Toomevara and Clonoulty/Rossmore meet in a crucial group 1 clash in the County Senior Hurling Championship on Sunday. Photo: Bridget Delaney

Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship Round 2 Preview

By Liam Hogan

Saturday, 23rd August

Group 1: Holycross/Ballycahill v KILADANGAN in Templemore at 6.15pm

North champions Kiladangan defeated Clonoulty/Rossmore in the first round to extend a four-game winning run including three rounds of the North championship.

It is two years since Holycross-Ballycahill and Kiladangan last met in the championship with Holycross almost causing an upset when they came within two points of defeating Kiladangan in the 2-23 quarter final 2-22 to 3-17.

Holycross have been slowly building a team and recent underage success has helped enormously. Their recent first round win over Toomevara was earned without Tipp star Bryan O’Mara and under 20 All-Ireland winner Jim Ryan as Joe Caesar, Darragh Woods and Mikey Nally led the way. The only downside to the win was the manner in which they allowed Toome back into the contest. They cannot afford to do that against Kiladangan. Verdict: Kiladangan

Group 2: CJ Kickhams Mullinahone v Thurles Sarsfields in Cashel at 4.15pm

Memories of the 2002 County final meeting comes to mind when Mullinahone beat Thurles Sarsfields after a replay to capture their one and only Dan Breen win.

Thurles Sarsfields have since come a long way, but their team seems to be at a standstill with the team carrying a lot of familiar names. The supply of younger talent doesn’t seem to be active at the moment. Perhaps that will soon change but the team currently waiting for the return of Pa Bourke, Aidan McCormack, and Billy McCarthy after injury lay-offs.

Mullinahone continue to battle against all the odds and always seem to stay afloat no matter what the circumstances. Will they need Eoin Kelly to return for one last dance? Verdict: Thurles Sarsfields

Group 3: Drom & Inch v Lorrha in Cloughjordan at 6.30pm

Lorrha were going toe to toe with JK Brackens in the first round of the championship when Donnacha O’Meara had a goal at his mercy but fired over which left Lorrha three in arrears instead of one. Who knows what might have happened? Instead Lorrha fell away in the concluding stages as a hungry Brackens forward line of picked off the scores to seal victory.

When Lorrha play well they are a match for any team but the problem of maintaining a sixty minute performance continues to haunt them. Michael Dolan, Alan O’Meara, Patrick Maher, Niall & Eoin McIntyre, and young Conor Kennedy will have to do it all over again as they face a Drom & Inch side that Lorrha won’t fear.

In their first round defeat to Loughmore, the Drom trailed by nine before producing a comeback and but lost 2-18 to 1-20. Scoring is no problem; the concession of scores is as their 3-22 to 0-34 defeat to Holycross in the Mid quarter final shows. Verdict: Draw

Group 4: Borris-Ileigh v Roscrea in Templemore at 4.15pm

In the old days, a Borris-Ileigh versus Roscrea game would have been the highlight of the weekend. Not so now, and because of both teams losing their opening games, the winner of this encounter might just help survive a relegation battle.

Always difficult to beat, Borris-Ileigh appear to be the better team. The league champions pressed Kiladangan all the way in the North final, however, their lack of consistency remains a worry and their recent seven-point defeat to Kilruane is a case in point after they had earlier defeated MacDonaghs in the North semi final.

Injury worries remain a problem. They will hope that Tom Delaney remains fit while Dan McCormack continues to recover with a hamstring injury. Up front much depends on Paddy McCormack, Sean McCormack, Conor Kenny, James Devaney, and Jerry Kelly.

After a poor run of defeats, Roscrea finally showed some promise when testing Moycarkey/Borris last time out. It is a big task for the Reds and Alan Tynan, Michael Campion, Darragh Tynan, Conor Sheedy and Dan Ryan can only do so much behind a forward line that has Shane Fletcher their top scorer, but he will need more assistance up front. Luke Cashin is a big loss. Verdict: Borris-Ileigh.

