Coolderry and Loughgiel advance to final

AIB GAA Hurling All Ireland Senior Club Championship Semi-Finals

Coolderry (Offaly) 3-16
Gort (Galway) 0-17

Coolderry booked their place in the GAA Hurling All Ireland Senior Club Championship Final with an impressive victory over Gort in the Gaelic Grounds, Limerick.

A tight opening to the game saw the sides level on three points apiece after 15 minutes with Coolderry’s Martin Corcoran getting the best of those thanks to a long range effort. Wing-forward Cathal Parlon was to the fore for Coolderry after that with two points but twice the Gort men hit back via Aidan Harte and Gerard Quinn.

A four minute spell would prove decisive in this contest as Coolderry notched 1-4 without reply with the major coming thanks to corner-forward Eoin Ryan. However, by half-time Gort had reduced the deficit to 1-10 to 0-9 thanks to the accuracy of Quinn from set pieces.

Coolderry burst out of the traps after the restart and registered a further 1-2 within five minutes while Gort could only manage a solitary point. Kevin Teehan and Damian Murray, who finished the afternoon with 1-8, got the points while Parlon was in the right place at the right time to stroke the ball into an unguarded net.

Gort never gave up the chase and four points in quick succession in the second half gave them hope but it was all in vain as Coolderry pulled out of sight with a late Murray goal.

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Loughgiel Shamrocks (Antrim) 0-27
Na Piarsaigh (Limerick) 2-13

Loughiel Shamrocks ensured their place in the All Ireland Senior Club Championship decider on St. Patrick’s Day after overcoming Na Piarsaigh in Parnell Park, Dublin with a powerful finish in extra-time.

There was very little between the sides in the early stages but three unanswered points saw the Antrim men pull four clear with Liam Watson notching five of the sides opening nine points.

Watson’s radar remained accurate as Loughgiel found themselves 0-11 to 0-5 to the good but just as they began to feel comfortable in the lead Na Piarsaigh hit back with a goal via David Breen to leave just three in it at the interval.

The Limerick side did everything in their power to try and claw back that deficit throughout the half but Loughgiel always managed to stay out in front. However, when all hope appeared to have faded Na Piarsaigh struck for a goal in the dying minutes to force extra-time on a scoreline of 0-18 to 2-12.

In the first half of additional time Loughgiel Shamrocks outscored the opposition by three points to one and from there the gap only widened as Watson’s free-taking expertise proved invaluable.