By acting County PRO Ed Donnelly
ALLIANZ HURLING LEAGUE SEMI-FINALS
After a three week break from competitive action, the Tipperary Senior Hurlers will take to the field on Sunday next to play Clare in the Allianz Hurling League Division 1 Semi-Final. The Gaelic Grounds Limerick will be the venue for a game with a 4:00pm throw-in and Colm Lyons (Cork) will be the referee. The all-Munster clash of Tipperary and Clare will be preceded by the other semi-final between Kilkenny and Galway at 2:00pm with James McGrath (Westmeath) as referee.
As All-Ireland champions, Clare will look to consolidate their position at the top table by qualifying for the Division 1 League Final for the first time since 2005 while the Banner County have not won the title since the 1977/1978 season. Tipperary won their last League title in 2008 courtesy of a 3-18 to 3-16 victory over Galway while the Premier County have since qualified for the League Finals in 2009 and 2013, losing out to Kilkenny on both occasions.
Tickets for Sunday’s semi-finals are now on sale via tickets.ie, Centra or Supervalu for both stands and if adult tickets are purchased in advance, patrons can avail of a €5 discount. The match day adult admission price for the stands is €20 while Students / OAP tickets are €15. Juvenile (Under 16) tickets are priced at €5. Juvenile Groups are being facilitated for this event at €3 per juvenile and all such bookings must be done through the GAA Ticket Office in Croke Park. The relevant Juvenile Group ticket form has been circulated to all club secretaries. Season ticket holders will be accommodated in the Mackey Stand. Note that tickets are stand specific but unreserved seating applies within that stand so it will be important for Tipperary supporters to a) buy their tickets in advance and b) arrive early to watch the first semi-final in order to ensure a good seat in the stand.
MUNSTER MINOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Tipperary will start their Munster Minor Football Championship campaign on this Wednesday April 16th when they travel to Fraher Field Dungarvan to play Waterford. Throw-in is at 7:00pm with Kevin Murphy (Cork) as the referee. Best wishes to wing-back and captain Willie Connors (Kildangan) and all the players as well as the management team of Charlie McGeever (Manager), Shane Stapleton, Kieran Healy and Niall Fitzgerald.
MUNSTER UNDER 21 FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
Commiserations to the Tipperary Under 21 Footballers following their 1-18 to 3-8 defeat at the hands of Cork in last Wednesday’s Munster Final played at Pairc Ui Rinn. Taking on a Cork team going for four Munster titles in a row and playing on their home ground was always going to be difficult but this young Tipperary side gave it their all and showed that optimism in the future of Football in the Premier County is justified. 11 of the 19 Tipperary players used on the night are underage again in 2015 so there is the basis of another strong challenge for Provincial honours. Thanks to the players, management and backroom team for their efforts in 2014 and we look forward to seeing them again in the near future at Inter-County, Sigerson Cup or Club level.
MUNSTER MINOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP
The Tipperary Minor Hurlers lost out to Limerick by 3-17 to 2-11 in the first round of the Munster Championship on Thursday last at the Gaelic Grounds Limerick. Tipperary now await an away game against the winners of the game between the other first round losers (Clare and Kerry) who meet on Wednesday April 23rd at a Clare venue. The date of Tipperary’s next outing is dependent on the progress of our Tipperary Minor Footballers given the number of dual players involved and is penciled in for April 30th or May 7th.
ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 4 FINAL
Tipperary and Clare will contest the Allianz Football League Division 4 Final on Saturday week April 26th at 5:00pm in Croke Park. The game will serve as a curtain-raiser to the Division 3 Final between Cavan and Roscommon – the latter being managed by Kerry native and former Tipperary manager John Evans.
COUNTY SENIOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP
The Clean Ireland Recycling County Senior Hurling Championship got off to a hectic start last weekend with 16 matches played over a period of 30 hours on Saturday and Sunday. The new-look Championship splits the 32 Senior Hurling teams in to 8 groups divided up with 4 groups in Roinn 1 and another 4 groups in Roinn 2. While the purpose of dividing the groups is to ensure clubs play games against teams of a similar standard, the first round of matches was notable for some comprehensive victories and these were mainly in Roinn 2.
