Tipperary GAA Scene – February 1st 2023

Allianz Football League

The Tipperary Senior Footballers commenced their Allianz Football Division 3 campaign with a loss to Down last Saturday January 28^th in FBD Semple Stadium. A below par first half performance saw Tipperary head for the tunnel behind by 1-06 to 0-02. Tipperary played much better in the second half and as the game entered the final quarter they were right back in the game. However, a fortuitous Down goal put the Ulster side back in control and they held out for a 2-11 to 1-14 win.

Tipperary now travel to Kingspan Breffni Park in Cavan this coming Sunday where they will play the home side. We wish the players and management the best in what is expected to be another very tough encounter.

Allianz Hurling League

The Tipperary senior hurlers will get their Allianz Hurling League underway this Saturday evening at 5pm in FBD Semple Stadium when they welcome Leinster neighbours Laois to the field of legends.

There have been 36 previous League meetings. Tipperary have won 27 games, Laois 6, and there were three draws.

The last six games resulted as follows –

1999, at Portlaoise, Tipperary 2.16 Laois 1.7

2000 , at FBD Semple Stadium Tipperary 5.25 Laois 0.18

2001, at Portlaoise, Tipperary 1.16 Laois 0.13

2006, at Portlaoise, Tipperary 4.17 Laois 0.12

2008, at Cashel, Tipperary 4.17 Laois 1.12

2022 ,at Portlaoise, Tipperary 0.21 Laois 1.14.

Tipperary GAA will be implementing all ticketing guidelines as set out by Croke Park, meaning tickets will NOT be on sale at the match venue, Tap and Go will NOT be in operation and cash will NOT  be accepted at the stiles. All tickets must be purchased before arriving at the venue.

At last Saturday’s Allianz Football League game between Tipperary and Down in FBD Semple Stadium, a small number of Tipperary supporters arrived at the stiles with no tickets which caused some disruption. Supporters can login to the ticket section of the GAA website https://am.ticketmaster.com/gaa/ and chose the game they wish to attend.              The direct link to next Saturday’s Allianz Hurling League game is https://am.ticketmaster.com/gaa/23SS0402

Supporters can also purchase match tickets at the following Supervalu and Centra outlets in County Tipperary:

TUS Dr Harty Cup

Best wishes to Thurles CBS and Cashel Community School who will battle it out in what will be the first ever all Tipperary Harty Cup final in FBD Semple Stadium next Sunday afternoon. With a big crowd expected, we encourage all supporters to travel to the venue in time so as to avoid delays.

The Dillon Quirke Foundation Senior Hurling Challenge

On Sunday February 19th at 2pm in FBD Semple Stadium, Tipperary and Kilkenny will play a senior hurling challenge in aid of the Dillon Quirke Foundation. The foundation was set up in honour of Dillon who collapsed during a hurling match and died of SADS on the 5th of August 2022 in FBD Semple Stadium Thurles.

Sudden adult death syndrome (SADS) takes 100 young lives in Ireland every year. With your help, our aim is to raise awareness and save lives by screening every GAA player both male and female from the age of 12 upwards.

Tickets for the game are now available on both the Dillon Quirke Foundation and the Tipperary GAA websites where there is also the option of purchasing a non-attendance ticket which will give access to the full match day programme. In addition, if you cannot attend the game but would like to watch it, the game is being streamed live on the day and again you can purchase the stream via both websites.

2001 All Ireland Champions reunion  

On Saturday 21 January a reunion of the 2001 All Ireland winning panel was held in The Minella Hotel, Clonmel. The captain, Tommy Dunne organised the event, it was a wonderful evening. The atmosphere was relaxed and fun, people were happy to catch up. They are a particularly united and nice group.

Eugene Hogan interviewed Ken Hogan Con Hogan  Jack Bergin they gave an insight to the attention to detail during their tenure. He also interviewed Declan Ryan, who won All ireland titles in three decades spoke, in his usual low key. All who were interviewed spoke glowingly about Declan’s influence. Eoin Kelly, Eamonn Corcoran, David Kennedy, John Leahy, Brendan Cummins were also interviewed. We heard untold stories, up to then. All were entertaining and engaging.

Tommy Dunne addressed the gathering and was so impressive. Vincent Hogan, superb journalist gave a lovely contribution and Nickey  English, Manager wrapped up with glowing tributes to the players. It was a tribute to the players that Dr. Gerry O Sullivan, John Commins ( who drove the Dublin based players to Thurles) Gerry Nolan, who guarded the dressing room door with great authority, John “Hot point” Hayes, Denis Finn, chairperson of the Supporters Club all attended. Ger Ryan, Munster Council Chairperson, Michael Berkery FBD insurance, Michael O Brien former County Sec were also present.

It was particularly good to see Liam Cahill there as Tipp were playing the following day.Liam was part of that panel. It was a late night as the chat and fun continued. Tommy Dunne said “I’m thrilled that so many attended. These occasions are special and thanks to all for making it an enjoyable evening.

