Thurles Sarsfields will take beating in Tipperary county senior hurling final

For only the second time in the history of the hurling championship Thurles Sarsfields and Loughmore Castleiney square up in a county senior final. Sarsfields are hotly fancied against double-seeking Loughmore. Templederry Kenyons and Killenaule will set the ball rolling in the Seamus O’Riain final on the Stadium’s double-header programme.
2014 was the only other occasion when Sarsfields and Loughmore collided at this stage of the championship. On that occasion the Blues were comfortable winners in what was the first of a four-in-a-row.
This time it’s a new-look Sarsfields side that will chase a 37th title for the club. Manager Mark Dowling has reshaped the team since his arrival. Padraic and Ronan Maher are still the twin towers at the heart of the defence but they’re flanked by newcomers Paul Maher and Seosamh Ryan in the corners and David Corbett and Jack Derby on the wings.
Michael Cahill gets a new lease of life this season as a hard-grafting midfielder beside the ever-present Stephen Cahill.
In attack too there’s newness, with Paddy Creedon making a serious impact and Darragh Stakelum being tipped by many as a player with major potential. Denis Maher has become a target man at full forward, with Aidan McCormack as ever doing the business on frees.
It’s a Sarsfields formation that has taken care of all comers this season, including a nine-point win over Loughmore in the mid final. In the group stages of the championship they racked up huge scores, though understandably things have tightened up in the knockout games including a narrow call against outgoing champions, Kiladangan, in the semi-final.
Still, it’s enough to have them installed as short-odds favourites to clock up another county win. The bookies will only offer odds of 2/5 on Sarsfields, with Loughmore listed as outsiders on 9/4.
If Sarsfields’ resurgence has been a notable aspect of the championship thus far, the Loughmore Castleiney story has been grabbing the headlines too. For the second year running they’re chasing the double after pipping Moyle Rovers in the football semi last weekend.
Theirs is a story of remarkable endurance and willpower, as they seamlessly switch codes every week and bring the same intensity to both games. Perhaps only Derry club Slaughtneil can be spoken of in the same terms.
It has cost them, I suppose, with Brian McGrath breaking his thumb in the football quarter-final, but it certainly didn’t weaken their resolve in the hurling semi-final. In the group stages they lost by a single point to Kiladangan but in the knockout stages they took two significant scalps in Kilruane MacDonaghs and Borris-Ileigh. It’s a form line that shouldn’t be underestimated when assessing their prospects for Sunday.
Like Sarsfields, their team is much changed from seven years ago. Aidan McGrath was wing back in 2014 but now stands between the posts. It’s a pattern started by David Kennedy in recent years, when he drifted back to number one after years of outfield service.
John Meagher is a standout figure in their defence, regularly earning rave reviews for his performances.
However, John McGrath has to be regarded as their pivotal figure this season. Nominally he may be listed at corner forward but he ranges far and wide wherever the need is greatest. He’s a scorer but also a playmaker for others. He hit 1-12 of their 1-18 total in the semi-final to underline his centrality to the overall team effort.
And I suppose it’s that term team that best encapsulates Loughmore and Castleiney. It’s the collective rather than the individuals that makes them so formidable. It’s the work ethic and persistence that drives them on, even when things are going awry. There’s a spirit of togetherness about Loughmore that few other teams can muster.
Still, on all known indicators Sarsfields have to be fancied in this one. They’ve been the most impressive team in the championship all year. Besides, their recent record against Loughmore is strong, though they did lose the 2018 mid final replay to Sunday’s opponents.
One might expect John McGrath to be a marking target for someone like Ronan Maher, which would be an intriguing clash. Sarsfields have certainly a greater scoring spread than Loughmore and in many of their games this year they’ve blown teams away early on and then just held their advantage. It’s something Loughmore will need to guard against.
For their part I’m sure Loughmore will aim for a high intensity approach, where they get into Sarsfields’ faces and disrupt their game. A number of the Sarsfields players will be in their first final, so perhaps there’s potential there for upsetting them.
It’s an exciting prospect. I don’t see the gap as wide as the betting odds suggest, though I still think Sarsfields will prevail.
The Seamus O’Riain final doesn’t lack for appeal either. It has the benefit of being a cross-divisional affair, north versus south as Templederry Kenyons and Killenaule cross paths with a huge prize on offer – entry to the Dan Breen Cup championship in 2022.
I can’t immediately recall a past clash between this pair so there’s a certain element of novelty to the fixture also.
Neither side had an entirely unblemished passage to the final. Templederry slipped up against their neighbours Silvermines in a group game and Killenaule drew with Sean Treacys in their section. Still, both powered through the knockouts impressively, with Silvermines taking down Gortnahoe and Cashel and Killenaule having too much for Kiladangan B and St Mary’s.
You never quite know what to expect from Killenaule, who have a reputation for being underachievers. This is an important one for them to make a mark though I suspect Templederry, for whom Sean Ryan has been a leading light, may be slight favourites.
The intermediate decider has lots of appeal also. Moyne Templetuohy have been knocking on this particular door for some time now but have often disappointed, as in last year’s final against Gortnahoe. They won’t wish to lose two in-a-row.
I saw Kilsheelan Kilcash once this year and thought they looked a lively and useful combination. The south side has never won this grade and they’ll be underdogs going into the decider.
Coming with excellent timing the week before the county final is Liam O’Donnchu’s history of Thurles Sarsfields volume 2, which was launched at their centre on Friday last. Padraic Maher did the formal launching of another colossal production from Liam O’Donnchu.
Back in 2017 Liam produced volume 1 of the club’s story, which was launched by Tony Wall. It was a hugely popular production, covering the period up to 1969 and spanning almost 550 pages. However, it gets dwarfed by volume 2, which brings the account up to 2019 and spans over 750 pages. It’s a monumental production, an absolute encyclopaedia on the county’s foremost hurling club.
In 2015 Liam O’Donnchu published Tom Semple and the Thurles Blues. This year he has already launched Semple Stadium – Field of Legends. In total the four books add up to almost 2,100 pages of research material.
It’s an extraordinary output in such a short space of time. The word prolific almost seems inadequate to describe the achievement.
Many clubs have modest histories, with perhaps some low-scale achievements separated by long spells of obscurity. Thurles Sarsfields is different. The scale of their accomplishments since the foundation of the Association and their prominence within the county is massive, so it was no surprise that the history of the club had to be divided into two volumes.
Even then it was hardly easy to record everything within the covers of two books. Yet Liam O’Donnchu has achieved just that. He is the master of the short, concise narrative of events. There are no longwinded accounts of games but instead brief résumés of each year, all beautifully illustrated with an exceptional collection of photographs.
The breadth and scope of research here is astonishing. Given Sarsfields' prominence and contribution to county teams over the years means that this is a book whose appeal will extend way beyond the town of Thurles. Liam has done the club major service.

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