Tipperary GAA Scene 21st August

by County PRO Ger Ryan

ALL IRELAND HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINAL

Tipperary’s 4-24 to 1-15 defeat by Kilkenny in last Sunday’s All Ireland hurling semi-final has been hugely disappointing to all Tipperary people and none more so than the players, management and county board. Criticism in the aftermath of such a defeat is expected and understandable and a necessary part of preparing for next season. However, some of the personalised and ill-informed attacks in the print, voice and online media are simply unfair, unacceptable and unwarranted. No Tipperary player or member of the management team prepared as hard as they did all year with a view to a performance as disappointing as that which took place last Sunday. There has also been much support and sympathy for players and management along with constructive criticism and we would like to thank all those who have provided genuine support to the team during the 2012 season. It is greatly appreciated in a week such as this. Blaming any one individual or group is not going to achieve much and it is now important for everybody involved to look honestly and openly at how improvement can be achieved for next year. That is best done after calm reflection and by bearing in mind that our players and management team are amateurs who give generously of their time and ability and who all have brought great success to the county in various different ways over the years. We thank them all for their contribution during 2012. We also thank their families whose support for our management and players is unstinting despite the sacrifices required to have a family member involved in senior inter-county teams.

ELECTRIC IRELAND ALL IRELAND MINOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP

Sunday last was far from all gloom and disappointment at Croke Park. Congratulations to our minor hurlers and management on a very impressive display to defeat Galway by 2-16 to 1-14 in the minor hurling championship semi-final. Tipperary face a very tough challenge against last year’s defeated finalists, Dublin, in the All Ireland final on September 9 at Croke Park. Tipperary last appeared in final in 2007 when they defeated Cork to achieve a 2 in a row. Tipperary are seeking their 19th title and Dublin their 5th, the last of which was won in 1965. Tipperary and Dublin have met 6 times previously in the All Ireland minor championship with 3 wins each. They have met in 5 finals with Dublin winning 3 (1945, 46, 54) and Tipperary winning 2 (1952, 53). Their last meeting was in the 2004 quarter-final which Tipperary won by 2-14 to 1-11 at Dr. Cullen Park in Carlow. Interestingly, Tipperary manager, William Maher acted as a selector with the Dublin minor hurlers a couple of years ago with current Dublin minor manager, Shay Boland, but there will be no divided loyalties on the 9th as William will attempt to achieve a unique double of captaining (1996) and managing Tipperary to minor All Ireland success. We wish them good luck in their preparations in the weeks ahead.

COUNTY SENIOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP

The Round 3 games in the County Senior Hurling Championship will be all be played this week. Cappawhite will play Borris-Ileigh on Thursday, August 23 at Clonoulty at 7pm. On Saturday 25 at 6pm in Nenagh, Roscrea will play Lorrha and Dorrha. On Sunday 26 in a double header at Dolla, Kildangan will play Templederry Kenyons at 2pm and Drom and Inch will play Nenagh or Burgess at 3.30pm. Extra time will apply in all games if necessary.

SEAMUS O RIAIN CUP AND RELEGATION

Moycarkey-Borris will play local rivals Boherlahan-Dualla in their attempt to retain the Seamus O Riain Cup on Saturday August 25 at 6.30pm at Holycross. Upperchurch Drombane and Aherlow will play to decide which club is relegated to Intermediate hurling for 2013. This game will precede the Seamus O Riain Cup final with a 5pm throw in. Extra time will not apply in either game.

COUNTY SENIOR HURLING LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION FINAL

Congratulations to Drom and Inch on winning the County Senior Hurling league premier division title by defeating old rivals Thurles Sarsfields by 0-23 to 1-14 at Templemore last Friday evening.

SYMPATHY

Tipperary County Board extends its deepest sympathy to Tipperary hurler, John O’Brien, former player, Paddy O’Brien, and their brothers, sisters, extended family and friends on the death of their brother, Thomas last week. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam uasal. It took great courage on John’s part to play with Tipperary on Sunday and credit is also due to Paddy who was present in his role as chartered physiotherapist to the minor hurlers. We would like to thank them sincerely for their loyalty and dedication at what is undoubtedly a difficult and sad time for them.

GAA MCNAMEE AWARDS

Submissions are now being accepted for the 2011 GAA McNamee Awards which honour excellence in the area of communications, publication relations and journalism, specifically related to the activities of the Association. Applications will be accepted and be processed up until 5pm on Friday, August 31, 2012. It should be noted that only work published or completed in the 2011 calendar year is eligible for consideration and entries will not be returned. Please note: There is a limit of three photographs per entrant for the photographic award and one entry for all other categories. The awards scheme will be judged under the following headings: Best GAA Publication – to cover all GAA Publications, including Club publications, County Yearbooks and general histories; Best GAA Website – covering the websites of all the Association’s units; Best Photograph – focussing on the best GAA-themed image from 2011; Best Programme – to cater for all match day programmes produced for any level of the Association’s activities; Best GAA related Radio Programme – to cater for all GAA programming broadcast either nationally or locally; Provincial Media Award – to acknowledge high quality written journalism in a provincial publication; National Media Award – to acknowledge high quality written journalism in national daily or Sunday publication; Irish Language Award / Gradam na Gaeilge – to recognise excellence in the field of Irish language GAA journalism across all media / chun aitheantas a thabhairt den sár oibre trí Ghaeilge thar na meáin go léir; Club Project Award – a club only award, this category aims to acknowledge excellence in a one off project across all forms of public relations, communication and digital activity; Hall of Fame Award / Outstanding Service Award – in recognition of a prolonged personal involvement in the coverage of GAA activities to the highest standards. All entries should be marked “GAA McNamee Awards 2011” and addressed for the attention of GAA Communications Manager Alan Milton, Croke Park, Dublin 3 or emailed to alan.milton@gaa.ie. Entrants should also clearly state what category they are submitting their entry under. Award winners will be contacted in due course with further details in relation to the awards banquet.

NATIONAL VOLUNTEERS IN SPORT AWARDS

The deadline for nominations for this year’s National Awards to Volunteers in Sport has been extended to Friday, August 24. The awards will honour eleven individuals who are representative of the 450,000 adults who volunteer their time and effort to sport in Ireland each year through their involvement with sports clubs and organisations. Nominations can be made online at www.volunteersinsport.ie where full details of the awards can also be found. For further information please call 01 6251155.

TIPPERARY GAA SCENE

Information concerning all areas in the GAA will appear in this section in the future. If you wish to include any item of interest in future articles, please contact the County Public Relations Officer Ger Ryan at 086-8149146 or via e-mail at pro.tipperary@gaa.ie on or before 3: 0pm on Monday. Visit the Tipperary GAA web site at http://tipperary.gaa.ie to keep up to date with all the latest news in Tipperary GAA circles.