Tipp aim to retain Daryl Darcy Cup

For the third year in a row, Tipperary will appear in the Daryl Darcy Cup final when they play Clare in Rathkeale this evening.

GAA: Electric Ireland Munster Minor Football Championship Phase 1 Final Preview

By Liam Hogan

TIPPERARY v CLARE

Mick Neville Park, Rathkeale

Tuesday, 30th April

Throw-in @ 7.00pm (E.T. & Pens)

Referee: Eoghan O Muircheartaigh (Kerry)

The Premier County will hope to make it two out of three after they lost their crown to Limerick last year having won the competition in 2022.

Tipperary arrive in this year’s final having defeated Limerick, Waterford, and Clare, with the game against the Banner last week in Quilty acting as a dress-rehearsal for next Tuesday’s decider and both teams played well short some of their usual regulars.

“We knew we were in the Darcy final, and it was an opportunity to make some changes to the side,” revealed Tipperary joint manager Michael Donnellan.

“We have a big squad, and we gave some players the chance to see if they can step up to the plate and there were some good performances on the night.”

Kilruane MacDonagh’s Cillian Healy, along with Ronan Myles, Tom Corcoran and Terry Walsh were part of the 2023 panel and form a strong line to the team in addition to Oran Gahan and Dylan Cotter at midfield with the latter Tipp’s top scorer with 2-6 from play.

“They are both good footballers,” added Donnellan.

“Oran is more of a playmaker. He has an important role. Against Waterford Jack Garrett tagged on a couple of points. It is very important. In the modern game it is important to have backs who can move forward and attack.”

The players that were involved in last year’s campaign will carry the wounds of losing the final against Limerick last year and they won’t want a repeat this time round.

“Last year was disappointing. I won’t mince my words about that,” admitted Portroe’s Donnellan.

“We felt we were the better side. I know we were missing two players, but we still had players who were able to step up but a couple of mistakes towards the end of the game cost us and it was one I feel we left behind.”

In their run to this year’s final, Tipp have done well in their unbeaten run. Dylan Cotter scored 2-2 in the 2-13 to 0-10 first round win over Limerick at Fethard. Charlie Walsh added four while Tom Corcoran, Cillian Healy and Jamie Yousif did well, but the feature of their win was the 1-5 without reply in the third quarter. Tipp did the same in their win over Waterford when they overturned a first half deficit of seven points into a whirlwind third quarter where they scored 1-6 without reply to win 1-14 to 0-9 in Lemybrien.

Win or lose on Tuesday, Tipperary will be involved in the Munster semi-final against Cork or Kerry, but Donnellan is targeting the win.

“It’s important we win this game to give us confidence for the semi-final,” he insisted.

“If we don’t reach the final, we will be involved into phase two and losers of the semi-final will enter phase three. In addition, it’s important that we get some silverware. The Daryl Darcy Cup means a lot to me personally.”