Sarsfields make their boldest statement yet in Tipperary senior hurling championship

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After another feverish weekend of hurling activity, what were the headline items? I guess Sarsfields’ sweeping aside of Drom/Inch rates as the most noteworthy outcome. For drama it would have to be the Clonoulty/Toomevara clash. Otherwise, there were tight decisions but no major surprises to report.

Thurles Sarsfields were the pre-championship favourites. After the early rounds they slipped in rating but now, on the back of three successive and significant wins, their star has risen again.

This was the boldest statement yet by the Blues. I expected them to win on Sunday but only after Drom tested their mettle. Disappointingly, Seamie Callanan and company never laid a glove on them. It was a bloodless win and for neutral spectators it was a damp squib of a contest, so boring I was gone before Tony Cahill scored a late consolation goal for Drom.

Individually there’s plenty of talent on that Drom team but collectively they weren’t at the races. Sarsfields simply had too much movement and slickness. Rather surprisingly, they also had too much intent, the sight of Ronan Maher barging out and blowing opponents aside told you everything about what was happening in the game.

In their previous match Sarsfields had a dozen different shooters on the score card. This time they had eleven. It’s that range of scorers that makes it difficult to nail them down, especially when you’re not getting up close to hassle and harry. They could even afford the luxury or Aidan McCormack having an off-day on the frees.

How much of this was down to the power of Sarsfields or the poverty of Drom? Probably an element of both. We shouldn’t underestimate the physical capacity of this Sarsfields’ team either, as well as the skill element. In Denis Maher and Ronan Maher, you have two hefty pillars of defence, while Conor Stakelum and Billy McCarthy bring physicality to the attack also.

Then you have the movement and pace of a player like Stephen Cahill who hit five points on Sunday. It’s a potent mix that makes them formidable.

Last week I speculated on the likely winners of the quarter-finals and got the Dan Breen outcomes correct. However, three of those results could just as easily have gone the other way and what a weekend of upsets that would have been.

From an entertainment perspective the Clonoulty/Toomevara game certainly wasn’t short on spectacle, as it went to extra time and ultimately a two-point verdict for the north side. I missed much of the first half and with it, it seems, Clonoulty’s best spell of the match. By half time a six-point lead had been pulled back to just two and thereafter there was little separating them.

Toome’ were heavily reliant on the free-taking of Darragh McCarthy with his unique three-phase routine. It’s slow-paced but hugely effective. Their goals, however, were big items in this outcome. Substitute, Adam Hall, left his mark with two of the majors as well as the minor aspect of three points. It was a man-of-the-match contribution.

When the Greyhounds raced into a four-point lead in injury time it seemed decisive. However, Clonoulty showed admirable grit in refusing to bow. Michael Ryan pared the margin back to a goal with one of his six points – he’s often an unsung hero of this team.

Then came the drama. A late free was brought in front of the goal for some Toome’ indiscipline in hitting away the ball. Cathal Bourke’s free was saved but Conor Hammersley reacted superbly to whip home the rebound.

Clonoulty can have little complaint in the extra time. They slipped behind yet again, Kenny Ryan the finisher of Toome’s third goal. At five-down it was another job of retrieval for the west side, a job they tackled once more, chipping away until the margin was back to the minimum. Significantly, it was Adam Hall who closed matters out with the final flag.

It’s a worrying one for Clonoulty, who now face Brackens in a relegation semi-final. They were unfortunate to be in that group of death, which has ultimately led to this scenario. However, they’re a resilient lot who survived relegation before; I can still recall one of Declan Ryan’s final acts as a club player against Moycarkey many years ago. They can do it again.

In other games Kiladangan were hot favourites against Holycross but just about survived a very stiff examination by the mid side. It looked at times in the first half as if matters were going to run very much to plan. Billy Seymour was leading the Kiladangan attack and a Bryan McLoughney goal consolidated their position approaching half-time.

Holycross, however, closed out the half with a spectacular flourish. Ben Hennessy was fouled for a penalty, which Cathal Barrett fairly smashed to the roof of Barry Hogan’s net. Two minutes later, in injury time, Barrett set up David Fogarty for a second goal that sent the sides to the dressing rooms level.

It remained an intriguing game for the second half. Even when Billy Seymour landed a second goal for Kiladangan shortly after resuming, Holycross answered immediately with a like score from Jimmy Lahart. And so, it remained tit-for-tat for most of that second period.

The star of the show for me was Darragh Woods. He scored 0-10, with five of those points coming from play. However, it was the quality of some of those points that left one speechless in admiration - the speed of the wrists from the sideline, under pressure of time and space, was truly Eoin Kelly-esque. You won’t see better in Semple Stadium.

An upset was on the cards as we headed down the home straight but the final flourish came from Kiladangan. A Seymour free levelled and then Alan Flynn and again Seymour had the winners. Kiladangan’s greater experience saw them home.

Holycross won’t be despondent. Getting to this level represents a major step-up the ranks and with the underage system producing players of the quality of wing back Jim Ryan, they’re a club to watch in future years.

If Kiladangan struggled to justify favouritism, it was no different with Loughmore, who found Roscrea quite a handful in their quarter-final. An excellent first-half from the north team, with Luke Cashin superb on frees, gave the mid side endless trouble.

A Shane Fletcher goal had set the trend early on and Loughmore could be grateful for majors from John McGrath and Philip O’Connell, which kept the interval deficit down to five points.

With John McGrath leading the way, Loughmore got a grip in the second half and eventually went four-up near the end, which seemed like a secure margin. It wasn’t. Injury time points from Evan Fitzpatrick (two) and Keith McMahon had the gap back to the minimum and Loughmore were relieved to hear the final whistle.

The sight of Noel McGrath and Alan Tynan being substituted looked strange, though injury and illness, I’m told, were main factors.

Roscrea, like Holycross, will be pleased with their year overall. There’s a solid base to work on for the future. For Loughmore, much better is needed against Sarsfields in the semi-final.

Finally, Boherlahan had too much for Kickhams in the intermediate quarter-final played at Cashel. Missed goal chances by the winners kept the issue open for longer than the pattern of general play justified. Kickhams had a few chances too in the second half but, overall, they’ll know that they were second best on the day.

An item of controversy in the second half put the focus on the utter absurdity of having linesmen from the competing teams on duty in a match of such importance. An off-the-ball incident saw a Kickhams player yellow carded when clearly it should have been red.

It happened in front of a linesman but, in the circumstances, the referee had to consult his umpires instead. It’s no reflection on the linesmen, both reputable and respected referees, but placing them in such an invidious position is beyond ludicrous.