Westside Column: Big attendances as Tipperary SHC building up to exciting climax

Westside

And then there were four.

A County Senior Hurling Championship that kicked off in mid-April has been sifted and sorted to the last four. A double bill of semis next Sunday at the Stadium provides the headline act, as Nenagh Eire Og try to stop Sarsfields’ drive-for-five and Clonoulty seek to stymie Toomevara’s return to the big time.

It’s been a memorable senior championship thus far and the public has responded, with huge attendances at fixtures. The crowds thronged to Borrisoleigh on Tuesday of last week for the clash of Killenaule and Loughmore, and once again at the weekend the followers were out in force. I’ve no doubt the weather helped but likewise the expectation of quality contests surely drew the fans.

And the public was duly rewarded, with quarter-finals that produced drama and excitement aplenty. I missed the most dramatic moment of the lot, with Sarsfields’ great escape against Kilruane MacDonaghs on Saturday. 

Ronan Maher, gamekeeper turned poacher, was the hero for the Blues as he delivered an injury-time winner to stun the North champions, who seemed to be set fair for an historic triumph. 

It’s a game that highlighted Sarsfields’ vulnerability this year. Opponents are getting closer to them, though they’re still managing to keep the dream of five-in-a-row alive. They’ll be glad to get back into the Stadium.

That outcome also highlighted what winning does for a team. Between 1999 and 2003 Sarsfields lost four county finals on the spin, three of them to Toomevara.  They seemed mired in the psychology of defeat. 

Since they made the breakthrough, however, in ’05 they’ve been almost unstoppable. From ’05 to ’17 they contested nine out of thirteen county finals, winning eight. That winning knowhow got them over the line on Saturday once again.

The other game at Nenagh on Saturday saw Toomevara announce their arrival back on the big stage when they turned over a fancied Drom/Inch. I saw Toome’ in an earlier round recently where they demolished Killenaule with a really feisty performance.  Drom it seems experienced more of the same intensity and couldn’t cope, even if the end margin of another cliffhanger was just a single point. A resurgent Toomevara will be awkward in the semis.

Having missed Saturday’s action due to other commitments I got to Dolla on Sunday for the second double header, where Nenagh ended Loughmore’s year and Clonoulty surprised a few with a deserved win over Kiladangan. 

Loughmore’s hurling year finally crashed to Nenagh Eire Og. These lads from Castleiney and Loughmore don’t go quietly and they certainly put up stubborn resistance in the last week, first surviving Killenaule’s best and then pushing Nenagh to the limit.

That match with Killenaule was among the very finest I’ve seen this year. Under lights at Borrisoleigh and in front of a very large attendance the South champions played their best of the year and were unfortunate to come up two points short at the end.

The South side was luckless. John McGrath’s first goal came when the ball rebounded kindly to him off the post and the decisive third goal from Joseph Nyland should have been a free out. The referee seemed to indicate advantage as Killenaule’s defence tried to work the ball out but when possession was lost he let play run with cruel consequences for the Robins.

However, you could argue that the South men were the authors of their own demise too by not paying more attention to John McGrath at full forward. If they were in Dolla on Sunday they’d have seen how Nenagh crowded out the danger man in the final crucial phases of play. Killian O’Dwyer’s absence was significant too in this regard.

Killenaule deserved better but you don’t always get what you deserve. Declan Fanning answered the clarion call and was tremendous in defence. They now face Portroe in a relegation play-off, where they should be strong enough, but you never know with Killenaule. Portroe lost by four- point margins to both Borrisoleigh and Kiladangan in their group games and then by seven points to Loughmore, who finished strongly. They’ve been competitive. It will depend, I suppose, on how both teams react since bowing out of the championship. Whichever wants it most will likely prevail.

Loughmore’s schedule of games has been exhausting and one suspects the strain eventually told against Nenagh on Sunday. Their commitment to both codes is admirable but comes at a cost. John McGrath’s injury in particular left him very restricted.

