Fascinating games in prospect in quarter-finals of Tipperary senior hurling championship

Quarter-final fixtures in the senior championship promise a feast of hurling action this weekend. A promise too - we hope - of a raising of standards from what we’ve seen thus far.
It has been a strange championship in some ways, at times mediocre with up-and-down results and no easily discernible form line. A last eight without Sarsfields, Borris-Ileigh or Nenagh Eire Og looks strange. Strange too is the presence of Upperchurch and JK Brackens in the final octet and, indeed, you could put Toomevara, on recent form, in that category also.
In some ways Upperchurch have been the story of the season so far. Embracing both codes, they’re reading the Loughmore/Castleiney textbook. Except in Upperchurch’s case this is all new territory, breaking new ground with every match. They’ve never won either a mid or county senior title in hurling or football and yet here they are, in a county hurling quarter-final and a football semi-final. It’s head-spinning stuff.
Brackens too, of course, have embraced the dual code where, interestingly, the ‘Church put them out of the football last weekend. There’s always been a strong football tradition in Templemore but their big breakthrough in hurling came this year with winning a first-ever mid title; they beat Drom/Inch in the decider. They also toppled Upperchurch on their way to that win, so there’s lots of recent history between these teams to spice up this weekend’s tie.
The other all-mid quarter-final won’t lack for spice either. Near neighbours, Loughmore and Drom, will be well familiar with each other over the years. Drom had the better of their clash in the mid this season, though Loughmore were particularly depleted that day so you can probably dismiss it as a form guide.
The Clonoulty/Kiladangan quarter-final is a clash of the championship favourites and the longest-odds outsiders; Kiladangan are 13/8 to win out the championship, whereas you’ll get 16/1 on a Clonoulty success.
The Clonoulty story, of course, has contributed to the strangeness of this campaign. This will be their first return to the Stadium since the fateful day they lost Dillon Quirke, so it’s bound to carry some emotional overload. There’s talk that Conor Hammersley may be flown home for the game, which would be a big boost. Either way they’ll be long-odds outsiders.
The final game is an all-north affair between Kilruane and Toomevara, which will bring its own dynamic. The modern-era MacDonaghs are very different from the sides of the seventies and eighties who were dogged and attritional, grinding out results. The modern generation is more flaky, tending to promise much and then disappoint. They’ll still be fancied here against a Toomevara combination that’s a long way off their glory years of the nineties and noughties.
So, fascinating line-ups for the two double headers at the Stadium on Saturday and Sunday, out of which should emerge our semi-final pairings. Who will emerge? Perhaps Kiladangan, Drom, Upperchurch and Kilruane, though given the uncertainty of the campaign so far, I wouldn’t be putting much on that accumulator.
There was just one significant hurling tie last weekend, where an intermediate preliminary quarter-final brought the all-west pair of Kickhams and Cappawhite to Clonoulty on Sunday. After an undistinguished first half, dominated by Cappawhite, the game really kicked into life in the second period when a Kickhams fightback set up a breathless finish. Kickhams stole the show very deep into added time.
It was looking bleak for the winners at half-time, nine points down after an inept display against a far more positive Cappawhite. David Butler nudged home a goal for Kickhams early on, which was just as well because otherwise they were on the receiving end in that first half.
All the best moves were coming from Cappawhite, where Willie Barry was delivering from play and frees. His first half goal was a huge lodgement too and with Riain Doody and David Buckley chipping in with three points apiece the scoreboard was tilting heavily to one side – 1-15 to 1-6 at half-time.
Kickhams lost Orrin Jones to injury in the first half and when Jamie Duncan and David Butler followed suit early in the second half their prospects looked really bleak. However, they somehow resurrected the challenge. Gone now was the over-tactical play of the first half; they started playing more directly; started winning individual battles; the scores followed.
Suddenly the bulk of play was towards the road goal. Conor Horgan was pointing freely from play and frees. Ben Ryan landed an important goal after Cappa’ ‘keeper, Jerry O’Neill, had heroically denied Kickhams on previous efforts by Paudie Slattery and, in the first half, Shane Morrissey. Stephen Browne chipped in with points and, amazingly, the nine-point lead vanished.
Conor Horgan pointed Kickhams into the lead before Cappawhite finally mustered a response. Jack Breen saved well from Willie Barry but Cappa’ had finally woken up to their worsening situation. Points from Barry and Riain Doody got them back into the lead, as the game careered down to a thrilling climax.
Cappawhite seemed to have weathered the worst of the storm before they were rocked once more by an equalising goal from Dean Thompson. The game drifted very deep into injury time (there were many stoppages) and ended in a welter of excitement. Stephen Browne hit the lead point for Kickhams before David Buckley once again levelled for Cappawhite.
Extra-time seemed very likely before one last play saw substitute, Walter Carroll, emerge the hero for Kickhams with the winning point. It was a morale-lifting win for Kickhams ahead of the quarter-final draws - and a sickening way for Cappawhite to lose. Such are the vagaries of hurling.

