By acting County PRO Ed Donnelly
ALLIANZ HURLING LEAGUE
Tipperary defeated Cork by 3-25 to 4-19 in last Sunday’s Allianz Hurling League Division 1 Quarter-Final at Semple Stadium Thurles. Niall O’Meara marked his League debut with a smashing first half goal. In total, 30 players have seen competitive action for Tipperary in the six league games to date, 7 of which have made their League debuts (Cathal Barrett, Denis Maher, Ronan Maher, Conor Kenny, James Barry, Liam McGrath and Niall O’Meara). Tipperary will now play the All-Ireland champions Clare in the League semi-final on Sunday April 20th at 4:00pm in the Gaelic Grounds Limerick. The game will be preceded by the other Division 1 Hurling semi-final between Kilkenny and Galway at 2:00pm.
ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Tipperary’s Senior Footballers have secured promotion to Division 3 following a comprehensive 5-16 to 0-16 victory over Leitrim in Carrick-on-Shannon. In a League which has been note-worthy for a number of high scoring games, Tipperary’s aggregate total of 142 points scored is 12 points more than any other county across the four divisions with All-Ireland finalists of the last two years Mayo accounting for 130 aggregate points in their six games to date.
Tipperary’s last game is at home to Wicklow on Sunday next April 6th at 2:00pm in Semple Stadium Thurles. This game will be the curtain-raiser to the Allianz Hurling League Division 2A Final between Kerry and Carlow scheduled for 3:45pm. There is a Tipperary involvement in the Kerry set-up with Eamon Kelly (Kildangan) as manager and Brian Horgan (Knockavilla Kickhams) as coach. Tipperary will play Clare, Leitrim or Wicklow in the Allianz Football League Division 4 Final on Saturday April 26th at Croke Park.
MUNSTER UNDER 21 FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
Tipperary will play Cork in the Cadbury Munster Under 21 Football Final on Wednesday April 9th in the second game of a double-header at Pairc Ui Rinn. The curtain-raiser will be the Electric Ireland Munster Minor Hurling Championship Quarter-Final between Cork and Kerry at 6:15pm followed by the Under 21 Football Final at 8:00pm.
If successful, Cork will capture their fourth Munster title in a row at this grade and will draw level with Kerry atop of the Munster Under 21 Football roll of honour with 25 titles. Tipperary on the other hand are seeking their second ever title in this grade and have qualified for the final with two impressive away victories, amassing a total of 2-41 and conceding 2-12. With the experience of winning Munster and All-Ireland Minor Football titles three years ago, this Tipperary team are growing in confidence and under the leadership of Manager David Power and his selectors Gerry McGill and Pat Moroney, they are well equipped to earn an away victory and capture the honours next week.
We look forward to a sizeable Tipperary support on the night and our supporters are reminded to purchase their tickets in advance to receive a €5 discount. The match day admission price is €15 while the concession price for students and OAP’s is €10. All Under 16s will be admitted free.
MUNSTER MINOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP
The Tipperary Minor Hurlers will get their 2014 Championship campaign underway with a trip to play the 2013 Munster Minor Hurling champions Limerick in the Gaelic Grounds Limerick on Thursday April 10th at 7:00pm.
ASH PROGRAMME
The launch of the Advanced School of Hurling (Ash) programme sponsored by Thurles Fresh Milk took place in the Dome Semple Stadium last Saturday. The concept of the Ash programme is to assist with the development of hurling in the county. It will be geared towards four specific areas – a) Club, b) Primary School c) Secondary School and d) Development Squads. It will be completed on a phased and ongoing basis commencing with the Development Squads in 2014.
Among the speakers at the launch included Catherine Logan (National Dairy Council) who talked about the importance of nutrition for sports people and former Tipperary goalkeeper Brendan Cummins who spoke to the importance of having a proper lifestyle for aspiring young GAA players.
LISHEEN MINES HURLING WALL
The official opening of the new Lisheen Mines Hurling Wall in Dr. Morris Park Thurles took place on Saturday afternoon. The Acting General Manager of Lisheen Mines Alan Buckley and Tipperary hurling legend Jimmy Doyle performed the official opening in the presence of a large attendance of officers from club and county level as well as supporters. Also present from Lisheen Mines were Terry McKenna, Dominic Everard and Jimmy Dunne, who spoke on behalf of the company. The new facility was blessed by Fr Tom Lanigan-Ryan and afterwards members of the county Under 16 Hurling Development squad put on an exhibition of ball wall skills under the guidance of Damien Young.
