the 12th minute, when Éanna Murray took us back in time with a first time whip on a loose sliotar at midfield, and with a very advantageous bounce, Ryan gathered the ball and left his marker on his backside to stroll in and bury his effort low past Dermot McTiernan. 

Conor Hennessy and Darragh Carey traded points up to the 17th minute as Templederry enjoyed a 1-5 to 1-3 advantage by that points, but Nenagh re-took the lead in the next five minutes with the hard running from Nenagh causing issues as Jake Morris, and a brace of well taken efforts from Sean Phelan providing the scores.

Indeed, the likes of Josh Keller and Ben West were starting to run amok with their pace and only for a very smart stop from Tim McCutcheon from a Ben West effort in the 22nd minute, it could have been worse for the Kenyons, as they managed to find the equaliser down the other end a minute later from a Colm Murray free.

However, despite playing against the breeze, Éire Óg finished the half stronger with Tommy Heffernan and Ben West points before Jake Morris sprung to life after a subdued performance thus far, latching onto a batted ball in the half forward before galloping clear and finishing expertly to the net to open a 2-8 to 1-6 lead.

Templederry were getting their chances in the half but some really poor shooting would prove costly here, as they finished the half with 11 wides to their name. To be fair though, they did manage to bring the deficit to four points before the break as Colm Murray (free) and Adrian Ryan found scores as Nenagh led at the break 2-9 to 1-8.

Jake Morris wasn’t proving to be as influential as he was in the win over Toomevara early doors, but the second half proved to be a different matter in Cloughjordan.

Despite Templederry getting it back to a two-point game with the first few scores of the restart from Sean Ryan and Adrian Ryan again, Nenagh began to find space they were not afforded in the first 30 minutes with Mikey Heffernan, Josh Keller, substitute Anthony Walsh and the aforementioned Morris (2) all pitched in with scores up to the 40th minutes to open a 2-14 to 1-10 lead.

It seemed that it could get messy akin to last year’s contest when Nenagh got on top and went into cruise control, but Templederry responded well to their credit; again through Sean Ryan who finished very well after being set in on goal by Padraig O’Leary, taking a tackle and finishing low, along with another Colm Murray free to bring it back to a one score game again with a little over 15 minutes to go.

However, it would become the Jake Morris show in Clough for the final quarter as Morris hit three in a row in as many minutes (all from play) as no man could lay a hand on him, and despite Templederry cancelling those scores out with three of their own up to the 53rd minute, there was no curtailing Morris who notched four more points before the end to end the game with a ridiculous tally of 1-9 from play.

Templederry fashioned a few goal chances in the final five minutes in an effort to get back into it, but tame efforts from Sean and Michael Ryan let them down in the finish, as a Jake Morris propelled Nenagh launched themselves into this year’s North decider where they will try to defend their title won last year.

Nenagh Éire Óg: Dermot McTiernan; Conor Ryan, Mark Carey, Sam O’Farrell; James Mackey, Paddy Murphy, Adam Healy; Mikey Heffernan (0-3, 0-2f), Barry Heffernan; Josh Keller (0-2), Tommy Heffernan (0-3), Conor Hennessy (0-1); Ben West (0-1), Jake Morris (1-10, 0-1f), Sean Phelan (1-3).

Subs used: Anthony Walsh for Keller (12, blood sub); Anthony Walsh (0-1) for West (HT); Adam Carey for (58).

Templederry Kenyons: Tim McCutcheon; Padraig Hogan, Christy Coughlan, Michael Hayes; Liam McCutcheon, Tom Stapleton, Darragh Carey (0-1); Michael Ryan, Conor Looby; Gearoid Ryan, Adrian Ryan (0-4), Colm Murray (0-8f); Padraig O’Leary, Sean Ryan (2-3), Éanna Murray.

Subs used: Dale Donnelly for Looby (43); Charlie Ward for Hayes (58).

Referee: Tom McGlinchey (Newport)