Eire Ogs cuise to 28th Tyrone hurling success

CARRICKMORE Eire Ogs are the Tyrone hurling champions for the 28^th time following a resounding victory over Naomh Colmcille in the final.

An attendance of around 2000 watched as the Benburb Cup holders race into an early lead that they never relinquished.

It was a disappointing day for the east Tyrone side, who had reached the final courtesy of a surprise win over Dungannon. But on this day they had no answer as the Eire Ogs emerged winners on a scoreline of 1-28 to 0-4.

Aidan Kelly, Conor and Sean Og Grogan and Liam Armstrong led the way with a series of excellent scores as their midfield supremacy provided the platform to another marvellous triumph.

Now the new three-in-a-row champions will enter the Ulster Club campaign with renewed hope for a long-awaited success. For the moment, though, they can also relish recording the largest winning margin and scoring total in a Tyrone decider.

Defender, Dermot Begley, praised the workrate of the team afterwards.

“It’s brilliant to be champions. Finals have to be won and thankfully we were able to secure the victory, even though it was easy enough for us at the end,” he said.

“We had to put in a performance and we’re happy enough with how things went. Naomh Colmcille had beaten Dungannon and we were under no illusions about the challenge posed by them.”

In the Junior final, Dungannon Eoghan Ruadh captured the title courtesy of an emphatic win over Omagh.

Their captain, Lorcan Devlin, paid tribute to the legacy of the late great Damien Casey, whose tragic death in June shocked the county.