Duals in the crown

Sunday’s minor final provides Loughmore-Castleiney with a fitting stage to showcase the outstanding work being done in the Mid Tipperary dual club.

THIS is the drill. For training in Loughmore-Castleiney, they never differentiate between hurling and football. Head down to their local field at any time of year, and if the club is still vieing for honours in both codes, the thud of footballs being kicked and the clash of hurleys will ring in the air on the same night. David Kennedy rose to national prominence as a hurler. He manned the heart of the Tipperary defence when they lifted the Liam MacCarthy Cup in 2001 and has moonlighted with Kildare in the Christy Ring Cup since 2007. But back at base, fulfilling a dual mandate is all he has ever known.

“We’d regularly mix up our training with both on the same night. If it comes towards the end of the year, we start off with hurling when it is bright. Then when it’s getting darker, you’d hear the roar from the management to stop the match. We throw the hurleys in the ditch, a ball is thrown in amongst us and we drive on.”