KILADANGAN AND Nenagh Eire Og booked the first two places in the semi-finals of the Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship following the first pair of quarter finals this afternoon.
Kiladangan had to withstand a strong third-quarter fightback from Toomevara to overcome the greyhounds in a tetchy North Tipperary clash in Cloughjordan.
After both sides were denied early goals, it was Kiladanga who drew first blood with a cheeky finish from county star Willie Connors who chipped goalkeeper Rory Brislane from a tight angle on twelve minutes.
Dan O’Meara added a second goal on 24 minutes to help Kiladangan into a 2-7 to 0-8 half-time lead, the victors also missing a penalty with goalkeeper Barry Hogan’s effort rising over the bar.
A Mark McCarthy goal at the start of the second half ignited Toomevara’s recovery and on 39 minutes they were back level at 2-7 to 1-10 but a Joe Gallagher goal four minutes got Kiladangan going again as conditions deteriorated following a deluge with Toomevara unable to reel them in a second time.
They are joined in the last four by near neighbours Nenagh Eire Og, who were much too good for a disappointing Eire Og Annacarty at The Ragg.
Nenagh got off to the best possibly start with a goal inside 10 seconds from young Conor Hennessy. The North Tipp side dominated the first half but missed a lot of chances and were made to pay on 27 minutes when Aidan Griffin’s retaken free from 35 yards dipped in under the crossbar, an incident that saw Nenagh lose goalkeeper Shane Hennessy to a serious knee injury.
It saw Nenagh’s lead cut to one, 1-5 to 1-4 after a low key first half. However, there was no denying Nenagh’s superiority after the break as Jake Morris got them going once more with a 32nd-minute goal and he added a second 12 minutes later to put his side into a commanding ten point lead.
Annacarty just didn’t have the scoring power to match Nenagh, who were able to call former Tipp senior panellist Andrew Coffey from the bench and he added a fourth goal late on as well as two points from play to round off a 4-15 to 1-8 victory.
The two remaining quarter finals will be played tomorrow, Borris-Ileigh v Drom & Inch in Holycross at 1.30pm, followed by holders Clonoulty/Rossmore v Kilruane MacDonaghs in Templetuohy at 4pm.
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