Cracking game in prospect as Tipperary and Offaly meet in All-Ireland minor hurling final

With few other distractions by way of inter-county activity, the divisions have found space for their club championships - a space that might not exist in other years. There’s a lull before the county championships commence, with divisional senior hurling kicking off at the weekend, where there were some interesting results.
In the mid reigning champions, Thurles Sarsfields, are out of the hunt after Upperchurch Drombane pulled off a rare and rousing win at Templemore on Saturday. A late free by Gavin Ryan did the trick.
In the post-Paudie Maher era Sarsfields have a less imposing look about them and in fairness to Upperchurch they’ve often pushed the Thurles side very close on occasions, so this outcome was, perhaps, no great surprise. I suspect the ‘Church like playing Sars and this win will be a deserved compensation for near misses in the past. The task now is to make it a springboard for further progress.
Elsewhere in the mid a depleted Loughmore Castleiney came up short against Drom/Inch in a game played over in Templetuohy. The losers were minus Connollys and McGraths for the task. Injury has John McGrath sidelined for the season and Noel was serving his one-match ban from the Munster club semi-final last year against Ballygunner. Drom obviously availed of the absentees to progress to the semis.
I saw the Holycross/Moycarkey game where a decent crowd was treated to an exciting contest at Boherlahan. A strong finish by Moycarkey did the business here, after the strangest of scores tied up the match with about ten minutes to play.
Picture the scene. Holycross trailed by five at half-time having faced a strong wind. With about ten minutes to play in the second period they had pared the lead back to just three points and it was very much game on. Then came a score like I’ve never seen before.
Moycarkey goalie, Rhys Shelly, came outfield to hit a free that eventually ended with a wide. Before the ‘keeper could track back to his post Holycross custodian, Ewan Bourke, launched a booming, wind-aided puckout that carried all the way to the Moycarkey goalmouth and eluded a forward and defender to end up in the unguarded net.
It’s the first time I’ve seen a goalie find the net directly from a puckout. The wind, of course, was a factor but it was still a monster hit, travelling around 160 yards, I reckon.
It was the score that set the game up for a riveting finish. Suddenly the tempo - and the temperature - rose. A brief scuffle in front of the stand was the spark that ignited affairs. Not quite on a par with what we saw in Croke Park on Sunday, though one or two individuals were fortunate to escape sanction.
Moycarkey seemed to take most from the scuffle because from there to the end they bossed the game. In the last eight minutes or so they outscored Holycross 0-5 to 0-1 despite facing into the wind.
It was an exciting contest, though of modest standard. The forward play in particular was poor, though we did get a flurry of scores at the start of the second half. Holycross drew first blood with a Joe Caesar goal but the benefit was lost immediately when Kieran Morris set up Kieran Cummins for a cancelling score at the other end.
Holycross were without their two key players in Bryan O’Mara and Cathal Barrett, though the latter did come in late in the hour.For Moycarkey it sets up an enticing semi-final tie with Drom/Inch; Upperchurch and JK Brackens complete the pairings.

One Tipperary village remembers the 1987 All-Ireland minor with mixed feelings

Meanwhile, a big hurling weekend is on the horizon, with All-Ireland semi-finals topping the bill. For Tipperary the focus will be on the minor final, where the side faces Offaly in a bid for a first win since 2016.
The senior semis showcase the best four still standing after a championship that had a real highlight in the Munster final but otherwise was often uninspiring. Limerick remain the big beasts that everyone has to reckon with as they chase down an incredible fourth title in five years.
It all began, of course, with the 2018 win over Galway. Limerick’s breakthrough year got its few breaks along the way but, 2019 apart, they’ve been incredibly formidable since then.
The 2018 semi-final stands out for that amazing flick by Nicky Quaid on Seamus Harnedy, an interception that probably decided the outcome. Then in the final against Galway the finishing line seemed to spook Limerick after so many years of failure. They went on the backfoot but survived when Joe Canning’s final free fell short and into the hands of a grateful Tom Condon.
With the burden of history off their shoulders they’ve been enormous since then, threatening to establish a dynasty to match that of Brian Cody in the 2010s.
Once more they face off against Galway but this time there’s no Joe Canning and it will be a major turn-up if the Tribesmen pull off a coup in this semi. The bookies certainly don’t think so, with John Kiely’s side on odds of 1/4.
Part of that reckoning relates to the unimpressive form of Galway. They stumbled badly against Kilkenny in the Leinster final and were let off the hook by a self-defeating Cork in the quarter-final. Barring a major upswing on that showing it’s difficult to see Henry Shefflin’s side surviving.
The other semi has the potential to be the more exciting of the games. Clare, by general estimation, are closest to Limerick, a belief reinforced by the Munster final. The Banner have certainly been the surprise package of the championship thus far but they now face a tricky opponent.
Kilkenny under Cody may have slipped from the great days of the past but you dismiss them at your peril. The ultimate estimation of any manager rests on his ability to get the maximum from the talent at his disposal and using that barometer Cody is surely top of his trade. He’ll have his men primed and Clare will need to be ready.
Here the betting odds are much tighter, reflecting the greater potential of this match to serve up sustained uncertainty. It should be a Clare/Limerick rematch in the final but sport’s uncertainty is what keeps us enthralled.
The minors carry our best wishes when they face Offaly at Nowlan Park in a final that’s sure to draw a huge attendance on Sunday. Offaly’s emergence as a force at this level has stirred the Faithful County, a county starved of a team to rally around in recent times.
1987 was the last time the counties met in the decider, the Leinster champions having the better of matters on that occasion, winning by two points. It was a team that included names like Troy, Pilkington, Dooley and others that subsequently backboned their greatest senior era. We got our revenge two years later in the U21 final, one that still rankles with some Offaly folk.
Given the form of the two teams thus far in this championship it should be a cracking decider, one we hope will have the desired result.
In other news the Tipperary senior hurling camp has slipped from the headlines since their heavy fall from the championship but that hasn’t prevented background manoeuvrings. It’s no secret that there was internal discontent during the season and since the championship exit players have sought to convey their views to the County Board. The dissatisfaction appears to focus on many aspects of preparation, which have drawn criticism.
In now appears that two members of the management are unlikely to be part of the set-up next year, though no formal announcement has yet been made on the issue.
It’s all very unsatisfactory at a time when we need steady hands at the tiller. A rapid resolution to the issues is surely required.
Finally, an item that passed mostly under the radar was a special convention of the County Board held on Monday night to consider a motion sponsored by the Carrick Swan club. The Swans sought to insert a new by-law which would mean that in future decisions regarding structural changes such as championship formats would be done by a show of hands rather than a secret ballot.
Swans’ dissatisfaction dates back to last November when a decision was made to rebrand Seamus O’Riain teams to Premier Intermediate. The decision effectively regraded 16 teams, including Carrick Swans, to intermediate and the decision was made using a secret ballot.
However, at the special convention the Swans’ motion was defeated – ironically by secret ballot. There is a well-established tradition of secret ballots for the election of officers, which is understandable, but for other issues the use of the secret vote is more variable. It has led to a suspicion that secrecy has been convenient at times when decisions were made that people might not have supported with a public display.
No Russian-style glasnost then in the County Board. It seems strange that people making far-reaching decisions about structures and systems would need the cover of secrecy. The modern trend of openness doesn’t stretch to the County Board, it appears.