Tipperary GAA Scene – Tuesday 11th December

By PRO Joe Bracken

COUNTY CONVENTION

The County Convention is the main event this weekend and will be held on Sunday next December 17th in The Dome starting at 4pm. The convention brings to an end the successful tenure of Michael Bourke (Upperchurch-Drombane) as chairman when he hands over the reins to incoming chairman John Devane (Boherlahan-Dualla).

Among the order of business will be the election of new vice-chairman which will see a contest between Joe Kennedy (Moyne-Templetuohy) and Jimmy Minogue (Nenagh Éire Óg).

The following are other remaining dates for the diary; this Wednesday December 13th – deferred South Board Convention in GAA Centre, Clonmel at 8:15pm and Co. Bord na nÓg Convention in Horse & Jockey. Then on Tuesday January 9th – Tipp Supporters Club AGM will be held in the Anner Hotel Thurles.

COUNTY U21 HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP

Due to adverse weather conditions on Sunday the Tipperary Water County U21 A Hurling Championship final between Holycross-Ballycahill and Kiladangan fixed for Templederry was postponed and is refixed for the same venue this Saturday, December 16th at 1:30pm.

COUNTY HURLING LEAGUES

Congratulations to Ballybacon-Grange who ended their season on a high following their Tipperary Water County Hurling League Division 5 final win over Knockshegowna last Saturday on a score line of 0-16 to 1-9.

COUNTY MINOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Congratulations also to Kilruane MacDonaghs who won the Tipperary Water County Minor B Football Championship by defeating Moyne Templetuohy-Thurles Gaels 2-11 to 1-3 in the final.

MUNSTER JUNIOR FOOTBALL

The Munster Junior B Football Semi Final between Cashel King Cormacs and Cromane (Kerry) to be played in Knockaderry, Limerick last Sunday also fell victim to the weather and will not now be played until sometime in January 2018, the date of which will be confirmed to both clubs in due course.

TIPPERARY SENIOR HURLING CHALLENGE

With nine of the senior hurling panel on All-Star duties an experimental Tipperary side were very impressive in defeating Laois in an inter-county hurling challenge match in Kiladangan GAA Grounds last Saturday. Some excellent Tipperary performances were noted as the panel continues preparations ahead of their league opener away to Clare at the end of January. Ger Browne (Knockavilla-Donaskeigh Kickhams) was Tipp’s leading scorer with 3-7 (3-2 from play) where Tipp were easy winners 3-27 to 0-12. Great credit and thanks is due to the organisers of the day and special mention to former Tipp star Darragh Egan who had the school children out in force with the school band providing entertainment for spectators in the stand and also an U14 match before the main event and an U6 interval match.

TIPPERARY SENIOR FOOTBALL CHALLENGE

Tipperary will play Limerick on Saturday next December 16th in a senior football challenge in Golden at 2pm as they continue preparations for Division 2 of the Allianz Football League. Last weekend an understrength Tipp side played Galway in a challenge match with the Tribesmen coming out on top 2-16 to 1-11.

MUNSTER AWARDS

Congratulations to John Costigan (JK Brackens) on receiving a Munster Distinguished Service Award at the Munster GAA awards ceremony held in Cork last Saturday night, John has had a distinguished GAA career both as a player and administrator, commencing with winning Rice Cup medals with Templemore CBS before going on to win County Junior Football and Hurling medals with his native Clonakenny. John played hurling at all grades with Tipperary, winning Munster Senior and Under 21, National League, Oireachtas, Railway Cup and Intermediate All-Ireland medals.

On joining the teaching staff of Templemore CBS, John threw himself into the organisation of Gaelic Games at the school and was associated with an astonishing 53 winning teams including the Harty and Croke Cups in 1978. On the formation of the JK Brackens Club in 1992 John became its first Chairman, later becoming Chairman of Tipperary County Board in 2006 and subsequently serving on the Munster Council, Central Council and the GAA’s Central Management Committee. He is currently a member of the national Competitions Control Committee, the Fixtures Monitoring Committee and Semple Stadium Management Committee. John is pictured below with county chairman Michael Bourke.

Four Tipperary referees also received their medals having taken charge of Munster finals this year. Congratulations to Fergal Horgan (Knockavilla-Donaskeigh Kickhams) – Senior Hurling Final, Philip Kelly (Ballinahinch) – Under 25 Hurling Final and Senior Hurling League Final, Sean Lonergan (Moyle Rovers) – Junior Football Final and Junior Football Club Final and Kevin Jordan (Thurles Gaels) – Under 17 Hurling Final.

Thumbs up for Tipperary referees as Kevin Jordan and Sean Lonergan left line out with Marty Morrissey, master of ceremonies at Munster GAA Awards in Fota resort last weekend.

TIPPERARY GAA CLUB ALL COUNTY MATCH PASS 2018

The match pass for 2018 is currently on sale at the price of €120. This pass gives you access to all adult matches within the County during 2018. Passes can be ordered through the GAA Office Slievenamon Rd., Thurles or by contacting 0504 22702 where you can pay over the phone. You are advised to purchase tickets before Wednesday, December 20th to ensure pre-Christmas delivery.

RETIREMENT

Kieran Bergin (Killenaule) last week called time on his inter-county career. Reaching the highlight of an All-Ireland senior hurling medal in 2016 Kieran also won two senior Munster Championship medals in 2015 and 2016 as well as a Munster minor hurling medal in 2003. After last year’s hurling league campaign Kieran linked up with the Tipp footballers where he featured against Cork and Cavan. A great servant for club and county, we send best wishes and thanks to Kieran for his contribution to Tipperary’s cause.

