The Tipperary GAA (Club and intercounty) Discussion thread 2014

Xenophile

Three of the four teams in Saturdays League Finals wear the colours of Blue/Gold, Gold/Blue, Blue is the predominant colour the fourth team. So lots of Blue/Gold Flags waving about on Saturday evening. It will be interesting to get a chance to see the difference in skill levels in the two divisions. Tipp to Win.

premierstone

Just looking at that Tipp football team two things struck me and now I'm no football guru I'll freely admit and my knowledge would be rather limited but it must be a long time since there was three North Tipp men starting, especailly in a National Final, if it has ever happened, and secondly not a single representative from the county champions!

Spirit of 67

premierstone wrote: »

Just looking at that Tipp football team two things struck me and now I'm no football guru I'll freely admit and my knowledge would be rather limited but it must be a long time since there was three North Tipp men starting, especailly in a National Final, if it has ever happened, and secondly not a single representative from the county champions!

Strange because of how little Club Football these lads play . Also on the Minor Team that started last week there were 2 Nordies , including Captain Willie Connors and there was nobody from West Tipp !

digzy

What's going on with the ladies team? Sounds like the Dutch soccer team when they're at a tournament. I'd say Leahy has his hand full with some of those prima donnas!

digzy

digzy wrote: »

What's going on with the ladies team? Sounds like the Dutch soccer team when they're at a tournament. I'd say Leahy has his hand full with some of those prima donnas!

Think we probably need to hear more information before we make a judgement because i heard completely different.

I dont follow the ladies football much but some are saying that Leahy was apparently picking a girl who hadn't trained in weeks and that when the more senior experienced players gave feedback to Leahy about the training sessions needing more intensity, his response was to drop them. Now im holding off on judgement until i hear both sides of the arguments but there is two sides to this story. Apparently a meeting was held with the football board chairman and the ladies were shouted down as if they were dogs.

Let us not forget these women came agonisingly close to winning an Intermediate All Ireland last year and have slipped back the pecking order this year. Leahy apparently hasn't the best reputation when it comes to his people skills managing teams so ill give the girls the benefit of the doubt for now.

The Lost Sheep

digzy wrote: »

What's going on with the ladies team? Sounds like the Dutch soccer team when they're at a tournament. I'd say Leahy has his hand full with some of those prima donnas!

Where are going with calling some of the players "prima donnas"? From all accounts ive heard its Leahy who caused the problems and didn't act like any good coach should have. Like t_G ill wait until the both sides have made their argument before making my own judgement on what's went on but from what ive heard so far. Leahy is primarily at fault

tippspur

The football is on TG4 tomorrow.

Spirit of 67

tippspur wrote: »

The football is on TG4 tomorrow.

Will be there in person , hopefully first Silverware of the year for Tipperary GAA !

Xenophile

premierstone wrote: »

Just looking at that Tipp football team two things struck me and now I'm no football guru I'll freely admit and my knowledge would be rather limited but it must be a long time since there was three North Tipp men starting, especailly in a National Final, if it has ever happened, and secondly not a single representative from the county champions!

I am delighted to see a great spread of players from all over the county, this should help supporters get behind the team, all the way down from Philip Austin's club, Borrisokane to Conor Sweeney's club in Ballyporeen. Sometimes when it comes to individual talent the yardstick of County Champions is not always the best indicator.

Talent from around Clonmel can come from the following Senior Clubs.

Clonmel Commercials
Clonmel Og
Moyle Rovers (Suburbs)
Ardfinnan ......10km
Fethard .........12km
Cahir.........12km.
Kilsheelan........8km

and a relatively New Club.............namely Clerihan 10km from Clonmel.

So an exceptional talent can from inside or outside the county and often many of these players are playing with clubs outside the County.

I have great hopes that all divisions will continue to provide good inter County players and help make Tipp a force in football.

digzy

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

Where are going with calling some of the players "prima donnas"? From all accounts ive heard its Leahy who caused the problems and didn't act like any good coach should have. Like t_G ill wait until the both sides have made their argument before making my own judgement on what's went on but from what ive heard so far. Leahy is primarily at fault

well i hear from a few people that a certain player whose dad was the former manager and subsequently booted out for abusing a ref is the ringleader..

who were the county champs of the last two years and how many are on the first 15 BTW?

now you head off and google that for yourself;)

callaway92

Struggling through the first 20 mins with a scrappy Conor Sweeney goal just putting us ahead there. Hopefully that'll kick us on a bit.

