Impressive Turloughmore blast county title warning

AS senior hurling championship victories go, this was as comfortable as it gets. Having led from pillar to post, the only question that hung over this tie throughout the 60 plus minutes was just how much Turloughmore would win this SHC ‘A’ Group 2 fixture by. While Turloughmore looked the part, Oranmore/Maree will be disappointed with their endeavours. The talk around the county since GAA resumed has been on the physicality and intensity Gerry McInerney’s charges have brought to games but, last Saturday, they were unable to utilise these attributes or, at least, to any great effect. Indeed, if anything, it was Turloughmore who ruled the exchanges in this regard and one only has to look at the amount of primary possession the victors claimed, not only in open play but under the puckout. Turloughmore set the tone in the opening period when they decimated Oranmore/Maree on the opposition’s restarts, with Fergal Moore, man of the match Kevin Hussey, Conor Walsh and Jamie Holland impressing. In addition, four-time All-Star Daithí Burke was like the conductor of an orchestra around the middle, where he was ably assisted by Sean Loftus while, up front, Sean Linnane, who finished with four points from play, was the proverbial livewire. By half-time, this game was as good as over as a contest, Turloughmore leading 0-12 to 0-4. In the opening quarter, Linnane, Brion Connolly, Barry Callanan, Walsh (two frees) and Gary Burke were all on target as Joe Hession’s outfit raced into a six points to one advantage. The quality of Turloughmore’s play was such that it gave no chance to Oranmore/Maree to gain a foothold in the contest and the latter had it all to do to keep abreast of their opponents in the opening half as Sean McInerney, Niall Burke (two frees) and Conor Hanniffy accounted for their modest total of four points. In contrast, Turloughmore were consistent in adding another six scores to their tally in the second quarter as Linnane, with two superb points, Holland (two frees), Gary Burke and Moore provided the finishing touches for their side. Eight points to the good at the interval, Turloughmore extended this advantage to 10 twice in the third quarter – Daithí Burke, Holland, Walsh (free) and Daniel Loftus their scorers – but, ironically, the 20 minutes after half-time also proved to be Oranmore/Maree’s best spell as they outscored the victors by six points to four. Niall Burke hit four of those Oranmore/Maree points from placed balls while substitute Padraic Keane and Mark Hanniffy also made their presence felt with two neat scores. Although it cut the deficit to six points, that was as good as it was to get for them. In the closing stages, Turloughmore, having over-played the ball with unnecessary touches and passes in that spell, tidied up their game again and outscored Oranmore/Maree by 1-5 to a point, with substitute Ronan Badger flicking home the goal in injury-time after getting on the end of a long delivery. With Walsh and Holland converting four frees between them, and Linnane hitting a fine point from play following good work from Daniel Loftus, Turloughmore ran out deserving 14-point winners.

Full report in this week's Connacht Tribune