Nenagh Éire Óg got the defence of their minor A hurling crown off to a winning start in Newport on Sunday evening when beating Newport Gaels by four points.
Sunday, June 30th
Ger Gavin North Tipperary
Minor A Hurling Championship
Nenagh Éire Óg 1-18 Newport Gaels 0-17
Newport Gaels (a combination of Newport and Ballinahinch) dominated the opening stages of this contest and led 0-4 to no-score after six minutes. Three James Mackey points (two frees) dragged Éire Óg back into contention (0-3 to 0-4) by the 11th minute.
The sides traded points thereafter with a fabulous James Mackey effort in the 24th minute leaving just one between the sides (0-7 to 0-8). A minute later Luke Kennedy struck for a superb left-handed goal following a clever pass from Gary Howard and Éire Óg led 1-7 to 0-8. Indeed, Éire Óg maintained that two-point advantage until the break: Nenagh Éire Óg 1-8 Newport Gaels 0-9.
Points from James Mackey (two frees) and Luke Kennedy helped Éire Óg into a 1-11 to 0-9 lead immediately after the interval. Newport Gaels stuck to their task however and thanks to a series of frees closed the gap to three points (1-15 to 0-15) with ten minutes to play. Éire Óg responded well to the challenge however and closed out the game in impressive fashion out-scoring their hosts 0-3 to 0-2 when it mattered most.
Éire Óg’s next outing is against Borris-Ileigh in MacDonagh Park, Nenagh on Wednesday, July 3rd (8pm). During the group stage of the championship the Blues will also face Roscrea, Kildangan, Kilruane MacDonagh’s and Toomevara.
Nenagh Éire Óg: Brian Gubbins, Gavin O’Connor, Michael Collins, Brian Flynn, Conor Ryan (0-1), Barry Heffernan (0-1, 0-1 free), Aodhán Geaney, Andrew Coffey (0-1), Christopher Ryan (0-1), Ger O’Gorman (0-1), James Mackey (0-9, 0-4 frees), Luke Kennedy (1-2), Aidan Healy, Gary Howard (0-2), Philip Hickey. Subs: (46th) Jack Molumphy for Philip Hickey, (51st) Jack Sheedy for Luke Kennedy, (59th) Brian Tuite for Ger O’Gorman.
Referee: Liam Hogan (Shannon Rovers).
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If you need to contact Éire Óg please do so via our Contact page. You can also keep in touch by accessing our Facebook page or by following @nenagheireog on Twitter. We would also ask you to consider supporting Éire Óg by entering the club lotto and by paying your club membership.
