by PRO Joe Bracken
ALLIANZ HURLING LEAGUE
It is mission accomplished at this stage of the Allianz Hurling League for the Tipperary senior hurling management whose stated intent at the outset was to qualify for the quarter final stages at the very least. Following a comprehensive 2-27 to 2-15 victory over Cork in the final round on Sunday last in Semple Stadium the route forward has been mapped out following results elsewhere.
Capping off a wonderful Man of the Match display, Ballina’s Michael Breen notched up 1-4 from midfield while Niall O’Meara from Kilruane MacDonaghs scored Tipperary’s opening goal, ending up with 1-1 in total.
Last Sunday, saw a welcome return to action for Seamus Callanan from Drom & Inch after his recent injury worries, while Kieran Morris from Moycarkey-Borris and Willie Ryan from Clonakenny made their league debuts making it nine debutantes in total so far in the league for Tipperary as manager Michael Ryan gives lads a chance to nail down a place in his ever developing squad.
In the first round of the league against Dublin, Michael handed Daire Quinn (Nenagh Éire Óg) and Dan McCormack (Borris Ileigh) their full debut, while Dylan Fitzelle (Cashel King Cormacs), Joe Gallagher (Kiladangan) and Liam Ryan (Drom & Inch) also made their debut when introduced in the second half of that match. Against Kilkenny in round two Andrew Coffey (Nenagh Éire Óg) made his league debut also coming on in the second half, while Barry Heffernan again from Nenagh Éire Óg was handed his league debut at right half back starting against Waterford in round three.
Finishing fourth in the league, with 2 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw, Tipperary’s scoring dividend for the 5 round matches was 5-107, making them the only team in Roinn 1A to break the century mark in this campaign with points scored and also giving the panel a scoring point’s difference of plus 20, eight ahead of their next nearest.
All this equates to a visit to Cusack Park, Ennis on Sunday, April 3rd to meet Roinn 1B table toppers Clare which is now the immediate fixture on the Tipperary radar as management focuses the cross hairs on mapping a route for further progression in the league. Should a favourable result come our way in Ennis, a semi-final berth against Kilkenny or Offaly on April 17th would be the reward, however, more of that anon.
ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE
The Tipperary senior footballers face Kildare this Saturday March 26th in their penultimate round (round 6) in the Allianz Football League Roinn 3 in Clonmel Sportsfield with throw in at 2pm.
Needing a result in both their final games to keep their promotion interests very much alive, Tipperary will know what to expect from Kildare who are still shading proceedings by 2 points from the chasing pack of four which includes Tipperary.
Best wishes to the team led by Peter Acheson on Saturday and we call on all supporters to attend in large numbers to support the side in this must win encounter. With the final game away to Sligo the team need as much support as possible to help them and encourage them on this weekend. The referee for this tie is Noel Mooney from Cavan, who incidentally refereed last years All Ireland Minor football semi-final between Tipperary and Kildare in Croke Park.
COUNTY FIXTURES
The first phase of second round matches in the County Senior Hurling Challenge Cup took place last weekend starting with a four point win for Thurles Sarsfields away to Kilruane MacDonaghs on Saturday afternoon making it two wins for Sars so far. Nenagh Eire Óg also notched up their second win with 2 points to spare over Kiladangan in Puckane. Templederry Kenyons on the road in O’Sullivan Park got their campaign back on track with victory over Ballingarry who have yet to register a win. Ballina bounced back from their opening round loss by inflicting a second defeat on Lorrha-Dorrha in Lorrha. Éire Óg Annacarty-Donohill had one point to spare in recording their second win, this time against Roscrea in Cappawhite. Elsewhere, Toomevara inflicted a heavy defeat to the home side Borris-Ileigh to also make it two out of two. Goals win matches and that was the difference between Burgess and Mullinahone as Burgess claimed victory with their second win on the trot, this time in Kilcolman. Finally, Holycross-Ballycahill continued their good form with four to spare over Moyne-Templetuohy in a Mid pairing in Templetuohy.
The County Intermediate Hurling League is also at round 2 stage and saw wins recorded last weekend for Moycarkey-Borris who defeated Golden-Kilfeacle by one point, Sean Treacy’s proved too strong for Boherlahan-Dualla while Moyle Rovers had 1-3 to spare over neighbours Kilsheelan-Kilcash and Cashel King Cormacs had a goal advantage over Carrick Davins.
The next round of matches take place this week, for times, venues and a full round up of all fixtures and results across the Premier County please view the county website at https://tipperary.gaa.ie
APRIL TIPPERARY GAA DRAW
The final Tipperary GAA Clubs Draw in the current scheme will be held Friday week April 1st in The Half-Way Lounge, Rathronan with the Moyle Rovers GAA Club. This is a free draw for all those who have completed nine months membership with the same monthly prize fund including two Skoda cars. John Heffernan, Woodroffe, Clonmel will receive his €15k cheque won as first prize in the March draw in Portroe.