ReacherCreature

Congratulations Tipp! Wonderful season capped off with a great win.

Xenophile

ReacherCreature wrote: »

Congratulations Tipp! Wonderful season capped off with a great win.

I echo your congratulations, the team worked hard all through the winter months. Must also congratulate the the manager Peter Creedon, he chose no player from Lougmore Castleiney (with all due respect for the Loughmore Castleiney players but they do not have the same competition for players for instance as players from the South), it's more important to chose the best individual and team players and he was astute enough to do this.

Tonight I hope the the management and the players are enjoying and celebrating their success. With such a bunch of committed management and players I would not be at all surprised if we moved up another division next year!

robbiezero

Xenophile wrote: »

I echo your congratulations, the team worked hard all through the winter months. Must also congratulate the the manager Peter Creedon, he chose no player from Lougmore Castleiney (with all due respect for the Loughmore Castleiney players but they do not have the same competition for players for instance as players from the South), it's more important to chose the best individual and team players and he was astute enough to do this.

Tonight I hope the the management and the players are enjoying and celebrating their success. With such a bunch of committed management and players I would not be at all surprised if we moved up another division next year!

What footballers could he have chosen from Loughmore?
Noel McGrath was probably one of the outstanding club footballers in Tipp last year. Liam and John were on 21's. John Meagher is injured.

I don't understand your point on competition in the South compared to the Mid, what has that got to do with anything?

digzy

robbiezero wrote: »

What footballers could he have chosen from Loughmore?
Noel McGrath was probably one of the outstanding club footballers in Tipp last year. Liam and John were on 21's. John Meagher is injured.

I don't understand your point on competition in the South compared to the Mid, what has that got to do with anything?

I wouldn't hold your breath Robbie. Xenophile's posts are good on general waffle, specifics not so.

Xenophile

robbiezero wrote: »

Noel McGrath was probably one of the outstanding club footballers in Tipp last year. Liam and John were on 21's. John Meagher is injured.

Loughmore. no doubt have made a great contribution to football in the county. Will the players mentioned above be available to the senior football championship panel ? Which or whether I wish them luck in whatever code or codes they chose to play!

ReacherCreature

Uhm, the ladies football team are taking a really serious beating right now...

45min: Tipperary 0-1 Armagh 7-14.

Spirit of 67

ReacherCreature wrote: »

Uhm, the ladies football team are taking a really serious beating right now...

45min: Tipperary 0-1 Armagh 7-14.

Tesco Homegrown NFL Tipperary 0-2 Armagh 9-15 (FT) , Jebus , all the good work in the last couple of years gone down the drain !

digzy

Spirit of 67 wrote: »

Tesco all the good work in the last couple of years gone down the drain !

Could you be any more melodramatic? Bit of perspective?:rolleyes:It's an awful result for everyone involved but whatever work was done over the past number of years hasn't been undone with one single result.
Ireland were abysmal against England for Eddie o sullivans final season in charge and they won the slam under kidney the next season in a sport I dare say is more competitive than ladies Gaelic football. There's obviously huge issues between the mgmt and certain players. Guess they'll have to figure out who runs the team, the manager or a select group of players.

GoldFour4

Kilruane 4-33 Cashel 0-07 today. Cashel only fooling themselves.

tippspur

malistheman wrote: »

Kilruane 4-33 Cashel 0-07 today. Cashel only fooling themselves.

How did Cashel get so bad over the years,had a great team one time with all the Bonners and Raimy Ryan and a few more.

robbiezero

tippspur wrote: »

How did Cashel get so bad over the years,had a great team one time with all the Bonners and Raimy Ryan and a few more.

