Race for the O’Dowd Cup begins
CAMOGIE: Tipperary Senior Championship Preview
By Enda Treacy
Last weekend saw the return to action of camogie fare across the county, with the junior championship getting the ball rolling on club camogie for 2020 and this weekend coming sees the spotlight turn to the senior championship which gets underway this Friday evening.
Last weekend saw the return to action of camogie fare across the county, with the junior championship getting the ball rolling on club camogie for 2020 and this weekend coming sees the spotlight turn to the senior championship which gets underway this Friday evening.
Thiss year sees an even number of clubs competing for county honours, with two groups of four making up the format with Toomevara adding to the ranks for the coming year after winning the Intermediate championship last year.
Group 1 comprises of reigning county champions Drom & Inch who impressively put a halt to the Burgess/Duharra juggernaut in last year’s final, denying the north team an eighth successive county title in the process.
It’s a case of “as you were” for Drom, as the management team of Pat Ryan, Kevin Bourke and Noirin Butler return to take charge again this year as Drom will look to back up what was an impressive year last year, culminating in a narrow defeat against Scarriff/Ogonelloe in the Munster Final.
The Mid ladies will be expected to bring that high level of performance again this year and with a healthy squad ready to go they will be looking to hit the ground running as they take Clonoulty/Rossmore in their first-round game.
Clonoulty will come into this game with a couple of long-term injuries to Katie Hennessy and the influential Sarah Fryday, as they look to better their performance last year where they failed to make the knockout stages.
Kieran Hammersley, Lawrence Loughman, Fr. Peter Brennan, and the injury-stricken Sarah Fryday will make up their management team for the year, and with Cait Devane in their ranks they will be a tough proposition for Drom the first day out.
The other game in that group will see the clash of the Eire Og’s, with Nenagh and Annacarty going head to head and both will be desperate to get the year off on a winning note, particularly Nenagh after a poor campaign last year.
Nenagh have a very young team but have good experience at this level and they will look to county star Grace O’Brien for leadership as they look to get the year started on a positive footing. Ciara McGrath is the only absentee from last year as the North ladies will be led by the management team of Greg Browne, Caitriona Morris, and Pat McCormack.
Annacarty will be looking to go one better this time around, after suffering a semi-final defeat to eventual champions Drom last year as they continue to progress well. They will be without the services of full back Sheelagh Carew and Anne O’Dwyer from the team that lined out in that semi-final loss, but they will be confident of getting back to that stage again, with Paidi Slattery, Conor O’Mahony, Kevin Fox and Eoin Bradshaw at the helm for the year.
Group 2 is heavily dominated by North clubs with Burgess/Duharra, Toomevara, Silvermines and Cashel making for a very interesting group in prospect.
Without question, Burgess/Duharra will be scorching hot favourites to top the group as they look to get back on the horse after being denied by Drom & Inch in the decider last year; a game they never got going in and management team of Timmy Maher, Ailish Maher and JP Grace will be looking for a big backlash as they face Cashel on Friday.
Cashel will be up against it in this opener but with Burgess missing Maeve Moloney (retired), Tara Kennedy and Emer McDonnell, they will be confident of making it a much tighter and more competitive contest this time around.
They made big waves in their first year back at senior level last year, making it to knockout hurling and with a youthful side led by Orla O’Dwyer in attack, they will fancy their chances of an upset with Ger Browne, Aidan O’Dwyer, Ross Doyle and Louise O’Donoghue looking to set their team up for the year.
Like Cashel, newly promoted Toomevara will be looking to continue the momentum of the last few years in the senior ranks, with successive promotions seeing them return to the pinnacle of club camogie in the county this year.
While there will be optimism amongst the Toome ranks that they can compete at this level, they will have to do so with youthful exuberance as they will be missing most of the spine of last year’s team, with Bonnie Kennedy and Laura Young taking a step back, while Moira, Aoife and Sheila Ryan are travelling for the year.
A lot of pressure will be on what is a very young team but they should get that kick from promotion, as the management team of Jake Ryan, Dick Quirke, Aaron Ryan and Jerry Kelly will be looking for the younger brigade to make the step up.
They face Silvermines this Friday and this will be a game both sides will need to win to have any chance of getting out of the group – with the two favourites clashing in the other game – and the ‘Mines ladies will certainly be ready for this one.
They come into the game with no retirements or injuries from last year and after some unlucky results last year, they will be hoping to get off to a winning start with an experienced team being led by Bob Duff and Mark Gennery this year.
The action gets underway simultaneously with all games taking place this Friday at 7:15pm with plenty of exciting ties in prospect in Round 1.