By : Andy Fogarty County PRO
All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Semi – Final
History will be made in Croke Park on Sunday when Tipperary and Cork meet in the All Ireland Hurling Championship Semi-Final for the first time ever. There is huge interest all over the country in the meeting of these two giants of the game. After all of the years of the back–door and the qualifiers this is the first time that they will meet in an All Ireland hurling semi-final and the first time ever in a championship game in Croke Park. Their meeting has to be great for the game of hurling and hopefully we will have a cracker of a game on Sunday between these two counties who have produced very high scoring games in their path to the semi- final. The Tipperary team have prepared very well for this game and every player is looking forward to meeting the challenge of Cork and hoping that come Sunday evening Tipperary people at home and overseas will be looking forward to another clash with Kilkenny in an All Ireland hurling final. We wish Eamon, Brendan and everyone involved the very best of luck on the day and we ask all supporters who can make it to the game to do so and give the team as much support as possible next Sunday.
Tickets Update
Up to last weekend over 20,000 stand tickets were sold for next Sundays semi- final in Croke Park. The Upper Deck of the Cusack Stand is now open so there are good quality Upper Cusack Stand tickets in Section 705 and 706 available to clubs for adult or family tickets. Otherwise in the Lower Stands the only available seats are in the Davin or the ends of Hogan or Cusack. There are still plenty of Hill 16 terrace tickets available.
Nominees for Opel Players of the Month
Congratulations to Seamus Callanan – Drom & Inch who has been nominated for the Opel Player of the Month Award in hurling for July along with Shane Dowling – Limerick and Lee Chin – Wexford. The winners of the GAA GPA Players of the Month Awards for July in hurling and football will be chosen by the inter-county playing body, and will be announced at a presentation in Croke Park this week.
Paul Fitzgerald Retires
Tipperary goalkeeper Paul Fitzgerald has announced his retirement from inter-county football. The 36-year-old has kept goal for the Premier County’s footballers for a decade. Paul made his championship debut against Kerry in 2005, and won the Tommy Murphy Cup with the county that season, and Paul also won silverware in his final season, with Tipperary lifting the Allianz Football League Division IV title at Croke Park back in April. We thank Paul for the wonderful contribution he has made to Tipperary football over the past decade and we wish him well in his retirement from inter -county football
Message From Brendan Maher Tipp SH Captain
Supporting the Team – Brendan Maher
Dear Tipperary Supporter,
I want to thank the Tipperary Supporters Club for the opportunity to say hello on behalf of the team. The preparations for the semi-final against our great rivals Cork are well in train. I want to compliment all of the members of the panel, the management and the backroom team for the commitment and dedication involved to date. Since last December we have had over 100 group sessions, individual gym sessions every week and a number of specialist training weekends. There is a huge amount involved in the preparation for games. For example, it includes physical training, diet, nutrition, reviewing our performances and plenty more. We make the effort because we love playing for Tipperary and we always do our very best on your behalf as supporters and on our own behalf as individuals and team members. Do we always get it right on the field? Of course we don’t but I can assure you that the attitude and determination to succeed were never stronger and we will be putting in another massive effort to beat a very good Cork team on the 17th August.
If you have been a member of the Supporters Club in the past, you will know that all funds are used for team preparation. Without the assistance of the Tipperary Supporters Club, we simply would not be able to prepare to the standards required to compete at the highest level. We say a sincere Thank You to everybody who has already joined, and ask everybody else to join the Tipperary Supporters Club again this year and help us in our quest for success. Supporters can join on line on www.tippsupportersclub.comor by sending a cheque or postal order for €30 payable to Tipperary Supporters Club to Jim Reidy, 13 Castleknock Close, Dublin 15.
Thank you for your help and support.
Tiobraid Árann Abú
Best Regards,
Brendan Maher
Team Captain
Tipperary GAA Members Draw 2014/2015 – August 2014 Results
The Tipperary GAA August Members Draw took place last Friday night in Brett’s Stack of Barley, Mullinahone coinciding with the presentation of €15k to July’s big prizewinner, local woman Ann Vaughan. Lastweeks big Tipp GAA Lotto jackpot winner, Benny Walsh ,St Mary’s GAA Club was presented with his €6,000 prize cheque. When the drum rolled for the August Draw the Skoda Octavia Car was won by Willie Lawrence, Castlepark, Golden and the Skoda Fabia was won by Anthony Moynihan, Rathronan, St Mary’s GAA Club. Congratulations to both winners and indeed to all winners in this month’s draw. The September draw will now take place in Golden on Friday September 5th. (TBC).
’The Green Above The Red”
CJ Kickhams Mullinahone will launch their club history on Friday August 22nd in The Community Hall. “The Green above the Red” tells the story of the Mullinahone GAA since its foundation in 1885. The launch will be performed by the legendary Michéal O Muirchearthaigh and a Céad Míle Fáilte is extended to Gaels from all over the county and beyond.
Freestyle Hurling
A reminder if you would like to get involved in the Freestyle Hurling Competition you can do so by recording a 30 second video of your hurling skills ,include #iamhurling at the end and upload to youtube – email details to freestyle@gaa.ie All details are on www.gaa.ie/freestylehurling. By entering the competition, individuals could win a specially arranged training session for their club with an inter-county hurler. Individuals can win the chance to take part at half time in the All-Ireland Hurling Finals on September 7, with the winner claiming a Freestyle Hurling winner’s trophy, an iPad and a unique chance to train with an inter-county side.
Knockavilla – Donaskeigh Kickham G.A.A.
Kickham GAA in association with South Tipperary Hospice movement is hosting its first annual “Richie & Breda Horgan Memorial” golf classic in Co Tipperary Golf club on Thursday/Friday 14th & 15th August 2014. You can support this event in a number of ways,
• Team of four players 120 euro (inc refreshments at the 10th)
• Sponsor a Tee box 50 euro
Timesheet can be booked with Seamus O’Dwyer 087 4180474 or Brian Horgan 087 8597824.
Best Wishes to Lauren
While all eyes are on our senior hurlers this week we must not forget Lauren Walsh who has been selected as the Tipperary Rose and will represent the county in the Rose of Tralee International Festival in the coming week. We congratulate Lauren who is originally from Tipperary town but now living in Dublin on her selection which is a great honour for her and her family and we wish Lauren the very best of luck in Tralee.
Ladies Gaelic Football
After the highs of the All Ireland success of the minor football team recently it was the turn of the Intermediate football team who were in action last Saturday against Limerick in Rd 2 of the TG4 Intermediate Championship Qualifiers and in a very high scoring and close game Tipperary lost by two points with the final score Tipperary 2-14 Limerick 3-13.
Leaving Cert Results
We congratulate all our young hurlers, footballers, camogie and ladies football players who will receive their Leaving Certificate Results today and we wish them the very best of luck with whatever direction they choose in their careers.
Tipperary GAA Scene
Information concerning all areas in the GAA will appear in this section in the future. If you wish to include any item of interest in future articles, please email pro.tipperary@gaa.ie on or before 3pm on Monday. Visit the Tipperary GAA web site at www.tipperary.gaa.ie keep up to date with all the latest news in Tipperary GAA circles.