Cappawhite the same. Two very strong club teams back in the late 80's early 90's when the Tipp team was backboned by West men and it was the strongest division in the county.
Only two proper senior teams in it now. Rest are just average intermediate standard.
Rugby in particular and soccer quite strong in Cashel so GAA is struggling a bit. They are doing some good work underage which may reap some dividends in years to come, but it will be a long way back if ever.

The Lost Sheep

tippspur wrote: »

How did Cashel get so bad over the years,had a great team one time with all the Bonners and Raimy Ryan and a few more.

That's quite a while ago tbf. As Robbie says other sports have increased in strength rugby especially. A drop in standards across whole division.
Cashel Rugby gone very strong at some levels especially at first team level. Their rise to winning a few junior leagues and junior cup before turning senior and then in first season as senior club winning the league with 15 wins from 15 games will have pulled numbers into club

robbiezero wrote: »

Cappawhite the same. Two very strong club teams back in the late 80's early 90's when the Tipp team was backboned by West men and it was the strongest division in the county.
Only two proper senior teams in it now. Rest are just average intermediate standard.
Rugby in particular and soccer quite strong in Cashel so GAA is struggling a bit. They are doing some good work underage which may reap some dividends in years to come, but it will be a long way back if ever.

Will they come back? Not great sign if town like Cashel cant move up the ranks and doesn't bode well for west hurling in many ways.

robbiezero

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

That's quite a while ago tbf. As Robbie says other sports have increased in strength rugby especially. A drop in standards across whole division.
Cashel Rugby gone very strong at some levels especially at first team level. Their rise to winning a few junior leagues and junior cup before turning senior and then in first season as senior club winning the league with 15 wins from 15 games will have pulled numbers into club
Will they come back? Not great sign if town like Cashel cant move up the ranks and doesn't bode well for west hurling in many ways.

I don't think they will to be honest. They will end up intermediate in the next few years and then it will be difficult for them to revive hurling in the town.
In a few years the West will only have 2 maybe 3 senior hurling teams.

malistheman

malistheman wrote: »

Kilruane 4-33 Cashel 0-07 today. Cashel only fooling themselves.

Thats absolutely shocking. If the people who run Cashel King Cormacs continue to delude themselves into making a case for them to remain Senior after today then it will be quite clear that they know absolutely sweet fúck all about hurling. The strokes that were pulled back in 2011 to help them remain senior were well out of order but they are getting their karma now.

I really feel sorry for the likes of Dylan Fitzelle who comes from a proud hurling family up there. One of the counties up and coming talents will suffer ultimately due to the batterings he finds himself on the wrong end of for the club.

And what of JK Brackens? Another club who are well off the standard. Here we are hoping Colm O'Riordan will go on to become a star for the county and resist the temptation of the AFL but if he is on the end of batterings for the club himself it might further push him toward the departure lounge for Australia. Could also kill the confidence of these two young men respectively considering the winning mentality they built up from such a young age.

digzy

digzy wrote: »

What's going on with the ladies team? Sounds like the Dutch soccer team when they're at a tournament. I'd say Leahy has his hand full with some of those prima donnas!

As Babs Keating might say, 'The problem with the women of today is that they are too well educated'

robbiezero

Deleted User wrote: »

I really feel sorry for the likes of Dylan Fitzelle who comes from a proud hurling family up there. One of the counties up and coming talents will suffer ultimately due to the batterings he finds himself on the wrong end of for the club.

And what of JK Brackens? Another club who are well off the standard. Here we are hoping Colm O'Riordan will go on to become a star for the county and resist the temptation of the AFL but if he is on the end of batterings for the club himself it might further push him toward the departure lounge for Australia. Could also kill the confidence of these two young men respectively considering the winning mentality they built up from such a young age.

I don't know where you are getting this about JK Brackens. While not top level standard, they are certainly in the next tier and miles ahead of the bottom rung of Cappa, Cashel, Davins etc. They are 2 from 2 so far in this years championship hammering Kickhams and Davins, and have a good chance of topping the group. There is not too many clubs in Tipp if any that will be handing them out a battering.
They have been unfortunate in years prior to this that they are in the Mid Championship with the 3 strongest clubs by a mile in Tipperary and so have not really featured in the latter stages of previous championships.
Also a very decent senior football side.