HURLING IN CLONMEL
Hurling in the Clonmel region is expected to get a boost with the setting up of a committee to support a Munster Council and Tipperary County Board sponsored project to promote the game in the Clubs and schools in Clonmel and adjoining areas. The Clubs involved in the project are Clonmel Og, St Mary’s, Moyle Rovers, Clerihan, Ballybacon Grange, Kilsheelan Kilcash and Newcastle.
A three year plan is being drawn up and will involve coaching in the clubs and schools in the designated areas. A special emphasis will be placed on upskilling coaches in the clubs involved and an annual festival of hurling is also on the cards. It is expected that the three year plan will be unveiled in May 2014.
COUNTY SENIOR AND INTERMEDIATE HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP
The County Intermediate Hurling Championship gets underway this weekend with five games down for decision. Check the fixtures for more details. Meanwhile, the first round of the County Senior Hurling Championship will commence on the weekend of the 13th of April.
TIPPERARY GAA MEMBERS DRAW
The final Tipperary GAA Draw for 2013/2014 will be held on this Saturday night, 5th April in The Tipp Inn, Toomevara. Ned & Marie Young, Clonolea, Toomevara who won the top prize of a Skoda Octavia or €15,000 in the March Draw will be presented with their prize on the night and Noel Morris from Driminahane, Borrisokane will collect the second prize of a Skoda Fabia or €10,000. We will have a further two Cars up for grabs on Saturday night plus numerous cash prizes, so all head to the Tipp Inn in Toomevara for a great nights entertainment.
PADDY BUGGY CUP FINAL
Coláiste Phobal Roscrea (Tipperary) will play Cross and Passion College (Antrim) in the Masita GAA All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Senior B Hurling Paddy Buggy Cup Final on Saturday next April 5th at 3:15pm in Nowlan Park Kilkenny. This game will be shown live on TG4 and is the curtain-raiser to the Croke Cup Senior A Hurling Final between St. Kieran’s Kilkenny and Kilkenny CBS. The Roscrea school which is captained by their wing-back Lee Cashin from the Roscrea club reached the final by virtue of a 1-14 to 1-7 semi-final win over St. Mary’s College (Galway).
TIPPERARY SUPPORTERS CLUB ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The Annual General Meeting of the Tipperary Supporters Club will take place this Thursday 3rd April at 8pm in the Louis Fitzgerald Hotel, Naas Road, Dublin. Come along and learn about the activities of the Club and the plans for the year ahead. Meet old friends and new, with tea, coffee and refreshments served after the meeting.
SCÓR SUCCESS IN MUNSTER FINALS
The University Concert Hall Limerick was the venue for the Munster Final of Scór Sinsear 2014 on Sunday last 30 March. Being the City of Culture, the venue was aptly chosen to showcase the provincial Finals and standards in all competitions were truly excellent. Ócáid den scoth a bhí ann agus bhí an caighdeán thar barr mar is ghnáth.
Tipperary was represented in 4 disciplines with tremendous performances from Newcastle (Rince Foirne), Borris-Ileigh (Bailéad Ghrúpa), Noel Joyce – JK Brackens (Aithriseoireacht), and Newport (Ceol Uirlise).
Being County and Munster Semi-Finals victors is in itself a wonderful achievement and we applaud all our competitors who excelled on stage but Pride of Place in 2014 must go to Newport Instrumental Group who won Munster Honours and will go on to represent club, county and province in the All-Ireland Finals in Castlebar on April 26th. Dhein siad éacht agus comghairdeas libh. Thank you to all the mentors families and supporters who travelled to Limerick to support na daoine ar an stáitse. Gúimid gach rath ar Áine, Sarah, Niamh, Ruairí agus Brian sa Chraobh. Go néirí libh.
We wish a speedy recovery to Nora Troy and hope that she will soon be back i lár na páirce arís linn. We also wish Pat Ryan a speedy recovery from all the Scór committee and members.
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.