Great memories were revived to celebrate a memorable year 2001. Thank you, Tommy Dunne, great captain.

Munster Junior B Hurling Competition

Commiserations to Thurles Sarsfields who lost out by the narrowest of margins to Bruff in the final of the 2022 Munster Junior B Hurling Competition which was played last Saturday afternoon in Kileedy. It was an even opening first quarter in Killeedy with the sides exchanging the first eight scores to leave it all square half way through the first period.

A more tentative next fifteen followed with Bruff edging the exchanges to take a slender 0-6 to 0-5 lead into the change of sides. However, All-Ireland winner Ger O’Grady wiped out that lead immediately after the restart and they would add to their tally to leave three between the sides. Thurles maintained that lead into the final quarter but couldn’t pull clear from Bruff who had the next three scores from the stick of David Browne. And it was the men from Limerick who had the final say to claim a momentous victory on a full time score of 0-10 to 1-06.

Munster Junior B Football Competition

The 2022 Munster Junior B Football Competition coordinated by Knockaderry GAA will kick off on Sunday 5th February 2023 and Tipperary will be represented by Kilruane MacDonaghs This year all 6 counties are represented from Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford. There will be 2 quarter-finals, followed by 2 semi-finals with the winners playing in the final.  The draw and dates for the competition has been made and are as follows:

Quarter Final 1
Sunday 5th February at 2:00pm – ETIN, Finish on the Day
Cooraclare (Clare) v Kilgarvan (Kerry)

Quarter Final 2

Sunday 12th February at 2:00pm – ETIN, Finish on the Day

Diarmuid O Mathunas (Cork) v Castletown Ballyagran (Limerick)

Semi Final 1
Sunday 19th February at 2:00pm – ETIN, Finish on the Day
Stradbally (Waterford) v Winners of Cooraclare (Clare) / Kilgarvan (Kerry)

Semi Final 2
Sunday 26th February at 2:00pm – ETIN, Finish on the Day
Kilruane MacDonaghs (Tipperary) v Winners of Diarmuid OMathunas (Cork) / Castletown Ballyagran (Limerick)

Final – Sunday 5th March – Replay if required.

Fixtures are weather permitting and may be subject to change. All games will be played in Knockaderry and all games will be fixed for Sundays.

Handball News

The Cumann na mBunscoil Munster Finals were hosted by Clarecastle in Clare. After a very long days handball Tipperary Players fared out well against very stiff opposition. They reached four finals winning 1. In the Boys U11singles Josh O Mahony from Newport N.S. put in a great display in the Semi Final beating Cillian Healy Ballydesmond N.S. Cork 11/3, 11/5. In The Final against Elijah Kenny Clonmoney N.S. Clare he won the first game 11/10 but was beaten in the second 11/3 to lose out 21/14. In the Girls U11 Final Emily Monaghan Ballina N.S. was beaten by Anna Madden Clare 11/3, 11/8. Kerry turned up late for this competition but the Clare Girl agreed to play her as well and won . In the Boys U11D Jim O Mahony & Tadhg Malone were in the match of the day in the Semi Final against Daniel Quinn & Darragh Curtin Kiskeam N.S. Cork.This was an absolute Thriller ending 11/9, 9/11. In the tie break the Newport boys went on to win 11/4. In the Final against Daryl Clifford & Dylan Donna from Curraheen N.S. in Kerry they went on to win 11/6, 11/4. In the Girls U11D Ava & Kayla Moroney from Ballina N.S. were very unlucky in their semi final against Erin Vaughan & Maeve Harten from Boherbue N.S. in Cork. They lost the first 11/9, won the second 11/9 & narrowly lost the third 11/7. In the Girls U13 singles Erin Neville from Ballina N.S. was up against Ruth Daly Liscarroll N.S. Erin won the first game 11/5 and narrowly lost the second 11/10 but won overall 21/16. In the Final she was up against a very strong opponent Juliet Moroney from Kilkishen N.S. in Clare. She was beaten 11/1, 11/2 in the final. In the Boys U13D semi final Shane Harrington & Ronan O Mahony from Newport N.S. were up against Sean Kerrish & Cian Buckley from Ballydesmond N.S. in Cork. This was a great battle with Newport narrowly winning the first 11/10. They lost the second 11/10 but went on to win the tie break 11/4. In the Final they were up against Charlie Collins & Daithí Madden Scarriff N.S. They were beaten 11/3, 11/6. Overall Tipp won 1 Title, Clare 4 & Cork 3. Well done to all who competed. Our Boys U11Doubles now go forward to the National Cumann na mBunscoil day Scheduled for 18th & 19th of February hopefully in the New National Centre in Croke Park.

Tipperary GAA Scene

If there is anything you feel should feature in this column going forward, please feel free to forward it to pro.tipperary@gaa.ie