Xenophile

Great Coverage of the football game in todays Examiner This Newpaper is well worthy of your support.

Monday, April 28, 2014

By Eoghan Cormican, Croke Park

Tipperary 1-16 Clare 1-15

You’d be forgiven for confusing Conor Sweeney as a regular visitor of Jones Road, one of the many summer guests to emerge from the Hogan Stand tunnel.

The Ballyporeen corner-forward moved effortlessly on the hallowed turf, the radar in perfect working order, the ease at which he adapted to unfamiliar surrounds most impressive.

Sweeney, as is the low standing of Tipperary football, had stepped inside the Croke Park whitewash on just one previous occasion — the county suffering a comprehensive qualifier defeat to Dublin back in 2010. Four years would ensue without a single opportunity to return.

And so Saturday would not be wasted. On this turn, Sweeney was determined to rise above the occasion, to stand out and make his mark.

The 24-year-old finished with 1-8 to his name, ticking emphatically every box, six second-half minors central in edging Tipp across the line.

“I kicked a lot of scores yeah, but it was a case of being in the right place, right time. The work was done for me,” he said.

“It is great to be here. I played here a couple of years back and that was an experience in itself. It is a fantastic stadium and just a pity we don’t get up here more often.

“At the start, it did affect us slightly. We were doing things we never do, dropping the ball, shooting from angles we wouldn’t normally shoot from. We all just wanted to impress so much. I think we just needed to go back and start doing the simple things. We did that and we came away with the win.”

Sweeney was the central component of an inside line that wreaked untold damage on the Banner rearguard, Michael Quinlivan and Barry Grogan capable co-conspirators. Grogan raised four white flags in a decent showing and while Quinlivan was rendered scoreless, much credit here to Clare’s Kevin Hartnett, the Clonmel youngster provided the final pass for several scores. In total, 1-12 was sunk amid the debris of the Clare full-back line.

“The two boys are very good. We inter-change a lot. You have to keep moving in there, keep their full-back line thinking. Thankfully we did the business today.

“We came here to do a job and it didn’t matter if it was one or 10 points, we got the win and are delighted.”

Clare did enjoy a slender advantage by the end of the first quarter, Shane McGrath and David Tubridy sharing six white flags; it failed, however, to tell the full tale — seven Tipperary wides added to a superb save from Clare keeper Pierce De Loughrey, frustrating their dominance.

On 19 minutes, the target was finally nailed. Barry Grogan supplied the delivery and while Harnett repelled Pater Acheson’s initial effort, Sweeney scored the rebound.

Grogan, Robbie Kiely and George Hannigan swung over further minors, but Clare continued to advance, with Tubridy and a massive punt from midfielder Cathal O’Connor reducing the deficit to a point — 1-7 to 0-9 the interval difference.

Shane Hickey and Jamie Malone found the target either side of a Barry Grogan effort and Clare seized the initiative when Martin O’Leary, teed up by Malone and Ciaran Russell, shook the roof of Paul Fitzgerald’s goal on 43 minutes. Ahead by 1-11 to 1-8, now was their time to tighten fatally the noose. Tipperary, however, stubbornly refused to concede any further ground.

Grogan and Sweeney combined subsequently in steering over four unanswered points as the pendulum swung back in favour of Peter Creedon’s side.

“That is the kind of response we’ve given all year,” added Sweeney. “We were forced to dig and we did.”

And so it ebbed and flowed, three times they were level, until Conor Sweeney put Tipp two points up with a few minutes of time remaining. Clare had to mine their resources and while Tubridy, their most effective performer alongside midfielder Gary Brennan, pared it back to a point, no equaliser could be located.

Scorers for Tipperary: C Sweeney (1-8, 4fs), B Grogan (0-4, 2fs), G Hannigan, R Kiely, S O’Brien, I Fahey (0-1 each).

Scorers for Clare: D Tubridy (0-7, 4fs), S McGrath (0-4), M O’Leary (1-0), S Hickey, C O’Connor, J Malone, C Russell (0-1 each).