The draw committee are presently finalising the club’s personalised draw brochures over the next few days. Information for these brochures should be sent by email to tippdraw.tipperary@gaa.ie before this Friday and should include, an introduction message from the main club officers, pictures of winning club teams and achievements during 2015 with captions, pictures and details of any club development plus future proposals, and any other relevant information. Club officers should give their immediate attention to this as it is vital in order to have the new brochures available early in April.
PADDY BUGGY CUP
Best wishes to Abbey CBS who meet St. Louis GS, Ballymena in the final of the Masita GAA All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Senior ‘B’ Hurling Paddy Buggy Cup on Easter Monday next in Semple Stadium Thurles. Abbey have had narrow escapes on route to the final, their semi-final win over Colaiste Mhuire Johnstown saw them just over the line by the slenderest of margins. And though they won the Tom Collum Cup in the Munster Final against Mitchelstown CBS with plenty to spare, they were pushed all the way in the Munster semi-final as extra time was needed to see off the challenge of Glanmire CC. With a great blend of experience in the side, all attention will be focused on Semple Stadium next Monday, March 28th at 2:15pm for throw in.
Hopefully previous experience will stand to the Abbey as they are two time winners having tasted success at the grade in 1992 and 2002. This game will act as the curtain-raiser to the Croke Cup Final between St. Kieran’s will now play Ardscoil Ris of Limerick in what is an attractive hurling double-header.
HANDBALL
It was a big weekend for Handball in Kingscourt in Cavan where all the 40×20 Singles finals were played and also the Juvenile Singles & Doubles. Tipperary were only involved in one Final where Billy Mullins from Clonmel had a convincing win over Columba Holleran from Mayo winning 21/14, 21/4 to win the DMBS title. Congratulations to Billy on his great achievement and for keeping the Blue and Gold flag flying.
BIRTHDAY WISHES
Congratulations to Jennie Barrett, grandmother of Tipperary hurling star Cathal Barrett from Holycross-Ballycahill as she celebrated her 100th birthday recently. We wish continued good health and happiness to Jeannie.
LÁ NA gCLUBANNA
In 2016, the GAA plans to celebrate the importance of your club in your community. Lá na gClubanna will take place on Sunday, 8th May, 2016. All counties have been instructed to keep the morning and afternoon fixture free to enable all members to fully participate in this event.
This is an opportunity for the GAA to highlight the important role of members, players, supporters’ and families in our Association and for the local community to have fun. It will also provide clubs with an opportunity to engage with potential new members. Every member of the GAA should mark this special day of celebration by participating at events in their Club which is the real driver and engine of the GAA.
To register for the Lá na gClubannna Toolkit visit http://www.gaa.ie/news/gclubanna/
FÉILE NA NGAEL
This June, the Féile na nGael tournament comprising of hurling, camogie and handball will take place in Tipperary and Waterford. Following the inception of Féile na nGael in 1971 when hosted by Tipperary, this tournament has gone from strength to strength with over 6,000 boys and girls under the age of 14 taking part each summer.
The 2016 Féile na nGael tournament will take place from Friday June 17th to Sunday June 19th and a number of clubs in Tipperary and Waterford will be given the task of hosting visiting teams as part of the Féile weekend. Such arrangements have been commonplace for years and tight bonds between clubs and individual families have been the legacy of this great tournament since its inception
Preparations are at an advanced stage with a Féile organising committee led by Chairman Donal Shanahan (Tipperary) and Secretary Patricia Walsh (Waterford) working to ensure the weekend is organised professionally and thus ensuring maximum enjoyment for the clubs, mentors, officials, parents and most importantly the children involved.
Participating clubs should note that a Club Information Night is scheduled for the Clonmel Park Hotel on Wednesday March 30th at 8pm where clubs will get further details of what will be involved in addition to being informed of the counties each club will be hosting this June.
HEALTHY CLUB PROJECT
A reminder that Nenagh Éire Óg Healthy Club Project is on this Wednesday March 23rd at 7.30pm as the club are hosting a health and well-being night in the Abbey Court Hotel. A talk entitled “Minding the body, minding the mind” will be given by Dr. Fergus Heffernan, PhD who is a renowned psychologist and psychotherapist and a leading educator in the area of stress management and how it relates to our mental health. Adm. €5.00 and all are welcome.
TIPPERARY SUPPORTERS CLUB
The Tipperary Supporters Club for 2016 is now available and at €30 per person it is unchanged again this year. The Tipperary Supporters Club are delighted to announce that the member’s gift in 2016 will be a trolley coin keyring, 43 mm x 33 mm, featuring The Tipperary Supporters Club Official Logo.
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. If joining by post please send a cheque or postal order payable to Tipperary Supporters Club to Jim Reidy, 13 Castleknock Close, Dublin 15 or 086-3580718, email: info@tippsupportersclub.com
TIPPERARY GAA SCENE
Information concerning all areas in the GAA will appear in this section in the future. If you wish to include any item of interest in future articles, please e-mail at pro.tipperary@gaa.ie on or before 3.00pm on Monday. Visit the Tipperary GAA web site at https://tipperary.gaa.ie to keep up to date with all the latest news in Tipperary GAA circles.
