Lack of forward power apparent in early season defeat to Clare
Gradually the playing fields are beginning to hum with activity once again. On Tuesday of last week an amazing crowd turned up at floodlit Borrisoleigh for the Waterford Crystal clash with Clare. However, there was to be no winter cheer for the locals as the Banner showed a far sharper edge and deservedly progressed. Five days later they fell heavily to Waterford. It's that time of year when you tend to get such yo-yo results.
Meanwhile colleges' hurling has thrown up a lip-smacking attracting this coming Sunday when Thurles and Nenagh play a Harty semi-final at Templemore.
Three thousand was the reported attendance at Borrisoleigh last week. It was an extraordinary turn out on an icy Tuesday night in January. (By comparison only six and a half thousand paid into our '08 county final between Sarsfields and Toomevara). It just shows how the winter hibernation leaves us all longing for some real action once again. Perhaps it indicates too the buzz of expectation that surrounds Tipperary hurling as we face into the new decade following that narrow miss last September.
The fans won't have been overly encouraged by their visit to Borrisoleigh, though they'll be sensible not to read much into such season-openers. Clare's subsequent heavy fall to Waterford underlined the unpredictability of these games and even Kilkenny tasted defeat to Offaly in the Walsh Cup. The Tipperary players were involved in a boot camp in Cork a few days earlier.
Still I'm sure Liam Sheedy and company would have liked a win and a game with Waterford to further test some fringe players as we prepare for that league opener with the 'cats'. Instead the team played an internal challenge last Sunday and it looks now as if their only other game before the league will be an under-lights challenge with Dublin at St. Brigid's, Castlenock, on February 13. A proposed fixture with Offaly in aid of Haiti was scuppered by the latter's win over Kilkenny.
Anyway back to Borrisoleigh and quite a lively game for the time of year. Clare looked really sharp; they were 'up' for the contest, to quote the popular jargon of the moment. They chased everything in numbers, giving the Tipp lads little room, and then took their chances with great economy.
By contrast the Tipp machine looked blunt, especially at the attacking end where there was little cutting edge. We spent most of the game chasing a deficit. Four down at half time, we got back to two on Noel McGrath's goal, which gave the locals their only real cheer of the night. But the Banner refused to flag and in the final minutes closed out the contest with Jonathan Clancy knifing through for a rousing point.
Defensively we looked secure where Declan Fanning was typically unyielding at number three. Shane Maher too at wing caught attention with a strong display. Benny Dunne did a deal of hurling at midfield and in attack John O'Brien and Eoin Kelly were probably the best triers. Of the newer players I thought Gearoid Ryan did some useful things at midfield but Thomas Stapleton at centre back met a really tough challenge in John Conlon, Clare's best on the night.
The game probably underlined what we already know: the attack is our biggest challenge. Even the introduction of Noel McGrath, Lar Corbett, Shane McGrath and Micheal Webster failed to rescue this one. The most encouraging feature is probably the sight of Eoin Kelly looking trim and eager at this early stage of the year.
Encouraging too is the evidence that the management is keeping the panel flexible and keeping a watchful eye on others. Players like John O’Keeffe (Clonoulty), James Barry (Upperchurch) and Kevin Maher (Lorrha) have been brought in for recent training events. A trim looking Darragh Egan was involved last Sunday too. Goalies like Gerry Quinn (Upperchurch) and Bill McCormack (Sarsfields) have been deputising for the injured Darren Gleeson. I suspect we’ll see some panel changes during the spring; competition for places is really intense at the moment.
Meanwhile I have to finish what I started last week with my countywide survey of the top club contenders for 2010. As a follow up to last week I was immediately reminded that I left out Roscrea from my trip around the North. Actually they, as well as others such as Moneygall, were included under that all-embracing category ‘the rest’. Interesting, though, I didn’t know that Ollie Baker will do the coaching in Roscrea this year, which is something of a coup for the club. As part of Mike Mac’s team with Clare he was said to have had a very good relationship with the players, unlike the manager. Incidentally Roscrea have lost John Carroll who last year returned to his roots to play junior hurling with Knock.
The South division should be more exciting this year because Davins are now added to the mix following their intermediate win. With Ballybacon stepping up voluntarily in recent years the division now has a more viable championship than previously. Killenaule and Mullinahone will still probably be rated the top two.
Killenaule were last year going for a three-in-a-row in the South before being caught by Mullinahone in the final. Slowness to react to the Eoin Kelly threat was generally seen as critical on the day. It’s been a frustrating time for Killenaule who can’t seem to bring their South form beyond the divisional boundary. When you look at their underage achievements, capped by those county U21 titles of ’03 and ’04, it’s obvious that this is their golden generation, but they haven’t delivered on potential.