Tipperary: P Fitzgerald; J Coghlan, P Codd, A Morrissey; R Kiely, P Acheson, D Leahy; S O’Brien, G Hannigan; P Austin, I Fahey, B Fox; C Sweeney, M Quinlivan, B Grogan.

Subs for Tipperary: S Grogan for P Austin (43), C McDonald for Morrissey (45), C O’Riordan for Fahey (61), C McCullagh for S Grogan (BC, 70).

Clare: P De Loughrey; D Ryan, K Hartnett, M McMahon; S Hickey, G Kelly, E Coughlan; G Brennan, C O’Connor; S McGrath, J Malone, C Russell; M O’Leary, S Brennan, D Tubridy.

Subs for Clare: M Óige Murphy for Hickey (46), P McMahon for S Brennan (50), J Hayes for De Loughrey (56).

Referee: N Mooney (Cavan).

Game-changer Tipperary’s response to the Clare goal on 43 minutes. Reeled off four points without reply to move back into the lead and nullify O’Leary’s strike. Crucial.

Talk of the town The deplorable attendance. Just 8,654 filed through for both games, but there was certainly less than half that in the Hogan Stand for the opener. Poor.

Did that just happen? Martin O’Leary’s goal strike, sweeping move capped off by a scintillating finish.

Best on show Conor Sweeney, no contest. 1-8 over the 70 minutes represented a very good days work. Took his goal well and proved a constant threat in the right corner.

Black card watch Séamus Grogan was black carded on the stroke of full-time.

Sideline superior
Tipperary substitutions had greater impact, while Colm Collins was slow in wheeling off Clare forwards who were non-existent for most of the contest.

The man in black Clare were clearly irked by more than a handful of Noel Mooney’s decisions, particularly the awarding of a free against sub keeper Joe Hayes for touching possession on the floor in the process of pulling off a superb save from Conor Sweeney.

What’s next? Tipperary entertain Limerick on May 31 in the Munster quarter-final, while Clare welcome Waterford to Cusack Park the following weekend.

robbiezero

Xenophile wrote: »

Great Coverage of the football game in todays Examiner This Newpaper is well worthy of your support.

Monday, April 28, 2014

By Eoghan Cormican, Croke Park

Tipperary 1-16 Clare 1-15

You’d be forgiven for confusing Conor Sweeney as a regular visitor of Jones Road, one of the many summer guests to emerge from the Hogan Stand tunnel.

The Ballyporeen corner-forward moved effortlessly on the hallowed turf, the radar in perfect working order, the ease at which he adapted to unfamiliar surrounds most impressive.

Sweeney, as is the low standing of Tipperary football, had stepped inside the Croke Park whitewash on just one previous occasion — the county suffering a comprehensive qualifier defeat to Dublin back in 2010. Four years would ensue without a single opportunity to return.

And so Saturday would not be wasted. On this turn, Sweeney was determined to rise above the occasion, to stand out and make his mark.

The 24-year-old finished with 1-8 to his name, ticking emphatically every box, six second-half minors central in edging Tipp across the line.

“I kicked a lot of scores yeah, but it was a case of being in the right place, right time. The work was done for me,” he said.

“It is great to be here. I played here a couple of years back and that was an experience in itself. It is a fantastic stadium and just a pity we don’t get up here more often.

“At the start, it did affect us slightly. We were doing things we never do, dropping the ball, shooting from angles we wouldn’t normally shoot from. We all just wanted to impress so much. I think we just needed to go back and start doing the simple things. We did that and we came away with the win.”

Sweeney was the central component of an inside line that wreaked untold damage on the Banner rearguard, Michael Quinlivan and Barry Grogan capable co-conspirators. Grogan raised four white flags in a decent showing and while Quinlivan was rendered scoreless, much credit here to Clare’s Kevin Hartnett, the Clonmel youngster provided the final pass for several scores. In total, 1-12 was sunk amid the debris of the Clare full-back line.

“The two boys are very good. We inter-change a lot. You have to keep moving in there, keep their full-back line thinking. Thankfully we did the business today.

“We came here to do a job and it didn’t matter if it was one or 10 points, we got the win and are delighted.”

