Tipp duo set for long-awaited day in the sun

A REAL Cinderella-story in Tipperary tomorrow, as Loughmore-Castleiney take on Drom & Inch in the senior hurling championship final at Semple Stadium (3.30pm).

Loughmore-Castleiney have won this title just once, in 1988, while Drom & Inch have yet to get their hands on the coveted Hogan Cup. There is no sign of Toomevara, disposed of by Nenagh Éire Óg, subsequently beaten by Loughmore-Castleiney in the semi-final, no trace of Thurles Sarsfields, who fell to Killenaule, who were then seen off by Drom & Inch in the other semi-final.

As for Mullinahone, whom you’d expect to see in the absence of all those other big names, they themselves were pipped by Toomevara in an earlier knockout round. So, it comes to those two and deservedly so, let it be said, fairytale or not.

Drom & Inch have hurled their way to this final with a team that has been building for several years, winning all before them at minor and U21, Loughmore-Castleiney with a team that has just been there or thereabouts for a while, always giving the big guns a game, always just that little bit short.

The big difference for them this year? They have unearthed a star, a gifted young forward; Noel

McGrath is still only 16, won’t be 17 until December, but has played this year like a man who’s been around forever, six nerveless points in the semi-final testimony to his coolness.

David Kennedy is another of their star performers. Like Noel, David was also playing a man’s game long before his time, but unlike the youngster, he has been around before. Now 31, David was the defensive linchpin for Tipperary when they won the All-Ireland senior hurling title in 2001 but was cursed afterwards with a series of knee injuries and eventually transferred to Kildare, where he works as a Garda in Maynooth.

With the Lilywhites he has enjoyed a new lease of life but his heart remained always with his club. This final, then, comes as reward for all those years of loyal service in search of a cause that always seemed lost.

“I remember ‘88,” he recalls now. “I was only 11 or 12, I remember the drawn match, then the replay on the Saturday. It looked like we were going to be beaten, then Pat McGrath’s goal at the end (Noel’s father, incidentally) and suddenly we have a one-point, two-point lead, with a couple of minutes to go, and we held out. I think everyone in Loughmore-Castleiney remembers the moment when that goal went in and then the final whistle.

“For some of the players on this team it’s almost a lifetime ago but I remember it like it was yesterday and how big a deal it was winning our first county senior title, especially having lost it the year before with the last puck of the game. We got to the senior football final as well that year, (1987). Cappawhite beat us in the hurling final with that last-minute point but we went out a week later and beat Clonmel in the football final.

“In 1988 we reached the two finals again. This time the football came first and we were beaten, but a week later we beat Borris-Ileigh in the hurling. For the players who were involved at the time that showed tremendous character, to keep coming back and winning. I just hope we have the same kind of bottle.”

It’s a tiny parish, Loughmore-Castleiney; two villages less than three miles apart, one smaller than the other, and yet they have a tremendous tradition, in football especially.

“People have no idea how small we are — I’d say we have less than 1,000 people in total so even to get a competitive team out is a fair achievement, never mind reaching a county final in hurling and a quarter-final in football. We might have two or three lads who’d play football mainly with hurling as their second game, and vice-versa, but it’s nearly exactly the same players lining out Sunday after Sunday, hurling and football, in almost exactly the same positions.’’

All that dedication is now paying off; the problem is that in Drom & Inch they are facing an equally dedicated side, a fact readily accepted by David. “Drom & Inch are showing other clubs how to go about their business. They’ve invested very heavily at underage, won minor titles, U21 counties, and all that good work is paying off now.

“They have so many really good young players coming through now, they’re bound to win a county title sooner rather than later, and I’m not just saying that. It’s not a question of ‘if’, it’s a matter of when. They were in the final a couple of years ago and it’s no surprise to anyone in Tipperary that they’re back again, and they’re going to be in a lot more.

“There’s talent there and if they use it, if that group of players stick together, a county title is inevitable, but hopefully, not at our expense this year! This is our chance, I think everyone in the panel realises that this could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, we might never again get to a county final. It’s nearly 20 years since we were in our last final, I think we should appreciate that. We’re not Toomevara or Thurles Sarsfields, we don’t have the continuous pool of players you need to compete for county titles year after year. Noel is 16, Seamus Bohan is still there from ‘88 – that shows how much use we must get from our players. Noel is such an important player for us already, but under the new rules, he won’t be able to play next year, because he’s still a minor. For a lot of us, this could be our last chance.”