Time for Drom & Inch to up the ante and deliver

THE departure of champions Thurles Sarsfields at the semi-final stage of the Tipperary senior hurling championship has left Drom & Inch and Clonoulty-Rossmore in tomorrow’s decider, and each will fancy their chances.

Drom & Inch it’s a fourth final since 2005, and club secretary Pat Egan differentiates between those games.

“In 2005 there were flags hanging at every crossroads, the whole place was buzzing, but it’s a bit low key now, we’re more used to the build-up. That year we had a tragedy in the area when a young lad who’d be close to a lot of the players died the night before the final. We played pretty well on the day and only lost by three or four points, but there’s no doubt it took the wind out of our sails. In 2007 we didn’t do ourselves justice against Loughmore-Castleiney in the final, while two years ago we probably played our final in the semi-final, if you like, when we beat Toomevara, and Thurles Sars beat us in the final.

“But we’re using that as inspiration, too, to drive ourselves on – the fact that we haven’t always performed on the big day is a motivating factor for us. We haven’t won a county senior title yet: we have five Mid Tipp titles, but the county title is the one you’d want.”

Drom & Inch put an Eoin Kelly-powered Mullinahone to the sword in the semi-final, ending the game nine points to the good. On the other side, Clonoulty-Rossmore beat out holders Thurles Sars in a far tighter game.

Advantage Clonoulty? “To be fair to them, that win will have given Clonoulty a huge boost,” says Egan.

“The feeling in Tipperary would have been that the title was maybe Sars’ to lose, but Clonoulty gave a great performance – a classic example of how to out-fight, out-muscle and out-think the opposition, and they were well worth their win. I’d have seen a lot of the Sars-Clonoulty game because we were on first that day against Mullinahone. We got a fair test in the earlier rounds when we played Burgess – we had a man sent off and ended up having to battle all the way in the second-half and won by a point. A battle will help a team improve, always.”

So will a sprinkling of intercounty talent. Seamus Callanan and James Woodlock are Drom & Inch’s Tipperary seniors, but Egan says they have plenty of backup.

“They’re real leaders, the two of them, and they’re both great club men, but we have other lads who’ve been chipping in as well. Seamus Butler has been a top forward for us for years and has played for Tipperary, while the likes of Michael Costello and Paul Stapleton are experienced men who’ve done a lot of hurling at club level. James Woodlock’s midfield partner is Johnny Ryan, who’s played intermediate for Tipp, so we have good strength all over the field. Seamus (Callanan) is likely to get a lot of attention from the Clonoulty defence, so we’ll need the other lads to chip in with a few scores each, and in fairness to them, they’ve been doing that all along.”

Egan says everyone in the Premier is expecting a tight game.

“The consensus in Tipp would be that it’s a fifty-fifty game, I’d go along with that. We feel we’ve prepared well, that it’ll take a decent team to beat us, and if they do then the best of luck to them.

“I think the bookies might have us as slight favourites, but they have to pick someone – it doesn’t mean I’d agree!”

*Tipperary SHC final: Drom & Inch v Clonoulty-Rossmore, Semple Stadium, 3.30pm.