Hearty victory in Salthill.
By Noel Dundon, Tipperary Media,
3-25 and ten scores from all across the pitch. It doesn’t get much better than that when it comes to trips to the seaside town of Salthill.
Liam Cahill will be well pleased with the opening sortee in the Allianz National Hurling League. Winning in Salthill can be difficult, so to come away with the victory in so comprehensive a manner gives a great boost to the squad as they continue their journey through the league. Given that we have a home tie against Wexford next Sunday – a Wexford side which lost heavily to Cork last weekend – the chance of winning a second game on the bounce is a very real possibility.
That would ensure that Tipperary remain in the top level for the 2026 campaign and it also means that the shackles can be removed and Liam Cahill’s men can have a real go at perhaps making it to the final – the top two teams in the group will contest the final this year as there will be no semi-final games.
But, back to the Galway tie – a nice touch having a minute of silence in memory of the late Mick Fogarty. A proud Thurles Sarsfields man hailing from the townsland of Killahara, Mick who lived in Woodford for many years was heavily involved in Galway GAA, acting as selector with numerous county teams.
Mick Fogarty would have delighted in Tipperary’s performance on the day – a first competitive outing in seven months. His native county was well organised, full of energy through those young legs, and yet had an experienced spine which held everything together. In fact, had it not been for two soft goals, Galway would have been thoroughly thrashed, a reality which will surely have worried new Boss Micheal O’Donoghue – such defeats on home turf do not go down too well anywhere, but especially with the Tribesmen.
Still, it is only the first round of the league, played in January. And, while Galway will not be conducting a major inquisition just yet, neither should we be getting carried away. It would appear that we have much to look forward to in the developing careers of a number of our league debutants. Sam O’Farrell, Dylan Walsh and Darragh McCarthy did very well, while Andrew Ormonde was also in sparkling form. Willie Connors hurled a hell of a lot of ball at midfield and it was great to see Seamus Kennedy making an appearance late on – what superb shape he is in following that lengthy lay-off due to injury.
So, Wexford for the Bank Holiday weekend visit to Thurles then – another chance to check out the Premier talent ahead of the stern tests against the likes of Kilkenny, Cork, Limerick and Clare. Wexford will come with venom in their ash plants following that humiliating defeat at the hands of Cork on opening day. They too are experimenting and Keith Rossiter will perhaps use the game to blood more players – what better place to do it than in FBD Semple Stadium.
Harty heavyweights slug it out in Final.
Thurles CBS go in search of a ninth Dr Harty Cup title in Mallow on Saturday and they will have the whole of Tipperary cheering them on. It’s ten years since they claimed the famed silverware and if they are to do it, they will have to make history by beating St Flannan’s of Ennis for the first time in a final – reverses against them in 1954 and 2005 hurt the Thurles school greatly. In fact, they have been runner-up on eleven occasions already and will not want to make it the perfect dozen.
It will take a season’s best performance to down the Clare boys, but Thurles have been improving with every game and next Saturday is the day they will want to produce their ace cards when they come to the table to roll the dice. We wish them the very best in their endeavours.
Footballers off to a fine start.
Philly Ryan’s senior footballers earned a well deserved point on their visit to Carlow – a real shot in the arm for a new team which is working very hard to make an impact. Coming from behind and coping with the new rules as well, Tipperary taking a point from Dr Cullen Park is nothing to be sniffed at – we have often found it very hard to get anything from that particular venue in recent times. Longford next Saturday in FBD Semple Stadium is next up for the lads – a win would do very nicely indeed.