Sunday, 24th August

Group 1: Clonoulty/Rossmore v Toomevara at The Ragg at 2.30pm

Toomevara’s habit of not playing for the full hour is becoming a pattern in recent games. They only came to life in the second half to defeat Lorrha in the North quarter final. Kiladangan beat them in the semi final with Toome playing second fiddle in the second half while the opposite could be said about their county championship defeat to Holycross.

They are up against a Clonoulty/Rossmore team that had every chance to beat Kiladangan, but the final part of the jigsaw disappeared due to wrong options taken and poor shooting in front of goal. Their strengths lie in their defence where John O’Keeffe, Robert Doyle and Enda Heffernan are dependable men in front of a sound goalkeeper Jason O’Dwyer. They will be tested by the McCarthy brothers. Consistency will win the day, and it depends on which team can make it happen.

Verdict: Toomevara

Group 2: Cashel King Cormacs v Nenagh Eire Og in Borrisoleigh at 4.00pm

You have to go back to 1995 since the teams last met in senior championship. A semi-final meeting which Nenagh Eire Og won before going on to claim their first and only Dan Breen Cup.

Nenagh Eire Og will be hot favourites to win this time round as they have a very strong attack with so many familiar faces including Tipp stars Sam O’Farrell, Jake Morris and Josh Keller with James Mackey and Michael Heffernan offering much assistance.

That might be too much for an inexperienced but talented Cashel team. The 2024 Premier Intermediate champions marked their lengthy absence from senior with a much praised win over Mullinahone. Eoin Cadogan’s side hit 1-20 of their 2-24 total from play with midfielder Eoghan Connolly 1-5 and Devon Ryan 1-3 as top scorers with nine players getting on the scoresheet, indicative of what talent they have with goalkeeper Aaron Browne plus Ronan Connolly, Ger Browne, Adrian Cummins, Ross Bonnar and Oisin O’Donoghue on view. However, experience should win the day.

Verdict: Nenagh Eire Og

Group 3: JK Brackens v Loughmore/Castleiney in Templetuohy at 2.30pm (Live on TG4)

What a pairing? Mid champions JK Brackens versus the 2024 County champions. That Mid final victory, for Brackens was their second in three years and the perfect tonic in helping them get over the disappointment of losing the Division 1 County League final to Borris-Ileigh.

The good times continued with their recent win over Lorrha. It took them fifty minutes to solidify the win, and the last ten minutes surge produced great individual displays thanks to the accuracy from the Ormond brothers, Shane Doyle and Lyndon Fairbrother who was called late from the subs bench.

Loughmore/Castleiney began the defence of their county title with a narrow win over a much improved Drom & Inch side. Goalkeeper Aidan McGrath scored the last minute winner but once again it was the John McGrath show as the Tipp full forward scored 2-9 in the victory. The Tipp man won’t have it as easy this time round with a Bracken’s defence clearly on top of their game if the display against Lorrha is anything to by where Paddy Cadell, Ned Delaney, Jordan Moloney and Cathal Scully stood out.

Verdict: JK Brackens

Group 4: Kilruane MacDonaghs v Moycarkey/Borris in Templederry at 6.30pm

The sides have met three times in the championship over the last five years resulting in two wins for Kilruane 2020 & 2022 while Moycarkey won the last encounter in 2023 1-23 to 1-21.

Both teams will suggest they might have done better last season. Moycarkey lost to Toomevara in the county semi-final after a shock win over Kiladangan in the quarter final. Meanwhile, Kilruane had every chance in beating Loughmore in the quarter final but gifted two goals in the second half.

Eddie Brennan has Moycarkey/Borris playing well and scoring highly. Some might say they were unlucky to lose the Mid final against JK Brackens. Having Rhys Shelly in goal has given the team so much confidence behind an experienced backline.

Their forward line has scoring potential in Kieran Morris, Max Hackett, and Jack Hayes but the question remains if they have enough in the tank to breakdown a very tight Kilruane defence where James Cleary, Craig Morgan, Niall O’Meara, Aaron Morgan, and Eoin Hogan are playing with confidence. Verdict: Kilruane MacDonaghs