Tipperary GAA Scene

Munster Pre-Season Competitions

Both Tipperary teams were back in action last weekend as the 2022 campaign commenced. First onto the field were our senior hurlers who travelled to Austin Stack Park in Tralee to play Kerry in the Munster Hurling Cup quarter final.

With a number of players unavailable due to illness, injury, and club action, this was an opportunity for Colm Bonnar and his management team to have a look at a number of players who had performed well for their clubs in 2021 and also in the recently held Miller Shield tournament. The conditions in Tralee were fairly challenging for both sides, with a stiff breeze and thundery showers being the order of the day. That being said it was the home team who made the most of their chances and recorded a first ever win over Tipperary in a competitive hurling game on a full-time score of 0-17 to 0-14.

Best wishes to Kiladangan’s Willie Connors who suffered a serious ankle injury in Tipperary’s Munster Cup game against Kerry. This was a most unfortunate injury for Willie to have picked up having just come on as a sub. A word of thanks to the Kerry medical team who were excellent and made sure that everything was taken care of in a speedy and efficient manner.

The focus for our senior hurlers will now turn to the upcoming Allianz hurling league which will commence on Saturday 5th February at 6.00pm in Portlaoise when Laois will be our opponents.

The Tipperary senior footballers travelled to play Limerick in Rathkeale last Sunday in their opening game in the McGrath Cup, and much like his hurling counterpart, David Power was missing several regulars which again gave him the chance to have a look at some new faces. This was a very competitive game all through and as the final whistle beckoned it looked as if Tipperary would be heading home with no points, however newcomer Jack Kennedy of JK Brackens came to the rescue with two late points, thus earning his team full points in a hard-earned victory.

Next up for Tipperary is a home tie with Kerry this Wednesday, 12th January in Templetuohy at 7.00pm. This will give the team management another chance to access their players in what should be a stern test.

Also in action next weekend will be Newcastle’s Michael Kennedy who takes charge of the Clare v Waterford Munster Hurling cup game, which takes place in Ennis at 2.00pm on Saturday and we wish Michael and his officials the very best of luck.

AIB Club Championships

Last Sunday in Mallow, Tipperary Junior ‘A’ Hurling champions Skeheenarinky played their Munster final against their near neighbours Ballygiblin of Cork. Such was the interest in this game, throw in had to be put back fifteen minutes to allow all spectators safe entry into the venue. The game itself proved to be a bridge too far for the Tipperary champions who had to give way to their opponents 2-14 to 1-9.

While the result on Sunday may not have gone the way of Skeheenarinky, they can be very proud of what they achieved throughout 2021 and can now look forward to joining the Intermediate ranks for 2022.

Mallow will again be the venue next Sunday 15th January for the clash of Tipperary champions Ballina and their Kerry counterparts Gneeveguilla in the Munster Junior Football championship final at 1.30pm. Best wishes to the players and team management in what is a very big day for the Ballina club and parish. Tickets are currently available via the Munster GAA website.

Tipperary Clubs Draw

The January draw took place last Friday evening, in Lar Na bPairce and saw over €40,000 in prizes being won by members around the county and further afield also. This month’s first prize of a car or €15,000 went to Moycarkey/Borris members Willie & Trisha Power, while Margaret & PJ Meade who are members with the JK Brackens club, claimed the second prize of a €5000 holiday voucher or cash. This month’s lotto jackpot of €3000 was won by the Cairde Na Gormacha syndicate who are joined with the Nenagh Eire Óg club. The lotto jackpot was not the only prize that went the way of the syndicate as they also claimed two further draw prizes of €500. This was the first time in the draws history that three prizes were won by the same member. Congratulations to all this month’s winners who will receive their prizes in the coming weeks. The next draw will take place on Friday February 4th at 8.30pm and will be broadcast live on Tipp FM.

Third Level Colleges

With the third level college action set to commence, all those involved have this week announced details of their panel members for the upcoming competitions. Tipperary are well represented across all competitions and in particular the Fitzgibbon Cup where 32 clubs have a total of 59 players involved. We wish all Tipperary players the very best of luck in what are sure to be very competitive competitions. The full list of Tipperary’s Fitzgibbon cup players is as follows:

Thurles Sarsfields - Paddy Creedon (Cork IT), Eoin Purcell (UCD), Michael Murphy (TU Dublin), Kevin Bracken and Paddy Stakelum (Maynooth U)

Nenagh Eire Og - Adam Healy, Conor McCarthy (TUS Limerick), Jake Morris (Maynooth U) and Philip Hickey (NUIG)

Moyne/Templetuohy - Gearoid O’Connor (UL), Conor Bowe (UCC) and Ciaran Lloyd (Cork IT)

Kiladangan - Billy Seymour, Ronan Ducie (TUS Limerick), Darragh Flannery (NUIG) and Fergal Hayes (IT Carlow)

Toomevara - Kevin McCarthy, Josh McCarthy, and Robbie Quirke (TUS Limerick)

