LONG READ: Trip to Nowlan Park will be a real test for Tipperary hurlers

Tipperary and Kilkenny in a hurling contest is always a tasty prospect. Tradition alone ensures that there is a special edge to the rivalry. Neither county is top of the hurling pile at the moment but that won’t diminish the appeal of their clash at Nowlan Park on Sunday (throw-in 1.15).

For Tipperary the task is to maintain their momentum in the current league, a momentum which sees the team still top of the table on score difference. For Kilkenny, the incentive is perhaps a tad more urgent, as they sit mid-table, following two wins and two defeats.

Intriguingly, as we approach the final few rounds of the series it’s still all to play for with numerous permutations possible. Wexford’s situation looks hopeless, even in the unlikely event that they win their final game at the Gaelic Grounds. Otherwise, the table is full of possibilities.

Another win for Tipperary would put the team in a strong position to make the final but there are so many ifs and buts in the group that it’s pointless even speculating. Ironically, Clare’s win over Limerick last Sunday might be bad news for Tipperary if the Banner come to Thurles for their final round needing the points to avoid relegation.

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Interestingly, Tipperary are going for three-in-a-row league wins against Kilkenny on Sunday following successes at Nowlan Park in 2023 (2-24 to 1-21) and Semple Stadium in 2022 (1-19 to 1-18). Historically, there’s been little between the counties in previous league clashes: the counties met on 74 past occasions, with Tipperary holding a marginal 34/33 edge; there were seven draws.

This Tipperary/Kilkenny rivalry dominated the hurling scene for around a decade during the Cody era but those days are now consigned to history. Actually, there’s a similarity between the counties in that both are struggling to find replacements for the generational hurlers who went before them. Kilkenny have a few survivors, such as TJ Reid and Eoin Murphy, but the upcoming talent hasn’t been of the Shefflin quality. It’s been a similar story with Tipperary where legends like Paudie Maher, Seamie Callanan and company have not been replaced.

Despite that, Kilkenny have remained relevant to the national hurling scene in a manner that Tipperary haven’t. In part it has been facilitated by competing in a weaker province. This year, for example, Kilkenny chase a sixth Leinster title on the trot. During that five-year period since 2019 they’ve contested two All-Ireland finals and three semi-finals. By contrast, Tipperary’s last visit to Croke Park was in 2019.

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In the league also Kilkenny have been competitive. In the past five years they’ve won the league in 2021 (shared with Galway) and lost finals in 2023 and 2024. It’s a record we can’t match in Tipperary.

In other areas, however, there is ample evidence that Kilkenny’s supply lines have faltered in the past decade. Their last minor All-Ireland win was in 2014 while in the meantime they’ve lost four national finals: 2018, 2019 and 2020 to Galway and 2024 to Tipperary.Despite the bonus of winning Leinster at ease, doing five-in-a-row from 2020 to 2024, it hasn’t smoothed the way to national success.

At Under 20 level they last won the title in 2022, defeating a Limerick team minus Cathal O’Neill. It’s unprovable, of course, but the consensus is that O’Neill would likely have made the difference that day in Semple Stadium had he been allowed play.
Significantly, Kilkenny have got very little senior return from that 2022 team, whereas Limerick’s reserve panel is packed with players from that defeated Under 20 side. Once again, winning underage is secondary to developing future seniors.

One expects minimal change on the Tipperary lineout from that which mastered Cork the last day. Continuity is a stated policy of the manager and, in any case, we’re not well stocked with talent waiting to burst onto the scene.
With limited resources the team has made an impressive start to the league, one which has given the county a renewed buzz. One suspects we’ve had a head start on others but that advantage is likely to dissipate as teams catch up and get key players back in action. Sunday should be a real test of our newfound hopefulness.

Well, that beats Banagher, is a well-known phrase but I’ve never heard a plausible explanation of its origin. Everyone has heard it but nobody knows its genesis. The home of Offaly club, St Rynagh’s, is forever linked to the expression.
Anyway, Thurles CBS survived something of a scare at the same Banagher venue on Saturday last before pushing on in the final quarter to secure a four-point win over Claregalway side, Colaiste Bhaile Chlair, in the semi-final of the Dr Croke Cup. The CBS now face another Galway team, Presentation College Athenry, in the final at Croke Park on Paddy’s Day.

Favouritism can often be a burden and Thurles CBS seemed to be suffering the weight of expectations as they struggled to come to terms with a physically strong Claregalway fifteen. The Connacht runners-up suffered a fifteen-point whipping from Presentation Athenry in the provincial final, so hopes of further progress must have been muted, though they were buoyed by a rousing win over Kilkenny CBS in the quarter-final.

Conditions at this time of year can often be a great leveller. A heavy surface can slow the game, with plenty of arm-wrestling where physical strength can sometimes trump skill. It takes grit and perseverance to dig out a win in those conditions and the CBS needed all those qualities to come through this particular test.
The teams were level at half time, 0-9 apiece, with lots of wayward shooting from both sides. At the three-quarter stage it was still in the balance with Thurles just about edging it, 0-14 to 0-12.

However, the last quarter saw the CBS finally put daylight between the teams with match-winning scores coming from the likes of Robbie Ryan, Euan Murray and Cormac Fitzpatrick. Perseverance had finally won the day and Thurles were through to the decider for the first time since losing to St Kieran’s back in 2015.

One match report on the game credited (discredited?) the CBS with 19 wides over the hour. Give or take a digit, it’s still huge wastage, which was hopefully a once-off aberration from a side noted for its skill. Similar prodigality in the final could be very costly.Thurles CBS won their only Croke Cup back in 2009 when they edged out Good Counsel College from New Ross. James Barry was captain. They lost a replay to De La Salle of Waterford the previous year, so this will be the school’s fourth-ever final appearance.

The latter stages of this year’s competition haven’t panned out as might have been expected. Following the Harty Cup final a common comment was that you haven’t seen the last of St Flannan’s in this competition. Yet Presentation Athenry put the Ennis school out in the quarter-final. The margin there was five points; Thurles won the Harty by three. That form line would suggest there might be little between this year’s finalists.

With Flannan’s gone, the other big hitter in the race was St Kieran’s, the runaway leaders on the roll of honour with 25 successes. However, the Leinster champions fell to Presentation Athenry at the weekend, falling well behind early on and unable to claw back the deficit sufficiently.

The final then will be a novel event. Presentation have never won the Croke Cup, losing three of the last five deciders to St Kieran’s. Having finally shaken that hoodoo they’ll probably feel this is their turn. Beating Flannan’s and Kieran’s in successive games is quite an achievement so they come to the decider with powerful credentials. Hopefully, the CBS can spoil their party on St Patrick’s Day.