A semi-final battle of the unlikelies
TOOMEVARA v CLONOULTY/ROSSMORE
Semple Stadium, Thurles
Sunday 7th October
Throw-in @ 2.00pm (E.T.)
Referee: Johnny Ryan (Boherlahan-Dualla)
At the start of the championship, not many would have picked either Toomevara or Clonoulty/Rossmore to reach a County Senior Hurling final but come Sunday evening, one of them will be preparing to be back in Semple Stadium on Sunday 21st October.
Two of the strong traditional senior teams in the county, both have been off the pace in recent years but have bounced back to prominence this year in impressive fashion.
Toomevara’s progress to the semi-final is more noteworthy, considering they were playing Seamus O Riain Cup level hurling for the fast four seasons before finally making the leap back up this year.
Off the back of a North under 21 'A' hurling winning side in 2016, manager Denis Kelly and coach Tommy Dunne have built solid foundations from that and have built a side in the tradition of Toomevara hurling, first and foremost being hard to beat.
It is a team without stars. They have some noted players in Joey McLoughney, Benny Dunne and Mark McCarthy but they aren't solely reliant on them where on any given day, others can step up and make major contributions such as Jack Delaney and Conor O'Meara did last Saturday against Drom, while in defence Jason Ryan and Darren Delaney are playing to a high level at the moment.
As impressive as Toomevara have been this year so far, so have Clonoulty/Rossmore. They haven't reached a fine since 2011 when they fell to Drom & Inch. Despite having a squad of talented players in recent times, they haven't been able to put it together.
To read more, pick up a copy of this weeks Nenagh Guardian locally or subscribe to our e-paper to access it online each Wednesday.