December date won’t take shine off win for McGrath

The nugget of a provincial campaign might be missing but winning a senior county title on the shortest day of the year has a novel ring to it.

If Central Council’s support for a calendar season is to be backed by Congress in February, county finals in December will become a thing of the past after next year.

December 21, though, is not the latest Tipperary final in the calendar year Loughmore-Castleiney’s Noel McGrath has played.

“We won an U21 final on Stephen’s Day back in 2011,” he recalls. “It’s not too unusual for some people but playing senior at this time of year is very late. But that’s out of both teams’ hands. We just had to go with what the county board decided to do.”

That neither the defending champions nor Cahir, searching for only their second title, have been afforded the chance to go forward to Munster is a great disappointment as much as it is a wake-up call for the county to rectify their fixtures crisis. The county also had no representatives in both provincial intermediate championships as well as junior hurling. Munster would have been an incentive, admits McGrath, but he’s already reconciled with the fact that it’s all about tomorrow and tomorrow only.

“The province is a massive reward for any club who wins their county and last year we got to represent Tipp in both hurling and football and went down to Killarney and played Dr Crokes in the football.

“We knew from a while back that if we were to get to a county final the winner wasn’t going to get a chance to play in Munster.

“Knowing that this was going to be the case softened the blow a bit. There’s nothing any of the teams could do about the fixtures. We were told when to play the matches and that was it.”

But for Thurles Sarsfields’ strength, Loughmore-Castleiney could be on the verge on doing the double-double after claiming top honours in each code at senior level last season. The football campaign, which resumed after the completion of the hurling competition, was a welcome tonic after that eight-point defeat.

“We were out the Saturday after the hurling final in a league section of the championship against (JK) Brackens. We got a good win there and it got us back on track. We were back in training the Wednesday after the county final and things have just kicked on from there.

“At the start of this year, having had such a great season last year, our manager Declan Laffan put it to us to try and better ourselves again and try and do the same again. We were beaten by a better team in the hurling final but we’re delighted to have another chance in the football. It would be a nice way to finish off the year and it’s something the club have never done before.”

It’s appropriate that in a county recognising itself more and more as a dual county, a dual club is enjoying a golden period.

There are the likes of Brackens and Éire Óg Annacarty who also have teams at senior level but few can doubt Loughmore-Castleiney’s supremacy in that regard.

What’s helped their cause this year is the lack of retirements from last season’s panel. Tipperary’s 2001 All-Ireland winning centre-back David Kennedy will captain the side in Cashel at the age of 38.

“Everyone came back and went again,” says McGrath. “David’s still going strong as ever and he’s a massive inspiration for us. It’s great to have everyone pulling together like that.

“To be winning the two last year and to be back in both finals again this year although we’ve nothing to show for it yet, it’s be a good period for Loughmore. There has been some good under-age success too. Lads younger than me have won a bit from U12, U14, U16, minor. We’ve won a few U21s in football and we won that U21 in hurling a few years ago so things have been good.

“You have to enjoy the ones that you win because there will be disappointments along the way.

“A lot of us have grown up together playing both games from U12. I enjoy playing the football as much as the hurling and I know the lads do too. If we weren’t enjoying it sure we wouldn’t be doingit.”

Don’t try and tell McGrath tomorrow doesn’t mean as much as a county final in October or November.

It might be more than a day late but it’s hardly a dollar short.