Longford Slashers knock out Clonguish Gaels to reach the Senior Hurling Championship Final

Longford Slashers . . . 1-16     Clonguish Gaels . . . 1-11

The boost of a goal from David Buckley from a twice taken penalty in the early stages of the game provided the platform for Longford Slashers to bring down the title holders Clonguish Gaels in the Senior Hurling Championship Round 3 clash at C&D Devine Park on Sunday last. 

Niall Ward’s side, sprinkled with some promising young players, now advance to meet Wolfe Tones Mostrim in the Duignan Cup decider on Sunday September 22 in a repeat of the 2021 county SHC final which was won by Slashers.
With the advantage of the wind, the sky-blues established a comfortable 1-9 to 0-6 lead at the break but Clonguish Gaels were thrown a lifeline with a goal direct from a well struck Joe O’Brien free midway through the second half.

The gap was closed to just two points (1-11 to 1-9) when O’Brien immediately shot over the bar but the pressure was eased on Slashers with a cracking point from Micheal Mulcahy who latched on to the perfect pass from Johnny Casey to eventually withstand the Clonguish Gaels comeback.

After losing out to Wolfe Tones in the opening round, Clonguish needed to win by at least five points against Slashers to keep their title hopes alive but it was always going to be a real uphill battle from the moment Buckley converted the penalty goal at the second attempt with five minutes gone on the clock - awarded for a foul on Micheal Mulcahy.
Slashers added another 9 points to their tally during the remainder of the first half, a brace apiece from Buckley (frees), Sean Tiernan and the always prominent Mulcahy with Matthew Hawes, Jack Horgan Swaris and Darragh Caslin also getting their names on the scoresheet.

Clonguish started well with a couple of fine points from Matthew Flynn but struggled thereafter and were restricted to four more scores before the break with Joe O’Brien (3 frees) and David Gregg on target.

The second half was a fairly fiery affair as Clonguish tried their best to get back into contention in registering another 1-5 while they had a goal disallowed in stoppage time.

Joe O’Brien accounted for 1-3 of that total which included a couple of points from play with the other scores coming from Stephen Gregg and Paul Barden.

Minus a couple of key players, the unavailable Ronan Sheahan along with the injured Reuben Murray, Slashers were still too strong and kept the scoreboard ticking over with another seven points through Karl Murray (2), substitute Niall Hawes, Micheal Mulcahy (2), David Buckley and Daire Regan

LONGFORD SLASHERS: Noel Dunne; Rory Maher, John Murray, Kealan Cox; Daire Regan (0-1), Johnny Casey, Diarmuid Caslin; Jack Horgan Swaris (0-1), Karl Murray (0-2, 1 ’65); Matthew Hawes (0-1), David Buckley (1-3, goal from penalty, 3 frees), Sean Tiernan (0-2); Darragh Caslin (0-1), Dylan Hennessy, Micheal Mulcahy (0-4, 1 free).

Subs:- Niall Hawes (0-1) for D Hennessy (35 mins); Gary Hand for M Hawes (50 mins); Coilin Regan for R Maher (60 mins).

CLONGUISH GAELS: Josh Callaghan; James Devine, Declan Lee, Eoin Halpin; David Gregg (0-1), Oisin Gately, Eugene Kiernan; Gerry Moore, Paul Barden (0-1); Stephen Gregg (0-1), Alan Sorohan, Patrick Crossan; Joe O’Brien (1-6, 5 frees), Matthew Flynn (0-2), Dan Crossan. 

Sub:- Brian Brady for P Crossan (half-time).

Referee: Francis Kelly (Carrickedmond).