PREVIEWS: An action packed weekend in store as club hurling commences

FBD Insurance Dan Breen Senior Hurling Championship Previews

Friday July 22:

Templederry Kenyons V Drom & Inch in Borris-Ileigh @ 7.30

Templederry Kenyons will have had a real baptism of fire back into Dan Breen after the final whistle on Friday night. A sobering beating from Nenagh Éire Óg in the north semi-final in a game where Templederry were out of before it had began will not do confidence any good in the camp, but with a few weeks of solid training with coach Cormac McGrath back full time after his time with the Tipperary minors, should stand to the Kenyons.

Brian Stapleton should be good to go from the throw-in here, but Drom should be smarting after the late loss to Brackens and with the remaining two games set to be fire and brimstone against their two most bitter rivals, they will need the win.

Verdict: Drom & Inch

Kiladangan V Loughmore Castleiney in Semple Stadium @ 7.30

A repeat of the unbelievably dramatic 2020 county final, these clubs have become very familiar with one another in recent years.

After a fantastic year last year, culminating in a double county title for Loughmore, they are facing a very tough run of fortune in terms of personnel going into the opening weekend.

They were without at least five starters in the defeat to Drom & Inch in the mid championship last month, with John McGrath and Ed Connolly long term injuries, while they were also missing Noel McGrath and Ciaran Connolly for that game.

The latter will miss this match as he is still stateside, while there are concerns over the fitness Willie Eviston, Ed Meagher, and Aidan McGrath, so options could be thin on the ground.

Kiladangan were also without regulars in the form of Willie Connors, Billy Seymour, Decky McGrath, and Darragh Flannery for the north campaign, but such is their strength in depth, they very nearly managed to pull off a hat-trick of divisional titles against Nenagh.

If the injuries are as severe as feared of the champions, it might see Kiladangan clear in this one.

Verdict: Kiladangan

Saturday July 23:

Éire Óg Annacarty V JK Brackens in Clonoulty @ 2.30

Contrasting fortunes for these teams in their respective divisional finals as they face off in the first round here.
JK Brackens will be floating on air after clinching their first ever mid title with a narrow win over Drom last weekend, while Éire óg just couldn't land a punch on Clonoulty Rossmore in the west decider.

Éire Óg have been flirting with the drop for the last few years, but they have great resilience in their ranks, but they struggled in a big way to wrack up scores across the forward division, with young Aidan Griffin scoring 0-11 of their 0-19 total and will need to be more prolific here.

Brackens on the other hand will have the tails up and will feel they’ve been close in recent years to making their mark in knockout hurling, and are a team at the opposite end of their life cycle, and that energy should be enough to see them start with a win here.

Verdict: JK Brackens

Upperchurch Drombane V Holycross Ballycahill in Clonoulty @ 4.00

A mid derby is on the cards in the first game of Group Three as Upperchurch and Holycross go at it. Upperchurch Drombane mixed the sublime with the frustrating in their mid championship outings, seemingly doing the hard graft in beating Thurles Sarsfields in the quarter final before losing out to eventual winners JK Brackens in the semi.

Consistency has been an issue over the years for the mountain men, but they have been drawn in a group against teams with whom they will have no hang ups; including Holycross.

Still without the towering figure of Bryan O’Mara who is in the US currently, the Holycross team continues to look out of kilter, with scoring forwards at a premium with Cathal Barrett having to anchor the defence in O’Mara’s absence.

Holycross have a very young team at their disposal and can’t do without the likes of O’Mara and were far from impressive against Moycarkey Borris in their last match, while Upperchurch have a more settled look to them with experience and youth all over the field in the likes of Paudie Greene, Luke Shanahan, and Gavin Ryan and that should be the difference.

Verdict: Upperchurch Drombane

Mullinahone V Toomevara in Semple Stadium @ 5.30

Rewind 12 months to the final group game of these teams’ county group, and any Toomevara man come throw-in on Saturday evening won’t be lacking in motivation.