POST PRIMARY ACTION

In round 3 of the Dr. Harty Cup Group D last week Thurles CBS saw off the challenge of Nenagh CBS 2-13 to 2-11 to progress to the last 8, joining Our Lady’s Templemore as group winners. The Harty Cup quarter-final draw which will be held this Wednesday, December 13th at 8:15pm where group winners will be drawn to play group runners-up with no repeat pairings.

The group winners are – Ardscoil Ris, Our Lady’s Templemore, Coláiste Cholmáin Fermoy and Thurles CBS. The runners-up are – Midleton CBS, CBC Cork, John the Baptist CS and Gaelcholáiste Mhuire.

The Croke Cup U15 Hurling final between Nenagh CBS and Thurles CBS will be played this Wednesday, December13th at 1:30pm in Dolla.

TIPPERARY COUNTY BOARD DRAW

The December Tipperary GAA Draw took place last Thursday, in Berties Bar Dundrum at 10pm in conjunction with the West Board Convention and Knockavilla Donaskeigh Kickhams who hosted the draw. Congratulations to all winners on the night where first prize of a Skoda Octavia or €15,000 went to Martin Flynn whose ticket was sold by Portroe, while second prize of a Florida family holiday or €5,000 went to Adrian Brocheir with Lorrha-Dorrha the promoting club here.

TIPPERARY GAA YEARBOOK 2018

The latest instalment in the Tipperary GAA Yearbook collection is now on sale. As with previous editions the yearbook covers all aspects of GAA affairs in the past year within the county and is certain to be a stocking filler in many households. Priced again at €10 it provides great reading over the weeks and months ahead.

Again, to remind readers all past issues of the Tipperary GAA yearbook have been digitised by the Tipperary Library Studies department and all previous forty-eight issues from 1965 to 2016 are now online. The collection may be viewed at the following link; http://tipperarystudies.ie/digitisation-project/tipperary-gaa-yearbooks/

ALL-STAR TRIP

The hurling All-Stars have just concluded a trip to Singapore and included Tipperary 2016 All-Star winners Padraic Maher (Thurles Sarsfields), Ronan Maher (Thurles Sarsfields), Seamus Callanan (Drom & Inch), Cathal Barrett (Holycross-Ballycahill), James Barry (Upperchurch-Drombane), John McGrath (Loughmore-Castleiney), Patrick Maher (Lorrha-Dorrha) while Brendan Maher (Borris-Ileigh) and Noel McGrath (Loughmore-Castleiney) were called into the 2017 All-Star team as replacements.

The 2016 team was managed by Michael Ryan (Upperchurch-Drombane) while the 2017 team was managed by Liam Sheedy (Portroe) in the absence of Micheál Donoghue.

Fergal Horgan (Knockavilla-Donaskeigh Kickhams) refereed what turned out to be a 9 a-side game with rolling substitutions due to the confines of the field available. Also hampered by traffic on a busy road behind one of the goals no points were allowed in what was a goals only match which left the result reading as follows, 2017 All-Stars 30-0 2016 All-Stars 23-0.

PUBLICATIONS

Included among a number of GAA books at present are recent publications of great Tipperary interest which would make ideal Christmas gifts.

Premier Legends – a new book written by Tipperary Star journalist Noel Dundon which focuses on the careers of 17 Tipperary hurling greats and The Thurles Sarsfields GAA Story-Volume 1, an insightful new book for all GAA supporters covering the clubs history from 1884 to 1959 and written by Liam Ó Donnchú are available in Lar na Páirce, Thurles and local bookshops.

TIPPERARY SUPPORTERS CLUB MEMBERSHIP

The Tipperary Supporters Club launched their 2018 Membership Scheme last Friday, December 1st. The 2018 membership pack includes the following benefits:

A specially-designed Tipperary Supporters Club cap All members are entered into a prize draw for championship match tickets for all Tipperary Senior games. A membership card with which you can avail of a 10% discount in the Tipperary GAA Shop Lár na Páirce 2018 Car Sticker Text alerts for all League and Championship team news Regular news to your email about all the latest in Tipperary GAA circles

New this year – Tipperary Supporters Club members will be eligible to vote for the official 2018 Tipperary Senior Hurler of the Year award at the end of next season.

Tipperary Supporters Club sincerely thank all members for their continued support and are looking forward to a successful 2018 for Tipperary hurling.
FRIENDS OF TIPPERARY FOOTBALL MEMBERSHIP

The Friends of Tipperary Football are now selling membership for 2018 and once again it is a very reasonable €20.

Membership enters each supporter into the following draws: Two All-Ireland Final Football tickets 2018 Two All-Ireland Final Hurling tickets 2018 Two Tickets for each Tipperary Senior Football Championship matches 2018 Two All-Ireland Club Final tickets 2018 Two Allianz National Football League tickets for each Tipperary League match in 2018

Plus, all members will receive an exclusive car sticker.

If you would like to join online you can do so at http://www.friendsoftipperaryfootball.com/join/ or contact any Friends of Tipperary Football committee member.

DOME CONCERT           

“Reeling In the Showband Years” comes to Thurles for the first time.

The Ronan Collins Showband Show “Reeling In the Showband Years” has been a smash hit for the past 8 years, and event organisers are delighted to say it comes to Thurles for the very first time when Thurles Lions Club in association with the Tipperary Supporters Club proudly presents this terrific show in The Dome at Semple Stadium, on Friday, December 29th.

Tickets are now on sale at: Eason’s (Thurles Shopping Centre); Hickeys Chemist (Liberty Square, Thurles); Ryan’s Daughter Restaurant (Thurles); any Thurles Lions Club Member and online at: http://www.tippsupportersclub.com/reeling-in-the-showband-years/

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-mailpro.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.