Tipperary GAA Scene column – February 18th 2014

Tipperary GAA Scene column

By acting County PRO Ed Donnelly

ALLIANZ HURLING LEAGUE

Tipperary got their Allianz Hurling League Division 1A campaign off to a positive start on Saturday last with a hard earned 2-13 to 0-16 victory over Waterford at Semple Stadium Thurles. Seamus Callanan and Darren Gleeson scored the Tipperary goals while Cathal Barrett (Holycross-Ballycahill), Liam McGrath (Loughmore-Castleiney), Denis Maher (Thurles Sarsfields) and Ronan Maher (Thurles Sarsfields) made their League debuts for the county. Ronan’s debut was notable as he is the youngest player to make his first League appearance (18 years, 129 days) since Noel McGrath’s debut against Cork in February 2009 (18 years 59 days). Other players on the current Tipperary panel to make their League debut in their first year out of the Minor ranks include Tomas Hamill (2013 debut) and Thomas Stapleton (2007 debut). Eoin Kelly made his Championship debut while still a Minor in 2000 as a substitute in an All-Ireland Quarter-Final defeat to Galway but had turned 19 by the time he made his League debut the following season. With the exception of Eoin Kelly, the other four players mentioned have won All-Ireland Minor Hurling medals with Tipperary.

Tipperary had failed to win their opening League fixture in each of the preceding four years, losing by an average of nine points. Tipperary’s last opening round victory in the Allianz Hurling League prior to 2014 came all the way back on February 8th 2009 when Tipperary hung on to defeat Waterford by 2-13 to 1-12 with the Decies scoring 1-6 in the final quarter to stage an unlikely comeback. By contrast, in the same five year period, Tipperary have never lost their second round match in the Allianz Hurling League. That will count for nothing when the ball is thrown in at Nowlan Park next Sunday at 2:00pm as old rivals Kilkenny and Tipperary play in the Kilkenny venue for the third time in nine months. Tipperary need no reminding of the previous two results in Nowlan Park so have plenty of incentive to get one over on their age old rivals on this occasion. Our last victory over Kilkenny in Nowlan Park was our League semi-final victory on April 13th 2008 winning on a scoreline of 1-15 to 1-10. A cracking game is in prospect and all support for the Blue and Gold would be appreciated as these ancient rivals cross swords again.

LEAGUE ADMISSION PRICES

The price of admission to Nowlan Park on Sunday next for adults if you arrive without a pre-purchased ticket is €15. However, tickets can be purchased in advance for €10 from any of the usual Supervalu or Centra retail outlets or from the GAA web site (gaa.ie/tickets). Note there are no concessions available on the pre-purchased tickets.

KERRY HURLING CONNECTIONS

Kerry got their Allianz Hurling League Division 2A campaign off to an impressive start with a 4-24 to 3-9 victory away to Derry. The Kerry team included League debutant David Butler (Knockavilla Donaskeigh Kickhams) at corner-forward in a team managed by Eamon Kelly (Kildangan) and coached by Brian Horgan (Knockavilla Donaskeigh Kickhams).

UNDER 21 HURLERS

Tipperary will play Kilkenny in an Under 21 Hurling Development challenge game on Sunday next at 11:00am in St. John’s Park (O’Loughlin Gaels GAA grounds) adjacent to Nowlan Park Kilkenny. Admission is 5 euro and all proceeds raised will go to the CBS Zambia Immersion Project. This game offers the Tipperary Under 21 Hurling management team of TJ Connolly (Cashel King Cormacs – Manager), Niall Curran (Mullinahone), Ken Dunne (Toomevara) and Noel Morris (Loughmore-Castleiney) an opportunity to check out their available talent ahead of the Munster Championship where Tipperary will travel to play Clare or Limerick in the semi-final on July 16th.

LEINSTER MINOR FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Tipperary drew with Wicklow in round 2 of the Leinster Minor Football League played on Monday afternoon in Fenagh, County Carlow. Wicklow led by 1-3 to 0-2 at half-time and despite going down to 14 men early in the second half, Tipperary worked hard to secure a draw on a final scoreline of 0-9 to 1-6. Tipperary’s round 3 game versus Louth is scheduled for this Wednesday February 19th at 7:30pm in Ardee, County Louth.

