All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship semi-final: Loughrea (Galway) 2-22 Slaughtneil (Derry) 0-15
Goals either side of half-time propelled Loughrea into only their second All-Ireland senior club hurling final.
The Galway champions, who lost the 2007 decider to Ballyhale Shamrocks, were comfortable winners at Parnell Park against a Slaughtneil side chasing a maiden All-Ireland final appearance.
Slaughtneil had fallen at this hurdle on five previous occasions but it rarely felt like it was going to be sixth time lucky for the Derry side – and this unravelled to be their heaviest semi-final defeat since losing to Cuala by 16 points in 2017.
Anthony Burns struck Loughrea’s opening goal five minutes before the interval to help his side lead 1-9 to 0-10 at the turnaround.
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And when Vince Morgan rifled an effort to the top corner of the Slaughtneil net in the 37th minute to give Loughrea a 2-12 to 0-11 advantage, the only question seemed to be what the winning margin would be at the final whistle.
But there was no presence of seasonal cheer at that final whistle, with the Loughrea supporters instead sending a chorus of boos towards referee Johnny Murphy for showing Cullen Killeen a straight red card in injury-time.
The red card, for an off the ball incident with Brendan Rogers, means Killeen currently stands to be suspended for next month’s All-Ireland final.
The Loughrea midfielder was superb during this game and was named as TG4’s Man of the Match. There were angry scenes as Murphy made his way off the pitch at the end of the game and Loughrea manager Tommy Kelly confirmed the club will be appealing the decision.
“100 per cent, yeah, you can’t let that go,” said Kelly afterwards.
It was a disappointing afternoon for Slaughtneil having failed to reach the levels of their previous All-Ireland semi-final outings. They were beaten by just a solitary point by Sarsfields of Cork last December but there was a strange lack of energy about the Derry side this time out.
They never led and only pulled level on two occasions, the last of which was just moments before Burns drilled home Loughrea’s opening goal in the 25th minute.
In truth, Loughrea were better value than a two-point half-time lead as they had been the significantly better team in the opening period.
Shéa Cassidy’s unerring free-taking kept Slaughtneil in touch but they had to work so much harder for their scores than their Galway opponents.
Despite having played no competitive game since winning the Galway county final in early November, Loughrea started strongly and clipped over the opening three scores.
Loughrea lost to Na Fianna at this stage of the competition last year – the Dublin side staging a dramatic late comeback to snatch victory in the closing moments. Na Fianna progressed to win the All-Ireland while Loughrea went home to lick their wounds.
Now, 12 months on and having successfully retained their county title, Loughrea look to be a different, more confident outfit.
But they will be concerned at the amount of needless wides they struck over the course of the game, seven in each half.
But if shot efficiency had been a problem, conceding frees in scoreable positions was another issue for Loughrea in the opening period.
“In the first half, we probably gave away too many frees,” said Kelly. “Out of the 10 points they got, I think they might have got six or seven for frees, it was kind of silly ones.”
Loughrea addressed the issue at the break, Slaughtneil adding just one further score from a free during the second half.
“We came with a plan to take the game to Loughrea,” said Slaughtneil manager Paul McCormack. “It was scrappy at the start I suppose. Getting to half-time with two points down, we weren’t overly concerned but yes we had some things to work on and try and improve on.
“That was a big target for the start of the second half, but unfortunately we just didn’t get a grip of the game and the second goal really pushed that target out that wee bit further.
“And then an accumulation of small simple errors, Loughrea got energy from it and the game just stretched. It’s really disappointing and it’ll be a hard one to take but I know the quality of men in that dressingroom and they’ll bounce back. They have done in the past and they will do so again.”
Weather conditions could hardly have been better for a game taking place so deep in the year, but the pitch at Parnell Park was heavy and cut up further over the course of the contest.
Loughrea had the higher quality to adapt to the conditions and following Morgan’s goal the contest petered out to an inevitable conclusion.
Between the 47th and 59th minutes, Loughrea scored nine points without reply and could start planning their trip to Croke Park in January long before the final whistle.
However, Killeen’s 62nd-minute sending off soured Loughrea’s day and ensured the closing stages of the game will be played out in disciplinary meeting rooms over the coming weeks.
LOUGHREA: Gearóid Loughnane; Joe Mooney, Johnny Coen, Paul Hoban; Shane Morgan (0-2, 2f), Kieran Hanrahan (0-1), Brian Keary; Ian Hanrahan, Cullen Killeen (0-1); Caimin Killeen (0-2), Tiernan Killeen (0-6, 4f), Jamie Ryan (0-3, 1sl); Anthony Burns (1-1), Martin McManus (0-2), Vince Morgan (1-1).
Subs: Neil Keary (0-3) for McManus (45 mins); Alan Kelly for Hanrahan (53); Luke McInerney for Ryan (58); Mikey Murray for Morgan (60).
SLAUGHTNEIL: Oisín O’Doherty; Fionn McEldowney, Paul McNeill, Conor McAllister (0-1); Ruairí Ó Mianáin (0-2), Meehaul McGrath, Shane McGuigan; Cathal Ó Mianáin, Cormac O’Doherty; Mark McGuigan (0-1), Sé McGuigan, Brendan Rogers, Eamon Cassidy (0-1), Christopher McKaigue (0-2), Shéa Cassidy (0-8, 7f).
Subs: Jerome McGuigan for Sé McGuigan; Conor Coyle for C Ó Mianáin (both 38 mins); Peter McCullagh for McMcGuigan; Gerald Bradley for McMcGuigan (both 55).
Referee: Johnny Murphy (Limerick).