Draws made for semi-finals of Tipperary County Senior Football Championship and Tom Cusack Cup

Holders Loughmore/Castleiney will play Upperchurch/Drombane

Talking about vagaries, actually it was Kickhams’ second great escape to victory in four days.
Remember they had that astonishing shootout with Clonoulty in the final of the West Under 19 A championship earlier and the replay at New Inn on Wednesday evening brought out the crowds in anticipation of more of the same.
They weren’t disappointed. It was another thriller from the Under 19s, which once more went to extra-time before Kickhams nicked it at the end. What an extraordinary spectacle once again!
The first half was tame enough but already the sides were swapping scores in thrilling fashion. As ever Stephen Ferncombe was doing the business for Clonoulty while Kickhams had more of a spread, with Adam Daly and Orrin Jones leading the scoring.
The first major break went to Clonoulty when Frank O’Dwyer goaled but the cheers had scarcely died when Sean Cannon, working his way in from the right corner, had a cancelling green for Kickhams. Kickhams edged matters at half-time, 1-8 to 1-7.
In the second half Kickhams had an early Orrin Jones goal and seemed to be in the driving seat as they went five-up, Adam Daly hitting some outrageous points. But the scoring exploits of Stephen Ferncombe will forever be linked to this two-game saga. He rescued Clonoulty in the drawn tie and again he came to the rescue here with two goals in about three minutes, the first from a penalty and the second from a twenty-metre free. With Danny Slattery immense at half back for Clonoulty, Kickhams now suddenly found themselves three-down as the game drifted into added time.
The game was four minutes into injury time when Kickhams threw everything into attack. Conor Horgan got possession slightly to the left of the Clonoulty posts about twenty metres out. He turned his marker and right-sided a shot to the roof of the net. Extra time beckoned once more in this unforgettable contest.
Extra time tends to dip in intensity, as players tire and cramp sets in. The first half saw Kickhams once more shade the issue to lead by a single point at the break.
On the turnover Clonoulty levelled before Kickhams went two-up, the second point a huge free from goalie, Eoin Horgan. Ultimately it would prove a winner. Stephen Ferncombe got one back from a free and there was a touch of controversy at the end.
Almost two minutes into injury time the referee blew full time as the ball dropped into the Kickhams goalmouth. The ball ended up in the net so it seemed a hasty whistle but others suggest that the call was for a square ball, in which case perhaps the free out should have been allowed to clarify matters.
Either way, it was a shame that this contest ended with a hint of controversy because over the eighty-plus minutes these two sets of players provided terrific entertainment. This was a hurling spectacle supreme.
Between them the teams scored a combined total of 15 goals and 80 points over the span of the two games. Now that’s shootout territory.
In the end Kickhams might argue that they led for longer spells and had a more even spread of scorers than Clonoulty, for whom Stephen Ferncombe hit 3-12 in the drawn contest and a further 2-12 in the replay. Any way you view it there was nothing between these teams in what was a contest for the ages, one that could have gone either way, either day.