Jamie Ryan hits 1-8 as Loughrea defeat Gort in Galway SHC
A five-point championship victory is rarely to be sniffed at, but county champions Loughrea may wonder how Gort managed to finish so close as Loughrea won out 3-26 to 3-21 after Tommy Kelly’s side had threatened to run away with this SHC Group 1 encounter at Kenny Park, Athenry, on Saturday.
For long spells, Loughrea produced arguably their best hurling of the 2026 campaign, particularly during an impressive opening half. Their intelligent use of the ball, sharp movement and clinical finishing repeatedly opened up the Gort defence as the champions took a firm grip on proceedings.
Just as significant was Loughrea’s work on the Gort puckout. Their ability to win possession from both the primary delivery and the breaking ball, especially before the interval, repeatedly denied their opponents a platform from which to build and allowed the champions to dictate the tempo.
By half-time, Loughrea had established a commanding 3-15 to 1-10 advantage and appeared firmly in control. Gort responded with a spirited second-half revival, but the champions had done enough to withstand the comeback, secure the points and book a preliminary quarter-final meeting with Castlegar.
Loughrea’s first goal set the tone in the fifth minute – the ball worked forward from a short puckout and concluding with Tiernan Killeen setting up Jamie Ryan for a neat finish to put them 1-2 to 0-3 ahead.
A foul on Darren Shaughnessy inside the large rectangle provided Loughrea’s Johnny Coen with the opportunity to net from the resulting penalty on 10 minutes and he didn’t disappoint, 2-5 to 0-4.
Loughrea’s third goal arrived on 21 minutes – this time Killeen delivering a superb crossfield ball to pick out Anthony Burns and he fired his effort beyond Gort’s Gavin Lally to extend their advantage to 3-10 to 1-7.
To add to those three goals, Loughrea also registered 15 points in the opening period and, all combined, that was a match-winning score in itself.
Jamie Ryan accounted for six of those points (five from frees) while Cullen Killen, Darren Shaughnessy, Caimin Killeen, Shane Morgan (65 and play), the excellent Joe Mooney, Jack Shaughnessy, Paul Hoban and Burns were also on the scoresheet.
For Gort’s part, they started brightly, pointing through Aiden Helebert (2) and Greg Lally in the first five minutes, but only added two more scores in the first quarter through Lally, a ninth-minute point and a 13th minute goal, the latter following good work from Helebert.
In the second quarter, Helebert (play and two frees), Kaelen Higgins and Lally (2) contributed points, but it wasn’t sufficient to keep pace with a rampant Loughrea.
Yet, Andy Coen’s men never gave up the fight and, in the second half, outscored their opponents 2-11 to 11 points. Nathan Gill, Dylan Murphy (2), Jack Linnane, Helebert (play and two frees), substitute Lorcan Walsh and Greg Lally (three frees) all raised white flags, while Jason O’Donoghue and Paddy Commins netted the goals on 56 and 59 minutes respectively.
One wonders what if those Gort goals had come earlier, but, as it was, Loughrea diligently kept the scoreboard ticking over throughout the second half with points from Jamie Ryan (two frees), Shane Morgan (2), Burns, Darren Shaughnessy, and replacements Vince Morgan (2), Shane O’Brien and Martin McManus (2).
Loughrea now face a tricky assignment in Castlegar while Gort renew their fierce rivalry with St Thomas’ in the preliminary quarter-finals in a fortnight.
Loughrea: G. Loughnane; P. Hoban (0-1), J. Coen (1-0, pen.), G. Maher; B. Keary, S. Morgan (0-4, 0-1 65), J. Mooney (0-1); I. Hanrahan, Cullen Killeen (0-1); Caimin Killeen (0-1), T. Killeen, J. Ryan (1-8, 0-3 frees); J. Shaughnessy (0-1), D. Shaughnessy (0-2), A. Burns (1-2).
Subs: Shane O’Brien (0-1) for B. Keary (42 mins.); Vince Morgan (0-2) for Caimin Killeen (42 mins.); Martin McManus (0-2) for J. Shaughnessy (50 mins.); E. Coleman for Burns (55 mins., BS); Dylan Shaughnessy for Hanrahan (60+1 mins.).
Gort: Gavin Lally; J. O’Donoghue (1-0), I. Neilan, L. Cooley; N. Gill (0-1), B. O’Donovan, E. Cooley; K. Higgins (0-1), E. Killeen; P. Commins (1-0), A. Helebert (0-8, 4f), Greg Lally (1-7, 3f); D. Murphy (0-2), J. Linnane (0-1), J. Grealish.
Subs: Lorcan Walsh (0-1) for Killeen (45 mins.); Ronan Maher for Cooley (48 mins.); D. Grealish for Helebert (50 mins, BS).
Referee: Kerril Wade.