Clare did enjoy a slender advantage by the end of the first quarter, Shane McGrath and David Tubridy sharing six white flags; it failed, however, to tell the full tale — seven Tipperary wides added to a superb save from Clare keeper Pierce De Loughrey, frustrating their dominance.

On 19 minutes, the target was finally nailed. Barry Grogan supplied the delivery and while Harnett repelled Pater Acheson’s initial effort, Sweeney scored the rebound.

Grogan, Robbie Kiely and George Hannigan swung over further minors, but Clare continued to advance, with Tubridy and a massive punt from midfielder Cathal O’Connor reducing the deficit to a point — 1-7 to 0-9 the interval difference.

Shane Hickey and Jamie Malone found the target either side of a Barry Grogan effort and Clare seized the initiative when Martin O’Leary, teed up by Malone and Ciaran Russell, shook the roof of Paul Fitzgerald’s goal on 43 minutes. Ahead by 1-11 to 1-8, now was their time to tighten fatally the noose. Tipperary, however, stubbornly refused to concede any further ground.

Grogan and Sweeney combined subsequently in steering over four unanswered points as the pendulum swung back in favour of Peter Creedon’s side.

“That is the kind of response we’ve given all year,” added Sweeney. “We were forced to dig and we did.”

And so it ebbed and flowed, three times they were level, until Conor Sweeney put Tipp two points up with a few minutes of time remaining. Clare had to mine their resources and while Tubridy, their most effective performer alongside midfielder Gary Brennan, pared it back to a point, no equaliser could be located.

Scorers for Tipperary: C Sweeney (1-8, 4fs), B Grogan (0-4, 2fs), G Hannigan, R Kiely, S O’Brien, I Fahey (0-1 each).

Scorers for Clare: D Tubridy (0-7, 4fs), S McGrath (0-4), M O’Leary (1-0), S Hickey, C O’Connor, J Malone, C Russell (0-1 each).

Tipperary: P Fitzgerald; J Coghlan, P Codd, A Morrissey; R Kiely, P Acheson, D Leahy; S O’Brien, G Hannigan; P Austin, I Fahey, B Fox; C Sweeney, M Quinlivan, B Grogan.

Subs for Tipperary: S Grogan for P Austin (43), C McDonald for Morrissey (45), C O’Riordan for Fahey (61), C McCullagh for S Grogan (BC, 70).

Clare: P De Loughrey; D Ryan, K Hartnett, M McMahon; S Hickey, G Kelly, E Coughlan; G Brennan, C O’Connor; S McGrath, J Malone, C Russell; M O’Leary, S Brennan, D Tubridy.

Subs for Clare: M Óige Murphy for Hickey (46), P McMahon for S Brennan (50), J Hayes for De Loughrey (56).

Referee: N Mooney (Cavan).

Game-changer Tipperary’s response to the Clare goal on 43 minutes. Reeled off four points without reply to move back into the lead and nullify O’Leary’s strike. Crucial.

Talk of the town The deplorable attendance. Just 8,654 filed through for both games, but there was certainly less than half that in the Hogan Stand for the opener. Poor.

Did that just happen? Martin O’Leary’s goal strike, sweeping move capped off by a scintillating finish.

Best on show Conor Sweeney, no contest. 1-8 over the 70 minutes represented a very good days work. Took his goal well and proved a constant threat in the right corner.

Black card watch Séamus Grogan was black carded on the stroke of full-time.

Sideline superior
Tipperary substitutions had greater impact, while Colm Collins was slow in wheeling off Clare forwards who were non-existent for most of the contest.

The man in black Clare were clearly irked by more than a handful of Noel Mooney’s decisions, particularly the awarding of a free against sub keeper Joe Hayes for touching possession on the floor in the process of pulling off a superb save from Conor Sweeney.

What’s next? Tipperary entertain Limerick on May 31 in the Munster quarter-final, while Clare welcome Waterford to Cusack Park the following weekend.

I sometimes wonder what game they do be watching. Thought Sweeney was only ok myself. "The radar in perfect working order" - he missed at least 2-4. Fox, Fahey, Acheson, Kiely much more influential with Fox being my man of the match.