Loughmore-Castleiney kept their dual dream alive, defeating Thurles Sarsfields in the Tipperary SHC semi-final at on Sunday, booking their place in the final.
The marvellous mid-Tipperary club first completed the 'dual double' in 2013 before repeating these heroics in 2021.
They're now just three games away from doing it again, with a football semi-final coming up this weekend against Moyle Rovers before the hurling decider the following weekend against Toomevara.
Remarkably, the club's second football team are also in the premier junior county semi-final next weekend and even more remarkably again, all 36 of their hurling panel will be spread across both football teams.
All 36.
Loughmore-Castleiney had a nervy start on Sunday, conceding two goals in the opening eight minutes to Thurles forward Paddy Creedon, but they got back on track and emerged victorious with two to spare, 0-17 to 2-9 the final score.
They led by one point at half-time but having played with a strong breeze in that first half, it meant they would have it all to do in the second.
But they have not lost a championship game this year between hurling and football and they continued that trend on Sunday afternoon, with twelve points from the stick of John McGrath bringing them back to another final.
As a Gaelic football team, it's not surprising that Loughmore-Castleiney possess great composure and patience in possession.
They have a strong running game, attacking in twos and threes, popping passes between each other, and this was best exemplified by a brilliant John McGrath score in the first half.
John McGrath plays the one-two to manoeuvre space for a score 🧠
The @TipperaryGAA star has been involved in everything here for @Loughmore_Gaa as the go in at HT with a slender lead 😬
Watch @TipperaryGAA SHC LIVE on https://t.co/yMkMTpFmTc 📺 pic.twitter.com/10ESfhyGrD
— Clubber (@clubber) September 29, 2024
But nothing summarised Loughmore's team work quite like the final five minutes of the game.
Loughmore led by only one point at that stage, playing into the breeze, but the stats show that they completely dominated the game from then until referee Michael Kennedy's final whistle.
Defender Lorcan Egan won a free on 55.45 and from that moment until the clock struck 63 minutes and twenty seconds, Thurles Sarsfields only held the ball for three clean possessions compared to Loughmore Castleiney, who had ten.
One 65 and two Loughmore-Castleiney sidelines helped wind the clock down in these closing moments, as did a number of rucks, but the common them was that a Loughmore man would emerge from the ruck, before laying off to a team-mate.
"This is when Loughmore are at their very, very best, we talk about game management...their game management has been second to none," said former Tipperary hurler Eamonn Corcoran on Clubber's commentary of the game.
Effectively, Loughmore-Castleiney played keep-ball in the closing stages of the game, with their ten possessions amounting to 1 minute and 49 seconds of in play possession of the ball.
Thurles' equivalent three possessions only amounted to a much lesser 23 seconds on the ball, which was never going to be enough against a remarkable club team who are very familiar with winning.
Thurles have brilliant forwards like Paddy Creedon and Aidan McCormack who can score from anywhere, particularly so with the breeze at their backs.
But they were never going to get the chance in the closing moments with Loughmore completely owning the ball.
Read More: "Just Lads Boxing The Heads Off Each Other": Victorious Sarsfields Star On Magic Of Newbridge Derby
