Maher goal seals Loughrea place in All-Ireland club final

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Wednesday, 14 February 2007

Loughrea have set themselves up with the chance of becoming the sixth Galway side to capture the All-Ireland club hurling championship after carving out a deserved win over Cushendall at Mulingar on Sunday.

Loughrea 1-11 Cushendall 0-9

Whether Loughrea follow in the footsteps of Castlegar, Kiltormer, Sarsfields, Athenry and Portumna on St Patrick's Day remains to be seen, but they are now just over an hour away from the becoming the best club side in the country, just months after winning their first county title in 65 years.

They will now take on Ballyhale Shamrocks in Croke Park on St Patrick's Day, when the Kilkenny champions will be bidding to emulate Birr's achievement of winning the title four times.

Henry Shefflin and James 'Cha' Fitzpatrick inspired them to a 2-20 to 3-14 victory over Toomevara in a thriller on Saturday. Ballyhale Shamrocks won the title in 1981, '84 and 1990.

Cushendall, beaten at this stage of the competition seven times, were still in the hunt right up to the end on Sunday but a goal from wing-forward Vinnie Maher, after an exchange of passes with Kenneth Colleran, sealed the issue in front of a crowd of about 3,000.

There was little between the sides early on as they twice exchanged points but with Johnny Maher superb, Loughrea pulled away to 0-7 to 0-3 by half-time.

Aidan Delargy fired over a couple of points for the Antrim side shortly after the restart to reduce the deficit. However, with Greg Kennedy, Nigel Shaughnessy and Damian McClearn holding firm, the Ulster champions were contained.

Brian Mahony gave Loughrea an edge in midfield, while the Mahers always looked dangerous up front.

Johnny Maher kept Loughrea in front and any notion of a late comeback by Cushendall was killed off when Vinnie Maher the ball to the roof of the net and set up an All-Ireland final appearance next month.

Loughrea: J Maher 0-7 (3f, 1 '65', 1 lb), V Maher 1-0, G Keary, B Mahony, K Colleran, M Haverty 0-1 each. Cushendall: C McCambridge 0-4 (2f, 1 '65'), A Delargy 0-3, K McKeegan (f), C McKeegan 0-1 each.

Loughrea: N Murray; T Regan, D McClearn, D Melia; J Dooley, N Shaughnessy, G Kennedy; G Keary, B Mahony; E Coen, J Maher, V Maher; R Regan, J Loughlin, K Colleran. Subs: M Haverty for Coen 37, K Daniels for R Regan 55.

Cushendall: R Kearney; A Graffin, O Scullion, S Delargy; D McNaughton, K McKeegan, K Elliott; N McManus, D McKillop; B Delargy, M McCambridge, P McGill; A Delargy, C McCambridge, S McNaughton. Subs: E McKillop for B Delargy h/t, J Carson for D McKillop 49, B McNaughton for McGill 55, E McNaughton for S McNaughton 55.

Referee: B Kelly (Westmeath).

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