Ian Fahey will be free for Tipperary’s clash with Dublin

Tipperary management insist Ian Fahey will play in the EirGrid All-Ireland U21 football semi-final against Dublin next Saturday.

Fahey was man of the match in Thursday’s dramatic Munster final victory over Cork at Semple Stadium and the Commercials powerhouse scored a crucial goal midway through the second-half.

Fahey, 20, is also a player with Clonmel Celtic soccer club, who are due to play Sheriff YC in the FAI Junior Cup semi-final on Saturday at 5pm.

But Tipp selector Mick O’Loughlin revealed that there has always been a pre-existing arrangement between the county team and Clonmel Celtic surrounding the availability of Fahey, who is also a member of the Tipp senior panel.

And O’Loughlin confirmed: “He’s playing football. The agreement was always if he hadn’t a game at the weekend, he was welcome to play soccer and we stuck by that. Ian will be with us, absolutely.”

U21 manager Tommy Toomey added: “Ian is committed to us and that will be the case. We’ve already spoken about that with the senior football.”

O’Loughlin also revealed the key role dual star John McGrath played in Thursday’s win over Cork. The Tipp senior hurling panellist, who made a big impact in this year’s league matches against Galway and Clare, is currently sidelined through injury but was ‘Maor Uisce’ for the U21 footballers.

O’Loughlin explained: “John McGrath stayed with us even though he was out. He did Maor Uisce, was wired up talking to the players.”

And O’Loughlin credited county football board chairman Joe Hannigan for discovering Kevin O’Halloran, who scored six points against Cork after being called into the squad recently. O’Halloran had never played for the U21s prior to this week but is now tipped for a senior call-up at the conclusion of the U21 campaign.

O’Halloran, from Portroe, scored five points from frees and his prowess from placed balls was evident throughout.

O’Loughlin said: “Joe Hannigan told us about him (O’Halloran) and we brought him in. We were short forwards, we had plenty of backs and we were looking for forwards. We gave him a run (in training games) and we knew he wasn’t bad.”

Meanwhile, Toomey insists hurling and football can co-exist at the highest level in the county. Toomey said: “You look at Brendan Cummins, played 13 senior football matches for Tipperary before he played a senior hurling match.

“His strength and conditioning contributed to him being a strong player. Paul Curran the same, Paul Kelly the same, Declan Fanning. They all have All-Ireland hurling medals but played football first.”