Tipperary GAA Scene
by Assistant PRO Joe Bracken
TIPPERARY SENIOR HURLING & FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP DRAWS
The draws for the 2015 Tipperary Senior Hurling and Football Championships took place on Monday last February 2nd. The seedings for same were confirmed by the County CCC and the group draws resulted as follows;
County Senior Hurling Championship;
Roinn 1:
Group 1 – Nenagh Éire Óg, Clonoulty Rossmore, Templederry Kenyons, Ballina.
Group 2 – Kildangan, Moycarkey Borris, Upperchurch Drombane, Thurles Sarsfields.
Group 3 – Loughmore Castleiney, Killenaule, Éire Óg Anacarty, Lorrha Dorrha.
Group 4 – Drom & Inch, Borris Ileigh, Burgess, Kilruane MacDonaghs.
Roinn 2:
Group 1 – Carrick Swans, J K Brackens, Knockavilla Kickhams, Moyne Templetuohy.
Group 2 – Roscrea, Holycross Ballycahill, Borrisokane.
Group 3 – Toomevara, Mullinahone, Boherlahan Dualla, Ballingarry.
Group 4 – Silvermines, Portroe, Cappawhite, Moneygall.
County Senior Football Championship;
Group 1 – Killenaule, Kilsheelan Kilcash, Éire Óg Anacarty, Thomas MacDonaghs.
Group 2 – Aherlow Gaels, Moyle Rovers, Ardfinnan, Ballyporeen, Drom & Inch.
Group 3 – Loughmore Castleiney, Arravale Rovers, Galtee Rovers, Moycarkey Borris.
Group 4 – Cahir, J K Brackens, Clonmel Commercials, Moyne Templetuohy.
The first round of the senior hurling championship will take place on the weekends of the 5th – 12th of April. The first round of the county senior football championship will take place on Wednesday the 22nd of April. The draw for the first and subsequent rounds will take place nearer to the fixture dates. Clean Ireland Recycling will again Sponsor the Club Championships for 2015.
ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE
In the opening round of the Allianz Football League Division 3 last weekend, Tipperary lost out by the narrowest of margins to Armagh in the Athletic Grounds on Sunday on a scoreline of 2-8 to 0-13. Tipperary will look to bounce back from their opening day defeat when they take on Limerick next Sunday in Round 2 at 2pm in Semple Stadium, Thurles. All support for the Tipperary Senior Footballers led by manager Peter Creedon would be welcome against a Limerick team which defeated Sligo in Round 1.
ALLIANZ HURLING LEAGUE
Tipperary will begin their Allianz Hurling League Division 1A campaign with an away trip to Parnell Park to play Dublin at 2pm on Sunday week February 15th. Since bowing out of the Waterford Crystal Cup at the Quarter-Final stage, the Tipperary management team of Eamon O’Shea, Michael Ryan, Paudie O’Neill and Declan Fanning have been putting a number of new players through their paces with games against Offaly, Kilmallock and more recently Waterford. Quite a number of the senior players were also in action in the first round of the Fitzgibbon Cup last week with some fine individual performances noted.
DR. HARTY CUP
Well done to Thurles CBS on qualifying for the Dr. Harty Cup final following a hard earned 1-9 to 0-11 victory over Castletroy Community College on Saturday last. Congratulations also to everyone involved with the Toomevara GAA club for having their facilities in top class condition for this crucial game. Thurles will now play St. Francis College, Rochestown in the Harty Cup Final on Saturday, February 21st in Mallow.
UNDER 21 FOOTBALL
The Tipperary Under 21 Footballers involvement in the Hastings Cup pre-season competition has been useful for the team management led by manager Tommy Twomey and selectors Peter Creedon, Eoghan Cooney and Michael O’ Loughlin. After narrow victories over Kildare and Longford, Tipperary lost out to Galway by 0-10 to 1-6 in their last game to finish second in their group. Tipperary will now play Laois in the Hastings Cup Shield Semi-Final on Friday next February 6th at 7:45pm in Crettyard, Co. Laois. If successful, a date with the 2014 All-Ireland Minor Football Champions Kerry awaits. Tipperary will play Clare or Limerick in the Munster Semi-Final on March 18th.
REFEREES
Congratulations to Johnny Ryan (Boherlahan Dualla) and his team of officials on taking charge of the Waterford Crystal Cup Final between Limerick and Cork last Saturday evening. Johnny will also take charge of the All-Ireland Club semi-final between Gort and Ballyhale Shamrocks in Semple Stadium on Saturday, so best wishes to Johnny and his team of officials on the day.
