Ryan relishes time on top

All wax and no wick, all hat no cattle, all sizzle no steak — for years it looked like that was forever going to be the story of Drom-and-Inch GAA club in mid Tipperary.

The Ragg, their base a few miles out the Nenagh road from Thurles, was gaining renown for its top-class facilities, played host to the likes of Clare and Limerick in the last two decades whenever they were on their way to Thurles for a big game, and the club also boasted another pitch in Drom, a few miles away. But the team, the hurlers?

“We were only a junior club for a long time and had an intermediate team in the ’90s,” club star Johnny Ryan explains. “We were senior for a few years in the ’70s and ’80s and won a couple of Mid Tipperary titles.