Aherlow and Loughmore will represent Tipperary in Munster Club football finals

There may have been little to cheer about for Tipperary football followers in the past twelve months but the year has ended on a positive note for the game in the county, with Aherlow and Loughmore/Castleiney preparing for Munster Club finals this weekend.

Aherlow are first into action on Saturday, when they take on Kerry’s Austin Stacks in the Intermediate final in Mallow at 1pm.
Just over 24 hours later at the same venue, at 1.30 on Sunday, Loughmore will line up against another Kerry team, Dr Crokes of Killarney, in the Senior decider.

Aherlow qualified by virtue of their wins over Stradbally in the quarter-final, 1-12 to 1-7, and their 1-6 to 0-8 defeat of Wolfe Tones of Shannon in the semi-final.

The veteran Barry Grogan has been Aherlow’s talisman throughout the campaign, as they look forward to their first provincial final.

Fittingly, it was Grogan who kept his cool and pointed the free deep in injury time that finally broke Wolfe Tones’ resistance.
Ben Carey’s first half goal was also worth its weight in gold to the Tipperary champions.

The former Tipperary player is sure to be closely marked on Saturday so the team from the glen will need others such as Ben Carey (their goalscorer in the semi-final), Cathal Dillon, Diarmuid Looby, Raymond Hennessy, Mark Russell and Tadhg Carew to maintain their good form of recent games if they are to succeed.

The Kerry team will provide formidable opposition. In the semi-final they beat Cork team Kilshanning, who were reduced to just 14 players after just 60 seconds when Bill Curtin was dismissed.

He was followed to the sideline a quarter of an hour later by Stacks’ Paul O’Sullivan, who was also shown a straight red card.
Jack O’Shea was Stacks’ man of the match in their 1-12 to 0-6 win, while forwards Paddy Lane and Cian Purcell also impressed.

The referee on Saturday will be Niall Quinn of Clare.

Just a week after they were soundly beaten by Ballygunner in the senior hurling semi-final, Loughmore/Castleiney once again displayed their remarkable reserves of resilience and determination when they picked themselves off the floor to beat Eire Og Ennis by 3-9 to 2-7 in Cusack Park, Ennis to reach their first Munster football final in 51 years.

The McGraths, Ciaran Connolly, Willie Eviston, Liam Treacy and company will go to the well again on Sunday against Dr Crokes, who had a narrow 0-9 to 0-8 win over Rathgormack in the semi-final, when they scored just two points against a strong wind in the second half to reach their Munster final since 2018.

Tony Brosnan, Cian McMahon and David Shaw are among those who carry a considerable threat, so Loughmore will need to be at their best if they are to succeed.

Loughmore are the rank outsiders at 4/1, while Dr Crokes are 2/9.

However, as is always the case, you write Loughmore/Castleiney off at your peril.

SEE ALSO: Clonoulty/Rossmore and Holycross/Ballycahill set for showdown in County Under 21 A Hurling Championship final

The referee will be Cork’s Conor Lane and the game will be shown live on TG4.