ALL COUNTY TABLE QUIZ

The local heats in the 2014 All County Table Quiz will take place on this Friday night February 21st. The Star Prize for the County Champions is €2,000 (4 x €500) plus the chance to represent Tipperary in the All Ireland Scór Quiz Final in Castlebar on April 26th 2014 (for the team with the Highest marks that qualifies under Scór rules). Runner-up Prizes include 4 All Ireland SH Tickets and 4 Tipperary GAA Season Tickets. There is also a special draw at the County Final for all quiz participants in the Local Heats for two Garth Brooks tickets for one of his Croke Park concerts this year and there is also a €250 Rochestown Park Hotel voucher. The following are the 4 divisional co-ordinators who have been appointed to look after the clubs within their own division – North – Catherine Gleeson (087-9177233), South – Nicholas Moroney (087-8369630), Mid – John Smith (087-9960710), West – Kevin Halley (086-1925188). The respective winners of the local heats will go forward to the County Final scheduled to take place in The Dome on Friday March 14th

TIPP DRAW ON TIPP FM

The Weekly GAA Draw continues LIVE on Tipp FM this Friday on Seamus Martin’s programme around 10.30am. €1,000 Lotto Jackpot will be drawn along with 5 x €200 prizes (if Jackpot not won, an additional 5 x €200 lucky dip prizes will be drawn. So, tune into Seamus Martin on Tipp FM this Friday and every Friday (except on the first Friday of every month when the Monthly Draw takes place).

CLUB OFFICERS INFORMATION NIGHT

All clubs are reminded that the Tipperary County Board in conjunction with Munster Council and Croke Park will host a Club Officers Information night on Wednesday next February 26th in LIT Thurles. Every club is invited to send their Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer and PRO. While this event is especially useful for newly elected officers, everyone can benefit from attending so we encourage all club officers to make the effort to attend if at all possible.

CLUB FIXTURE UPDATE

The club fixture scene at present is dominated by the start of the County Adult Football League and the beginning of the Divisional Under 21 Football championships. The hurling action will commence on the weekend of March 2nd when the County Senior Hurling Challenge Cup gets underway. Finally, the draws for the 2014 County Senior Football Championship and the County Intermediate Hurling Championship will take place at the next County CCC meeting on Monday February 23rd. More on that next week.

DR. HARTY CUP FINAL

The Dr. Harty Cup final will take place on Saturday next February 22nd at 1:30pm in the Gaelic Grounds Limerick. This will be an all Limerick affair as Ard Scoil Rís take on Scoil Na Troinoide Naofa Doon. In Doon’s semi-final victory over St. Francis College of Rochestown, the starting team included Shane Stapleton (Sean Treacys) in goal and David Buckley (Cappawhite) at centre-forward. John O’Brien (Arravale Rovers) will be the referee for the Harty Cup Final and he will be joined by linesmen Fergal Horgan and John McCormack (both Knockavilla Donaskeigh Kickhams) and umpires James O’Brien, Roger O’Connor, Brian Glasheen and Darren Lowry (all Arravale Rovers). Best wishes to everyone involved.

MUNSTER GAA POST PRIMARY SCHOOLS

The Munster GAA Post Primary Schools Senior B Hurling Semi-Finals have been fixed as a double-header this coming Friday in the University of Limerick All Weather GAA pitch. At 1:00pm, St. Mary’s Newport play Roscrea CC while at 2:30pm, Cashel CC will look to make it an all Tipperary Final when they take on Colaiste Iosaef Kilmallock. Good luck to the three Tipperary schools involved.

Finally, well done to John Butler (Upperchurch-Drombane) who refereed Saturday’s Munster GAA Post Primary Schools Senior C Hurling Final which resulted in a 0-12 to 1-6 win for Salesian College Pallaskenry (Limerick) over Scarriff CC (Clare).

SIGERSON CUP

Queens University Belfast will host this year’s Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cup competitions, beginning with the Sigerson on this coming Friday and Saturday. Friday’s semi-finals will see UCC taking on NUI Maynooth at 3:30pm while UCD play University of Ulster Jordanstown at 5:30pm with the winners playing in Saturday’s Final (6:45pm throw-in – live on TG4). There is a Tipperary involvement on the UCC panel as full-forward Michael Quinlivan (Clonmel Commercials) has played a key role in his team’s march to the semi-finals while Shane Power (Clonmel Commercials) is also part of the UCC panel managed by Billy Morgan (Cork). Best wishes to Michael and Shane this weekend. For more details on the feast of GAA activity at Queens University Belfast over the next few weekends, check out www.gaafestival.com.

ASHBOURNE CUP

Congratulations to the University of Limerick (UL) who won Camogie’s Third Level Colleges Ashbourne Cup competition thanks to a 0-12 to 1-8 victory over a Waterford Institute of Technology team looking for their 6th title in a row. UL’s centre-forward Cait Devane of Tipperary won the player of the tournament award.

ANNUAL CONGRESS

This coming weekend will see the GAA Annual Congress taking place on Friday and Saturday in Croke Park. There are a number of motions on the agenda while the election of the GAA President Elect will no doubt be the main focus this weekend with Sean Walsh (Kerry), Seamus Howlin (Wexford) and Aogán Farrell (Cavan) in the race to succeed Liam O’Neill as GAA President in 12 months time.

ACTING COUNTY PRO

Due to ill-health, the elected County PRO Andy Fogarty is unable to take up his position at present. As a result, Ed Donnelly has agreed to take up the reins in an acting capacity until further notice.

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.