TIPPERARY SUPPORTERS CLUB MEMBERSHIP LAUNCH 2015
The Tipperary Supporters Club launched the 2015 Adult Membership on Wednesday, January 28th at the Horse & Jockey Hotel. A very good attendance travelled through bad weather conditions from far and wide including all parts of Tipperary and Galway, Kildare, Carlow, Dublin, Kilkenny and Clare and included Eamon O’Shea, Senior Team Manager, Michael Ryan, Assistant Senior Team Manager, Brendan Maher, Senior Captain, TJ Connolly, Under 21 Manager and Liam Cahill, Minor Manager. County Board Officers including Michael Bourke, County Board Chairman and Tim Floyd, Secretary were also present. Eamon O’Shea launched the Membership and he thanked the Tipperary Supporters Club for all their help and urged all Tipperary Supporters to join as a practical way of showing support for the team. He said that the Panel were looking forward to the start of the Allianz Hurling League where they planned to give competitive and committed performances. Liam Cahill said that from his time playing with Tipperary he thanked the Tipperary Supporters Club for its help and appreciated its important role. TJ Connolly also outlined his approach for the year ahead. All three managers took some questions from the supporters in the audience and it was a very interesting insight into the year ahead.
Tipperary Supporters Club Membership 2015
Membership of the Tipperary Supporters Club for 2015 is now available and is in strong demand. Already hundreds of memberships have been bought.
Membership is €30 per person, unchanged since 2006. We are delighted that the member’s gift in 2015 is a Gold Plated Tiobraid Árann Crossed Hurley, 19.5mm x 20.0 mm, lapel pin specially designed and produced in the traditional Blue & Gold colours of Tipperary. Each member will also receive a Tipperary Supporters Club car sticker and a 2015 Membership Card. Members will also be entered into:
• A draw for five pairs of stand tickets for all Tipperary games in the Munster and All Ireland S.H. Championships.
• In the event of Tipperary Senior Hurlers reaching the All Ireland Final there will be a special draw for 2 nights’ accommodation for 2 people in the Four Star Louis Fitzgerald Hotel, with a pair of match tickets included.
• Members also get regular email updates on news along with a text for each Tipperary team announcement for the Allianz League and the Munster and All-Ireland Hurling Championships.
Supporters can join on line on www.tippsupportersclub.com by credit card or debit/laser card. Also on the website details are available of the direct debit facility; as the Club is run on a completely voluntary basis it would be a great help if members could join by direct debit. Membership is also available in the following premises, Moynihan’s in Gladstone Street, Clonmel, O’Donoghue’s in Cashel, Noel Ryan’s in Parnell Street, Thurles and from Jackie Shanahan and Carroll’s in Roscrea. If joining by post please send a cheque or postal order payable to Tipperary Supporters Club to Jim Reidy,13 Castleknock Close, Dublin 15 (086-3580718, email:info@tippsupportersclub.com )
Ryan Motor Power, the official SKODA dealership in Tipperary is again the sponsor of the Tipperary Supporters Club Membership Scheme. Ryan Motor Power’s impressive showroom and forecourt facility in Powerstown, Clonmel showcases the full Skoda model range. Visit the Ryan Motor Power website at http://www.ryanmotorpower.com/contentv3/ or call 052 6180323. Commenting, Ronan Power, Director of Ryan Motor Power said, “We are delighted to continue our sponsorship of the Tipperary Supporters Club Membership Scheme and to represent Skoda here in Tipperary. The Skoda range offers excellent value for money with fuel efficient engines and low road tax available across the range.” The Tipperary Supporters Club thanks Ryan Motor Power for its generous sponsorship; please support our sponsors.
Junior Membership is free on www.tippsupportersclub.com and existing Junior Members will be automatically renewed and do not need to make contact unless they wish to update their contact details.
The Committee is actively seeking more people interested in helping the Tipperary hurling effort. The plan is to extend the adult membership base further and anybody who would like to take some Supporters Club memberships to join up their friends is welcome to contact Supporters Club PRO, John Coman on 087-9087105 or by email at info@tippsupportersclub.com .