Cashel King Cormacs - Ross Bonnar (TUS Limerick), Devon Ryan (MICL) and Aaron Browne (Cork IT)

Roscrea - Alan Tynan and Evan Fitzpatrick (TUS Limerick)

Holycross/Ballycahill - Bryan O’Mara (UL) and Ewan Bourke (MICL)

Kilruane MacDonaghs - Kian O’Kelly (TUS Limerick) and Mark O’Neill (WIT)

Borris-Ileigh - James Devaney (MICL) and Jerry Kelly (IT Carlow)

JK Brackens - Andrew Ormond and Eanna McBride (MICL)

Upperchurch/Drombane - Keith Ryan and Aaron Ryan (MICL)

Arravale Rovers - Fergus Halligan (Cork IT) and Johnny Ryan (MICL)

Kilsheelan/Kilcash - Mark Stokes (MICL), Barry Kehoe (TUS Limerick) and Mark Kehoe (UCC)

Clonoulty/Rossmore - Jack Ryan (MICL) and Sean Ryan (Maynooth U)

Boherlahan/Dualla - Mark Downey and John Ryan (MICL)

Portroe - Anthony Burke (TUS Limerick) and AJ Willis (GMIT)

Killenaule - Killian O’Dwyer (UCC) and Eoin Barry (Cork IT)

Burgess - Jack Boland (Trinity College)

Moyle Rovers - Jack Holohan (Trinity College)

Golden/Kilfeacle - Niall Heffernan (UCD)

Knockavilla Kickhams - Eoin McCormack (UCD)

Loughmore/Castleiney - Ciaran Connolly (UL)

Moneygall - Joe Fogarty (UL) and Bob Kenny (TU Dublin)

Silvermines - Darragh Nolan (MICL)

Carrick Swan - Billy Murphy (Cork IT)

St. Mary’s - Clonmel Joe Gunne (TU Dublin)

St. Patrick’s - Conor Duggan (Cork IT)

Newport - Daniel Carew (NUIG)

Mullinahone - Daire O’Brien (UCD)

Ballingarry - Declan Hayes (TUS Limerick)

Lorrha - Patrick “Bonnar” Maher (TU Dublin)

Health and Wellbeing

Clubs throughout the county are gearing up for the 2022 Irish Life/Healthy Clubs Every Step Counts Challenge run in conjunction with Operation Transformation now due to commence on 19th January ending on Wednesday 23rd February. As the start date for this event was already postponed by one week the organizers are awaiting further guidance from the Department of Health and will be in touch with clubs with any further recommendations. This popular event is open to all clubs and their communities’ clubs can still register on Get Ireland Walking /Ireland Lights Up.

GAA Master Fixtures Schedule

The GAA recently announced its inter-county Master Fixtures list for 2022. The new split-season approach means that the average inter-county season length for each county has been reduced from 35 weeks to 26 weeks. The All-Ireland Hurling Final will be played on July 17th with the All-Ireland Football Final one week later on July 24th, which is the 30th Sunday of the Year.

The Provincial Hurling Finals and Joe McDonagh Cup Final will be played on the weekend of June 4/5th, with the Ring, Rackard, and Meagher Cup Finals on May 21st. The Provincial football finals will take place on the same weekend of May 28/29th, with the Munster and Leinster Finals on the Saturday and the Connacht and Ulster Finals on the Sunday. The Tailteann Cup will be part of the All-Ireland SFC structure in 2022 and the Final will take place on Saturday, July 7, which is the same weekend as the All-Ireland Football semi-finals.

All knock-out games in the Championship competitions will be subject to winner on the day regulations. The only exceptions are the All-Ireland Senior Football and Hurling Finals which will have extra-time in the original fixture and then winner on the day in the event of a replay only.

Club Officer Training and Development

With the majority of club AGM’s now over, Club officers are now reminded to register for club officer training which is available to both new and existing club officers. Munster Council will lead the delivery of induction training for Chairpersons, Secretaries, Treasurers and PROs on January 20th.

The CLDP’s showcase modules for 2022 will cover the following topics:

• 25 January - Leading, Managing and Governing your Club

• 1 February - Digital Communications

• 3 February - Fundraising, Commercial and Sponsorship

• 8 February - Using IT to Simplify Club Administration

• 10 February - Operating Effectively as One Club

The Officer Development Committee will also facilitate the organisation of additional training delivered by other departments upon request and expects further modules to be added to the schedule in the coming weeks, e.g., Foireann. Modules already confirmed in that category include:

• 12 January – Diversity and Inclusion

• 19 January – Responding to Racism and Discrimination

Read more about what each module entails at: https://learning.gaa.ie/OfficerTrainingModules More details such as the exact topics and presenters will be added as they are confirmed. Enrolment for all these events is now open via the Officer Training Calendar: https://learning.gaa.ie/officertrainingcalendar

Tipperary GAA Scene

If there is anything you feel should feature in this column going forward, please feel free to forward it to pro.tipperary@gaa.ie