This year former player, Pat Fennelly, is set to take over control as manager in what many see as a crucial year for the club, crucial in the sense of how they react to last year’s disappointments in losing the South and then falling heavily to Toomevara in the county series.
The club’s profile has clearly been enhanced by their many representatives on county panels in recent years, Declan Fanning being their finest product of the lot. Yet local glory alone in the South will hardly set them apart from their predecessors. Even if they don’t win a county title they need to become realistic contenders. As a club they seem to suffer more internal angst than most and to me they seem tailor made for an outside personality to bring the type of cohesion that might optimise their obvious potential.
For Mullinahone ’09 was something of a revival year, even if it all eventually fell short in extra time against Upperchurch in the county quarter-final. An U21 ‘B’ county title in ’08 was their last significant county win. ’02 was their golden year but the team has been on a downward curve since then as the older players slipped away and the younger recruits weren’t up to the same standard.
This year Sean O’Regan, better known as All Ireland basketball coach at Scoil Ruain, Killenaule, takes over as manager and will be assisted by ex-player, Jackie Bolger. Team leadership obviously comes from the county stars, Eoin Kelly and Paul Curran, and they have a bright upcoming prospect in Sean Curran, surely the most exciting youngster to hit the scene in Mullinahone for many years. Whether those plus factors can compensate for deficits elsewhere is more doubtful. Now, if Paul Kelly should decide to return from O’Loughlin Gaels, then their prospects would indeed be enhanced.
The best in the West is undoubtedly Clonoulty and Rossmore – very important to include the latter half! They’ve been the dominant underage force in the division for some time now and will this year be chasing a four-in-a-row at senior level, something they previously only achieved once, back in the thirties when the division was in its infancy. Yet despite such promise their last county senior win was in 1997 and they were disappointing losers to Toomevara in last year’s quarter-final.
T.J. Ryan, winning captain of their 1989 breakthrough year at county level, will remain as manager for the coming year alongside coach, Conor Gleeson, the Tipperary senior captain in those ill-fated clashes with Clare in l997. Given Western dominance, Clonoulty will expect to impact at county level – they were luckless against Sarsfields in the ’08 semi-final – though last year’s experience against Toome’ was an uncomfortable one. John Devane keeps the parish name on the county team sheet and John O’Neill has now been added. However, O’Neill this week goes for surgery on a knee problem sustained in the county U21 final against Sarsfields and Clonoulty will be keeping fingers crossed as they await the prognosis on that.
Elsewhere in the West there’s a proposed new combination this year between Galtee Rvs. and Sean Treacys. The last successful combo’ brought Golden and Eire Og together in ’04 when they went all the way to a very creditable county final showing against Toomevara. Cappawhite and Kickhams are probably rated the strongest opposition to Clonoulty at the moment. Both clubs have this year opted for home-grown managers drawn from the ranks of ex-players: Franny Quinn in Cappawhite and Kevin Farrell in Kickhams. They’ll hope to revive their teams’ prospects, though from this perspective Clonoulty seem to be in pole position.
So when you sum it all up Sarsfields top the pile with Toomevara heading the chasing group. After that we must wait to see who emerges from a pack of five or six credible challengers. The rest will be hoping for progress rather than prizes.
Before leaving the clubs an interesting issue still to be addressed is that of county team captain, now that the old system has finally been abandoned. Conor O’Mahony shared the role last year with Willie Ryan. The Newport man will probably still be a contender but others being mentioned are Eoin Kelly, who shared with Paul Ormond in ’08 and Declan Fanning, seen as one with strong leadership qualities in that defence. With Eoin Kelly showing such strong early season appetite perhaps he’ll be favourite; he certainly gave leadership when it mattered most last summer.
Finally a brief word on that upcoming Harty semi-final at Templemore on Sunday between the Christian brothers’ schools of Thurles and Nenagh. It’s a real local derby highlight for Tipperary followers and I’d expect a large attendance. In a group round Thurles were masters by a comfortable margin, though that might have little bearing on Sunday. Nenagh certainly hammered out a most impressive result in the quarter-final against De la Salle. Still as holders, and masters of Flannan’s in their quarter-final, Thurles will be the fancied to take another step in defence of their crown. St. Caimin’s and Ard Scoil Ris play the second semi at Meelick, also on Sunday.
P.S. I’ll be blacklisted in Upperchurch for not mentioning their DVD ‘Hurling in the Hills’ which was launched before Christmas. It’s definitely pencilled in for some comment next week.
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Weather for Clonmel
Saturday 04 February 2012
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