Loughrea (Galway) 2-22; Slaughtneil (Derry) 0-15
Loughrea may have fallen at this stage to eventual All Ireland champs Na Fianna of Dublin in last year’s competition but there was little comparison to their mindset this year as they routed a highly-fancied Derry side by 13 points at Parnell Park on Sunday.
On the evidence of this performance, they have every chance of bringing the Tommy Moore Cup back to Galway in mid-January though what happened in the last few seconds with the sending off of man of the match Cullen Killeen will inevitably mitigate against their chances.
No doubt every effort will be made by officials to say the sending off was more a tangle than a striking moment but referee Johnny Murphy of Limerick was adamant in his gesture that it was a strike he had sent the brilliant midfielder to the line for.
It put a damper on a brilliant performance from the Galway men who were matched stride for stride by their Ulster opponents until they got the second goal in the second half - and then drove on for a decisive victory.
Tommy Kelly's side were strong in all sections - front and back - with their midfield anchored by the dismissed Killeen on top for most of the game.
Vince Morgan's 37th minute goal was the decisive score of the encounter as it injected huge belief into the men from the west while simultaneously sapping the energy of a Slaughtneil outfit who until then, showed some great teamwork.
Similar to the other semi-final, once Loughrea found fourth or maybe fifth gear, they jetted on to victory by scoring an impressive nine points in a row to reduce the game to a spectacle rather than a competition for the big crowd at the north Dublin venue.
Tiernan Killeen, older brother of teenager Cullen who was inconsolable after his red card incident, was the main scorer for this outfit, ending the day with six points to his credit, two of those from play.
TV replays didn’t catch the sending off incident clearly but it appeared as if there was an entanglement with Slaughtneil player Brendan Rogers before the back-handed action was caught in Murphy’s eye line.
As of now it means they will be without a really emerging talent for the final which takes place in Croke Park on January 17-18.
Arguably a good thing for Loughrea, who managed 2-22 in this game was the fact that they had an inordinate amount of wides - 15 in total. If they can sharpen up on this end of their play, it would be a very foolish Ballygunner side to take them for granted in the decider - not that they will.
Manager Kelly will also point to the display of substitute Neil Keary who hit three points when introduced as a way of keeping other players on their toes over the next four weeks.
No doubt they will wish for a Santa moment in delivering Cullen Killeen back into the fold - that may be a defining moment in how the final turns out.
Speaking after the game to RTÉ Radio Sport, Loughrea defender Johnny Coen described the sending-off decision as “harsh.”
“Everyone in the whole place was disgusted with the decision. I was tracking Chrissy McKaigue and, look, the game was up; we were 13 or 14 ahead at the time. It appeared that Brendan Rogers and him got into a bit of a scuffle, then went rolling, there seemed to be very little in it.
“Cullen put in a man of the match performance; he was outstanding and wears his heart on his sleeve. Yes, there was pushing and shoving and Brendan Rogers is a big guy, but for me and I'll say it again, there was very, very little in it.”
Loughrea: G O'Donoghue; P Hoban, J Coen, J Mooney; S Morgan (0-2f), K Hanrahan (0-1), B Keary; I Hanrahan, C Killeen (0-1); C Killeen (0-2), T Killeen (0-6, 0-4f), J Ryan (0-3, 0-1 s/l); A Burns (1-1), V Morgan (1-1), M McManus (0-2) Subs: N Keary (0-3) for McManus 45, A Kelly for I Hanrahan 53, G Maher for B Keary 57, L McInerney for Ryan 58, M Murray for V Morgan 60.
Sleachtneil: O O'Doherty; C McAllister (0-1), P McNeill, F McEldowney; R O Mianain (0-2), M McGrath, S McGuigan; C O Mianain, C O'Doherty; M McGuigan (0-1), Se McGuigan, B Rogers; E Cassidy (0-1), C McKaigue (0-2), Shea Cassidy (0-8, 0-7f) Subs: C Coyle for C O Mianain 19-22 blood, Coyle for C O Mianain 39, J McGuigan for Se McGuigan 39, P McCullagh for M McGuigan 55, G Bradley for Shea Cassidy 55.
Ref: J Murphy (Limerick).