Mullinahone certainly produced their best that day to derail a Toome’ team who had two wins recorded and the manner of the victory is something the south men will need to draw from again after they failed to get out of gear in their south final loss to Carrick Swans two weekends ago.

Toomevara had a decent divisional campaign despite being down three or four players for all their games, but with the likes of Mark McCarthy, Russell Quirke, and Liam Ryan set to be back for this match, they should be nearing full tilt with revenge surely on their minds.

Verdict: Toomevara

Borris-Ileigh V Thurles Sarsfields in Semple Stadium @ 7.00

One of the ties of the opening weekend sees these two heavyweights of the club game go head-to-head.

Both sides are coming into the game with very patchy form after losses in their respective divisional games against Toomevara and Upperchurch, but this shouldn’t bother either too much as they have been in the shake up in the last few years.

Thurles come into their first championship campaign in 14 years without the talismanic figure of Padraic Maher in the heart of the defence, and he will be a huge loss to them in their quest to avenge their final defeat to Loughmore last year.

Having said that, they are a team with huge potential with Paddy Creedon, Darragh Stakelum, and the likes of Jack Derby are all another year older after good debut years last year, and with Billy McCarthy close to being ready and the emergence of James Armstrong with the Tipp U21‘s this year, they will still take stopping.

There will be slight concern from Borris-Ileigh supporters over their performance with a full deck against Toomevara, as they never got going, but with Shane O’Neill at the helm, he should have them primed for this challenge.

Verdict: Draw

Kilruane MacDonaghs V Moycarkey Borris in Templederry @ 6.30

The last meeting between these sides in the 2020 county championship produced an absolute cracker on a baking hot day in Templemore, where a Jerome Cahill inspired Kilruane side just about got over the line.

A lot of water has gone under the bridge since though, as both these teams have not fully realised their potential.
Moycarkey have a very young team and since their promotion in 2019, and coming off the back of significant underage success, including a county U21 success last year, they should be about to come to a head.

The Shellys, Max Hackett, Jack Fallon, Darren Flood, mixed with the experience of the likes of Kieran Morris, Tom Ryan, and Kieran Cummins, they have a nice mix ready for a good crack of the whip this time around, and, at the very least, will want to avoid the relegation trenches of the last few years.

Kilruane on the other hand have certainly been inconsistent so far this year, with a very patchy performance against Kiladangan which they lost in extra time leaving people scratching their heads as to where they are at.

They were far better in the second half of that game when they went direct and left Niall O’Meara up in the forward line, so it will be interesting to see them line out here.

They have undoubted quality in the figures of Craig Morgan, Jerome Cahill, Kian O'Kelly, and Thomas Cleary and should they hit form, they should start the campaign positively.

Verdict: Kilruane MacDonaghs

Sunday July 24

Clonoulty Rossmore V Nenagh Éire Óg in Semple Stadium @ 1.00

The pressure will have eased considerably for these two teams after they delivered divisional titles two weekends ago, guaranteeing at least a preliminary quarter-final.

Nenagh Éire Óg produced a second half of real quality and character against Kiladangan in the north final, and displayed traits they have been accused of lacking in their recent history. The tenacity, workrate, composure, and belief was evident when they went a man down, and this will be a huge source of encouragement for them.

They were dealt a significant blow though, with Barry Heffernan suffering a knee injury which looks likely to end his involvement in this year’s campaign. But with the likes of Jake Morris, and Tommy and Mikey Heffernan in place, they will still be hard beaten.

Clonoulty on the other hand weren’t made to work as hard in their win over Annacarty, This Clonoulty team are a seasoned outfit with John O’Keefe, Enda Heffernan, Dillon Quirke, and Conor Hammersley all hurling well presently, and they haven’t yet felt the loss of the latter’s brother Timmy so far.

Cathal Bourke continues to recover from long term injury but is expected to feature, and with young talent like Jack Ryan and Stephen Ferncombe performing well , they won’t be found wanting.

Verdict: Nenagh Éire Óg

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