O’Loughlin dares to dream of final place

THERE’S a bit of a pattern developing in the Munster and Leinster AIB provincial club senior hurling championships.

Tomorrow, in one semi-final in Leinster there’s the fairytale of 48-year-old Damien Fox and Tullamore, champions in Offaly for the first time in 45 years, coming up against the Brendan Murtagh-powered Westmeath kingpins Clonkill.

But that’s matched in Munster by the fairytale journey of Cratloe, senior hurling champions in Clare for the first time in their 122-year history, facing the heavy artillery of Waterford’s Ballygunner, led by veteran Paul Flynn.