Loughrea hurlers will return to championship action for the first time in 5 weeks on Sunday when they take on Dublin and Leinster champions Na Fianna in a novel-looking All-Ireland semi-final in Thurles at 3.30 pm. With Sarsfields of Cork taking on Derry side Slaughtneil in the other semi-final, there is no obvious hot favourite for this year's All-Ireland title as none of the four clubs have ever won the Tommy Moore Cup. Since their 1-15 to 0-16 win over Cappataggle in the Galway Senior County Final on Nov 10th, Loughrea had some celebrating to do, as it was only their 3rd ever Galway title. Still, they quickly got back to preparing for a semi-final clash with whoever would come out of Leinster. There was a big shock when Kilkenny champions Thomastown were beaten by Westmeath's Castletown Geoghegan in the quarter finals, and that opened the door for Dublin champions Na Fianna to come through a provincial semi-final against St Martins of Wexford (1-16 to 0-15) and final against Kilcormac Killoughey of Offaly (2-22 to 2-16).
The last time Loughrea came out of Galway in 2006, they didn't play their All-Ireland semi-final until February of 2007 when they overcame Ulster champions Cushendall 1-11 to 0-9. In the All-Ireland final on St Patrick's Day that year, however, Loughrea were put to the sword by all-conquering Ballyhale Shamrocks on a 3-12 to 2-8 scoreline. Ahead of their latest tilt at All-Ireland Final qualification, Loughrea manager Tommy Kelly has been speaking to Galway Bay FM's Niall Canavan...