Nenagh hit the two crucial goals in the first half with the wind at their backs. Philip Hickey and Tommy Heffernan were the strikers. It left them seven-up at the break and in truth they always looked likely winners. 

Typically, though, Loughmore fought tigerishly and set up a very tense finish. The Mid side needed a goal and came close, with Nenagh’s defence having to foul to keep the likes of Liam McGrath at bay. In the end the North deserved to progress but they’ll have known they were in a battle.

Jake Morris was excellent for the winners. A second half point was class personified. He went on a mazy solo from midfield, tapping the ball over players’ heads before finishing without catching a la Peter Duggan earlier in the summer.

The semis should attract another big attendance on Sunday, though the Stadium’s dimensions tend to reduce atmosphere in these fixtures. Arguably the two strongest sides left in the competition are facing each other, though I’m sure Clonoulty and Toomevara would challenge that assertion.

Sarsfields will remain favourites while they are still hanging in there but Nenagh will rightly feel encouraged by events this season. Eire Og always have classy hurlers and this team is no exception. 

The experienced Maloneys still backbone the defence, which has a particularly strong half line with Daire Quinn and Barry Heffernan flanking Hugh Maloney. 

Pearse Morris and Killian Gleeson were useful contributors at midfield on Sunday last and their attack has plenty of scoring potential with Jake Morris, Paddy Murphy and the Heffernans. Philip Hickey is a newcomer to me and he did well on Sunday last.

Sarsfields have been struggling more than usual this season but always have the potential to turn it on, especially in the Stadium. The last major meeting between these teams was the 2015 county final where Sarsfields won by a single point. I expect Nenagh to be right in the hunt here.

The other semi is no less intriguing. The last major meeting between Toomevara and Clonoulty was in the quarter-final of 2009. On that occasion Toome’ got through by seven points before Drom had their measure in the semi-final.

To their credit Clonoulty/Rossmore are ever present at this knockout stage of the championship and they’re never easy opponents. They lost consecutive finals in 2010 and 2011 and haven’t won since 1997 but their level of consistency is commendable.

The bookies have Toomevara as marginal favourites and Sarsfields are unbackable at 2/5. At 9/4 Nenagh are an attractive offer. I think they’ll be much closer than those figures would suggest and could well pull off a shock unless Sarsfields rediscover their mojo. A  Toomevara/Nenagh final would be the first all-North pairing since the same clubs met in 2006.

Elsewhere the big story at the weekend was the return of Cashel K.C. to senior hurling for the first time since being relegated in 2014. 

Their promotion came thanks to a rousing Intermediate semi-final win over Borrisokane at Dolla on Saturday last. They now face Sarsfields in the final; it will be the West club’s first ever Intermediate final.

Matters were tight enough in the first half of this contest, with Borrisokane having wind advantage. However two goals by Ross Bonnar in added time before the break handed Cashel the initiative and they drove on powerfully in the second half to seal the outcome long before the end.

Borrisokane were without key man, Shane Dooley, and were totally outplayed in the second half. Cashel just seem to be gathering momentum in this championship, improving exponentially from game to game. 

Mickey Coleman did invaluable sweeping in the first half against the wind  John Darmody and Lee Burke were outstanding in defence throughout. Eoghan Connolly continues to impress at midfield and significantly all the starting forwards got on the score sheet this time. 

Confidence is up and they’re in the mood to have a real cut at winning a first ever County Intermediate title. Either way they’ll be playing senior hurling in 2019, which is a development that will be welcomed in West Tipperary particularly. 

Finally people are asking what happens if Sarsfields win the Intermediate final? Will the club then have two senior sides? I’m told the club will have a choice to either stay Intermediate or opt for a second senior side. When their Junior B team won last year they opted for two junior A sides in 2018. Isn’t it a pleasant problem for a club to have to grapple with? 

Anyway I’m sure the King Cormacs would love to solve their problem for them. Incidentally Cashel are guaranteed Munster club action because Sarsfields are ineligible as a senior club.