We have allowed Limerick and Galway to become our main threats - Tim Floyd

The Secretary of the Tipperary County GAA Board, Tim Floyd (Newport) tells delegates in his annual report to Convention that Tipperary must take time to reflect on their position within hurling rankings right now, with Galway and Limerick having slipped in as the main contenders, while Tipp were concentrating on building teams to defeat Kilkenny.

In a very detailed report on what was an extraordinarily strange year, the Secretary says that he felt from the very start that winter hurling would not suit Tipperary's skillful players who like hte fast ball hopping off the sod.

“ The Munster Semi-Final against Limerick on November 1 confirmed this belief as the All Ireland champions of 2018 and the 2017 champions Galway proved they both have more artillery to cope with the winter conditions. At least the proposed split season will see our Provincial and All Ireland Championships played in May, June and July. Liam Sheedy’s management team left no stone unturned to retain their title and the players were just as committed to the cause as last year. For many years overcoming Kilkenny was our main goal and in the last five years we have managed to win two All-Ireland titles to their none. During that time, we matched and mastered the Kilkenny style of hurling but because of our obsession to beat them, we allowed Limerick and Galway move in and become the new threats to our ambitions. We played Limerick in three competitions in the past twelve months and as you can see from the results, we lost all three by a minimum of eight points.

“The styles of Galway and Limerick are similar with the combination of power and skill being used to the greater advantage. The winter championship of 2020 is probably not the best gauge, but it now gives us a chance to reset and plan. We may not have the benefit of a club championship in advance in 2021 but we might gain from the progress of our Tipp U20 team when they get the opportunity to complete their 2020 championship,” he writes..

The Secretary, who will have a new Chairman alonside him this year as Joe Kennedy (Moyne Templetuohy) is due to take over from outgoing John Devane (Boherlahan Dualla), also paid tribute to county senior hurling champions Kildangan.
“When Thurles Sarsfields won four-in-a-row county titles from 2014 to 2017 (and their eighth in thirteen years) I thought they were similar to the current Dublin football team and would be unbeatable for a long time. Naturally, I worried about the effect this would have on our club and inter-county scene where one club would have such dominance.

“Toomevara dominated in similar fashion in the nineties and the noughties when they won 11 titles which included three and four in a row. But not alone have Thurles Sarsfields not won a county senior hurling title since their fourth in a row in 2017, but they also have not contested the final in the last three years.

“Five different clubs have featured in the last three county finals with Kiladangan the only club to contest two culminating in their thrilling victory in 2020.
“Kiladangan’s rise from Intermediate Hurling in 2004 is worth documenting as it’s a credit to all involved in the club during the past twenty years.

“In 2020 the Kiladangan club reached the holy grail in the most dramatic way possible snatching victory from the jaws of defeat with that Bryan McLoughney goal in added time. This victory was the culmination of twenty years of hard work, building from a county M.H “B” title in 1998. During that period the club were reaching county finals at all levels and the confidence was growing as the signals were consistent that Kiladangan were going places.

“Visionary officers were leading the club not just on the field but also with new facilities and the purchase of an adjoining second pitch was a massive boost. The new club house nearing completion is perfectly timed coinciding with the arrival of the Dan Breen Cup. Kiladangan have taken the good with the bad since the turn of the century and their perseverance has paid off as they now feast at the top table of senior hurling clubs in the Premier County.