Cashel King Cormacs are exactly where they want to be after a lot of work and preparation

“It is where we wanted to be at the start of the year,” says TJ Connolly, the Cashel King Cormacs manager as he reflects on the year so far and this Sunday’s County Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship final  against Carrick Swan at FBD Semple Stadium (1.30).

“It is a long way to get here. A lot of work, a lot of preparation and a bit of luck as well so we are absolutely delighted”.
Across the season Cashel brought in some new players to freshen up the team, which was necessary as some players were on county duty early in the season.

“In our league campaign we were short a few lads who were away with the inter- county teams.

“We blooded a few young players and gave lads an opportunity to get onto the team and on the panel because we knew we needed a big panel to come through the whole year with the league and championship,” says TJ.

“We have built a nice squad,” he says, reflecting on the impetus the younger players have provided, with a number of Harty Cup- winning teenagers comfortably making the step-up  to Premier Intermediate level.

“There are a lot of young boys in the team like David McGrath, Oisin O’Donoghue, Ronan (Connolly) and others. To get them to this level hasn’t happened overnight, as there has been a lot of work done with Cashel underage teams and with Seanie O’Donoghue as chairman of the juvenile club, so brilliant foundations have been made.

“In the primary school the principal is Will Ryan for the last ten or twelve years, so you need to take it from the juvenile club level and primary school level and secondary through to our level.

“We are in a good place at the minute but we are heading into the final against  a good Carrick Swan team”.

TJ, who coached the Swans a number of years ago, said that he has nothing but praise for the club from his time with the Carrick-On-Suir team: “It is a great place to go. They love their hurling.

“It is a real passion down there with the Swans and the Davins loving their Tipperary hurling, so they are going to come with all their flair on the day of the final and they will bring some support.

“They will come in their droves and look, I will wish them the best and they will wish us the best and the best team on the day will win the county final,” TJ says.

It has been a long time since Cashel played senior hurling, so the passion to get back to the top is strong. TJ Connolly was part of the last Cashel team to win the county final and he will leave no stone unturned to get back there.

“We were there for years but we are gone a good few years now. We want to be in the Dan Breen Cup and play against the likes of Loughmore and the Sarsfields. It is not an easy grade to survive in .

“Lorrha survived and they had two marvellous years with Ken Hogan, winning the intermediate and premier intermediate before going up senior.

“The levels and the intensity have to be top notch. We would love to win the county final. We would love to get back up but Swan will be the same so it is all to play for,” he says. And so say all of us.