Kilkenny SHL- Impressive O’Loughlin’s make their mark at Tullaroan’s expense

O’Loughlin Gaels sent out an early warning shot to the rest of the county with an impressive eight point success over Tullaroan on Sunday afternoon.

Despite being without inter-county defenders Mikey Butler and Conor Heary, O’Loughlin’s were much too good for a Tullaroan side that were near full -strength but failed to fire on the day.

Sunday’s victory was Brian Hogan’s first competitive game in charge and after a disappointing 2022 season that saw them exit the championship in the first round, the city side will be looking for better luck this time around.

Kilkenny’s Paddy Deegan has spent much of the last few seasons in the full forward line and it has resulted in mixed results but in a position Brian Hogan only knows too well, Deegan was positioned at number 6.

It ended up as a relatively straightforward afternoon for the O’Loughlin’s defence as a whole, as Tullaroan never really got to the pitch of it. The winners eased to success with Eoin O’Shea’s first half goal helping the St John’s Park outfit on their way.

Dylan Simpson and Mark Bergin shared points early on before O’Loughlin’s began to get a stranglehold on proceedings.

Bergin continued his freetaking spree and with David Fogarty also knocking over a couple of big scores from play, O’Loughlin’s led 0-5 to 0-3.

Back-to -back placed balls from Tullaroan marksman Shane Walsh then levelled up matters and it remained all to play for.

O’Loughlin’s had the first big chance for goal when Luke Hogan fed Mark Bergin whose drilled attempt went narrowly wide of Paul Buggy’s post.

Shane Walsh and Eoin O’Shea then swapped efforts before O’Loughlin’s scored four on the bounce between the 14th and 16th minutes.

Fogarty, Paddy Butler, Conor Kelly and Owen Wall were all on target at this point and while Tullaroan responded via Kilkenny senior panelists Shane Walsh, Martin Keoghan and Padraig Walsh, it was O’Loughlin’s that looked in control.

That control was best illustrated when full back Huw Lawlor stormed up the field to score an exceptional point from range.

Tomas Dunne did get Tullaroan to within a point but O’Loughlin’s forward threat then burst into life in the final few minutes of the half.

Pointed efforts from Mark Bergin and Luke Hogan came either side of Eoin O’Shea finding the net where the corner forward pounced to score but it was Hogan who did all the work beforehand as he caught a long clearance from Stephen Murphy before offloading the pass.

That was a real killer blow to Tullaroan as despite not playing overly well in the first half, they were very much still within arms length until O’Shea found the net (1-13 to 0-10).

The sides then went point for point at the start of the second half until successive O’Loughlin efforts from Jamie Ryan and Conor Kelly put eight points between the teams.

The winners could have easily had a second goal too in the 35th minute after Eoin O’Shea went on a mazy run but his shot was expertly denied by Paul Buggy between the sticks for Tullaroan.

Tullaroan are nothing if not stubborn though and they refused to go away and helped by Padraig Walsh knocking over a couple of long distance scores from play, they stayed in the game.

A goal was needed to really make a game of it however and they had a real chance in that regard in the 47th minute when Gearoid Dunne who’d been very quiet up to that point looked destined to score but Stephen Murphy made a miraculous save to deny the Tullaroan youngster.

That missed chance seemed to dent the Tullaroan confidence levels, as they only scored three points for the remainder of the game.

O’Loughlin’s, on the other hand, will wonder just how they didn’t get more than the one goal after Owen Wall and Luke Hogan were both denied in seperate incidents.

Still though it was a very satisfactory afternoon for the 2016 county champions with Jamie Ryan, Mark Bergin and Jack Nolan all registering late points as they won out on a 1-25 to 0-20 scoreline.

There’s no time to settle for O’Loughlin’s as they face into a city derby with Dicksboro this Friday night.

Teams and Scorers

O’Loughlin Gaels- Mark Bergin (0-10, 0-9f), Eoin O’Shea (1-1), David Fogarty (0-3), Owen Wall, Luke Hogan, Conor Kelly, Jamie Ryan (0-2 each), Huw Lawlor, Jack Nolan, Paddy Butler (0-1 each)

Tullaroan- Shane Walsh (0-7, 0-6f), Dylan Simpson (0-4, 0-2f), Padraig Walsh (0-3), Martin Keoghan (0-2), Tomas Dunne, Bill Gaffney, Bill Walton, Peter Walsh (0-1 each)

O’Loughlin Gaels- Stephen Murphy; Ruaidhri Galwey, Huw Lawlor, Ronan Buckley; David Fogarty, Paddy Deegan, Jordan Molloy; Matthew Russell, Jamie Ryan; Mark Bergin, Owen Wall, Luke Hogan; Eoin O’Shea, Paddy Butler, Conor Kelly.

Subs- Jack Nolan for Russell 41 mins, Ryan Poyntz for Kelly 54 mins.

Tullaroan- Paul Buggy; Eamon Og Holland, Tommy Walsh, Josh Moore; Martin Walsh, Padraig Walsh, Tomas Dunne; Jack Keoghan, Joe Coughlan; Bill Gaffney, Martin Keoghan, Gearoid Dunne; Bill Walton, Dylan Simpson, Shane Walsh.

Subs- Peter Walsh for Coughlan 39 mins, Mark Simpson for Og Holland 42 mins, Shane Cuddihy for Walton 58 mins.

Referee- Raymond Byrne