TIPPERARY GAA MEMBERS DRAW
The Tipperary GAA Members Monthly Draw for February will take place on Friday next February 6th at 10:30pm in The Thatch Bar, Ballycahill. Thomas Stakelum from Holycross and Martin Hickey from Cahir will be presented with the 1st & 2nd Prizes from the January Draw. 2 Cars and 23 cash prizes will be won on the night. The weekly lotto jackpot is now €18,000, and to be in for a chance to win, you can join by contacting Lár Na Páirce on 0504 22702.
NEW REFEREE COURSE
A foundation course for new GAA referees commences next Wednesday February 11th in Thurles. It will take place over 4 nights – Feb 11, Feb 16, Feb 18, Feb 23.
Getting involved and becoming a referee is an ideal way of staying involved on match day. Like players preparing for the match, you must also put in preparation; knowledge of the rules along with being physically and mentally fit. Ability to remain calm, courteous, having moral courage, dealing with unfair criticisms is another aspect that the referee must excel in. Refereeing is very rewarding and over the years Tipperary has always produced some top class officials at both County & National level and continues to do so. Many clubs in the county have no referee, therefore, those clubs are asked to make particular note of those dates and try to ensure they have at least one candidate attending the course.
If you are interested in completing this course, please download the application form from the Tipperary GAA website or contact your local club chairman, secretary or committee member.. Otherwise you can contact Philip Kelly secretary of the referee recruitment committee at 087 2863683 or e mail to Referee.recruitment.tipperary@gaa.ie for further details.
TIPPERARY CAMOGIE FASHION SHOW
The Templemore Arms Hotel is the place to be on February 6th as the Tipperary senior camogie players and hurlers come together to strut their stuff on the catwalk in a fundraiser for the senior camogie team. A hardworking committee including players, team management, officers and camogie enthusiasts have been working extremely hard since October to try and bring this event about and to allow it realise its full potential.
The main aim of the event is to help the senior camogie team cover their training and travel costs
throughout the year. Players from both panels will model clothes from local shops based in Thurles, Templemore, Nenagh, Roscrea and Birr. In addition to this the Tipperary camogie board hope to launch “A Sportsman’s Dream” sponsorship of the senior team that night. Tipperary camogie are very excited and grateful to Siobhan Tynan, Deirdre Hughes and staff for coming on board this year and hope it will prove to be very beneficial for all involved.
There will also be a medal presentation to the victorious under 16 Munster and All Ireland camogie champions of 2014 on the night. Models for the night include Tipperary senior camogie panellists Andrea Loughnane, Sarah Fryday, Cait Devane, Alice Fogarty, Megan Ryan and Bríd Quinn to name but a few as well as senior hurlers Brendan Maher, Padraic and Ronan Maher, Paddy Stapleton, Seamus Callanan, Noel McGrath and Conor Kenny. Willie Flynn and Michaela Graham, senior panellist are the MC’s and there will also be a draw for some excellent prizes on the night.
Tipperary camogie wishes to extend its gratitude to the shops who have given so kindly of their clothes for the night. These are First Edition, Jazz Boutique, En Paris, Dunnes Stores Roscrea, CC’s Nenagh, Ann Maries Nenagh, Carraig Donn, Jim Moloughney menswear, Lár na Páirce, Morans Menswear and Mullalys menswear Templemore.
So make the Templemore Arms your destination of choice on February 6th at 7:30pm. Tickets are available through your local camogie club and also at the door on the night.
MUNSTER GAA CONVENTION
The Annual Munster GAA Convention took place in the Killarney Plaza Hotel on Friday last. A presentation was made to PJ Maher (Boherlahan Dualla) following the completion of his 5 year term as Munster Council Delegate from Tipperary. Thanks to PJ for the role he played in representing the Premier County and we wish him well in his new role as County Development Officer. Jimmy Minogue (Nenagh Eire Óg) has replaced PJ on the Munster Council where is joined by John Costigan (JK Brackens). Ger Ryan (Templederry Kenyons) was re-elected unopposed as Munster PRO at a Convention where there were no changes to the top table of Provincial Council Officers.
UNDER 21 FOOTBALL CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2015 Club Championship will kick off this weekend as the Under 21 Football Championship gets underway. Check the fixture list for the games scheduled in each division.
TIPPERARY GAA SCENE
Keep up to date with all that’s happening within the Premier County by checking out the website www.tipperary.gaa.ie Where possible as much information concerning all aspects pertaining to GAA within and involving the County will appear here going forward. If clubs or individuals wish to include items of interest in the future here, please email to pro.tipperary@gaa.ie on or before 9pm on Sunday night.
