‘Church heros will get Tipp chance as Tynan ruled out for the League

By Shane Brophy

The feelgood factor around Tipperary hurling carried over into 2026 as Upperchurch/Drombane’s All-Ireland Club Intermediate Hurling Championship success on Saturday got the New Year off to the best possible start.

It wasn’t just that they defeated a brave Tooreen side from Mayo in an engrossing contest which went all the way to the last second of extra time before being decided in the favour of the Tipperary Premier Intermediate champions.

Having achieved their primary goal of regaining their senior status last October, their run to the All-Ireland final prevented some of their players, including the likes of skipper Keith Ryan, from getting an opportunity to stake a claim for a spot on Tipperary panels (hurling and football), but despite Tipperary senior hurling manager Liam Cahill saying he will confirm his National League panel in the coming week, there will be some flexibility to allow those players from Upperchurch/Drombane to compete for a spot.

“Heartiest congratulations to Upperchurch/Drombane, it was a rip roaring encounter and fair play to them on being All-Ireland champions,” Cahill commented following Tipperary’s win over Kerry in the Munster Hurling League on Sunday.

“It is a huge honour for any club or parish to go to Croke Park and achieve what they did. I am sure they will have a week or so of celebrations but we will be making sure that we give the players on our radar with Upperchurch/Drombane an opportunity to put their hand up and play for Tipperary as well.”

He added: “We have had an extended panel there for the last two months. We will be announcing a National League panel in the next week or so and we will be going there with what we have with a forty man panel from there onto midway through the league at least.”

One player who is unlikely to feature in the National League is Roscrea’s Alan Tynan (inset) who has been ruled out for three months following the “nasty” shoulder injury sustained in the Munster League draw against Waterford which required surgery.

“Alan will definitely be out for the next 10-12 weeks so that is a big blow to us as to Alan himself as well as he had come back in really good shape and was hurling really well that day in Fethard,” Cahill revealed.

“It is unfortunate for Alan but hopefully he will come back before our year ends but it will give an opportunity for someone else to step up.”

The Tipperary manager also confirmed that all players are now back in training, with John McGrath the last to return in the last week following his pre-Christmas nuptuals, as the build-up to the start of the National Hurling League cranks up, with Galway coming to FBD Semple Stadium in round one on Saturday week.

However, All-Ireland winning captain Ronan Maher won’t feature in the early rounds as he builds up his fitness after a minor operation last October.