Of the 8 matches played in Roinn 1, exactly half of them were decided by one score while the average winning margin was 4.6 points. The biggest margin of victory in Roinn 1 was Toomevara’s 10 point victory over Moycarkey-Borris. In Roinn 2, just 2 of the 8 games played were decided by one score with an average winning margin of 11.4 points. 2012 County and Munster champions Thurles Sarsfields made their intentions known with a 28 point victory over Moneygall.
A further analysis of the opening day results will see that teams from the North division won 8 games, the Mid accounted for 6 wins while the South accounted for 2 victories. No team from the West division managed a victory and while West champions of the last two years (Eire Og Annacarty & Clonoulty-Rossmore) both lost by two points to the County Finalists of last year (Loughmore-Castleiney & Nenagh Eire Og respectively), the average margin of defeat by the other West clubs was 13 points.
The next round of matches in the County Senior Hurling Championship are scheduled for the weekend of April 27th for clubs who do not have players involved in the Tipperary Senior Football panel as they take on Clare in the Division 4 League Final. All other games are penciled in for the May Bank Holiday weekend.
COUNTY UNDER 21 B FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINALS
The finalists in this year’s Clean Ireland Recycling County Under 21 B Football Championship should be known by next Monday with the semi-finals down for decision this weekend. The replayed semi-final between Upperchurch-Drombane and Cahir will take place on Saturday next April 19th at 3:00pm in Leahy Park Cashel while the other semi-final between Rockwell / Rosegreen and Lorrha is fixed for Easter Monday April 21st at 3:00pm in The Ragg.
The last two County titles in this grade have gone to clubs from the North division courtesy of Ballinahinch Gaels last year and Borrisokane in 2012 so Lorrha will hope that trend continues this year. Rockwell Rovers won the first ever County title in this grade played in 1987 and repeated the feat in 2010 and in 2014 will attempt to win the title as part of an amalgamation with Rosegreen. Cahir won this title in 1989 while Upperchurch-Drombane are seeking their first ever County title in this grade having won the County Minor B Football title last year.
LONDON CORPORATE LUNCH
On Friday May 16th the Tipperary County Board will host a Corporate Lunch in Central London at “The InterContinental London Park Lane Hotel”. Guests of Honour at the event will include Niall Quinn, Nicky English, Eamon O Shea, Brendan Cummins and possibly Shane Long. Tables for the event are £1,600 (for 8 people) or single tickets can be purchased for £200 each. Interest in this event from our supporters in London and the surrounding English suburbs has been high and over 20 tables have been already sold. Whether you are based in the UK and interested in attending or know of someone who may like to attend, please contact Tim Floyd at secretary.tipperary@gaa.ie or 0504-22702 for more details.
REFEREES
Derek O’Mahoney (Ardfinnan) has been selected to referee this Saturday’s All-Ireland Under 21 Football Semi-Final between Cavan and Dublin in Portlaoise at 4:45pm. Cork will play Roscommon in the other semi-final at the same venue at 3pm with both games being shown live on TG4.
Meanwhile, Sean Lonergan (Moyle Rovers) will make his Munster Adult Championship debut as a referee when he takes charge of the Munster Minor Football Championship first round game between Clare and Kerry on Wednesday next April 16th in Cusack Park Ennis. Sean will be joined by fellow Tipperary officials David Grogan (Aherlow) and Keith Delahunty (Moyle Rovers) as linesmen while John McCormack (Knockavilla Kickhams) will be the sideline official.
TIPPERARY GAA SCENE
If you wish to include any item of interest in future articles of the Tipperary GAA Scene, please contact the acting County Public Relations Officer Ed Donnelly at 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.
By Jonathan Cullen Tue 15th Apr
