Kiladangan and Toomevara would relish another North title

The North Tipperary Senior Hurling Final between Kiladangan and Toomevara has the potential to be a gripping encounter at MacDonagh Park, Nenagh this Sunday.

GAA: The Hibernian North Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship Final Preview

By James Hayden and Liam Hogan

KILADANGAN v TOOMEVARA

MacDonagh Park, Nenagh

Sunday, 14th July

Throw-in @ 4.30pm (E.T.)

Referee: Gerry Treacy (Borris-Ileigh)

Toomevara will be looking to claim a 34th title but their first win since 2011 while Kiladangan are aiming to add to their eight titles with the last one claimed in 2021.

Kiladangan

Speaking in the wake of their semi-final victory over Templederry Kenyons, Kiladangan manager John O’Meara was under no illusions as to the challenge they face next weekend against Toomevara.

“For sure it is really since I came down last year that I see how much it means to each of the clubs in North Tipperary. It’s valued as much as nearly a county championship and one of our objectives at the start of the year was to get back into the final. We have a week now to get ready for Toomevara and that will be a different contest,” the Sixmilebridge native said.

“We had a couple of battles with them last year in the county league final and in the county championship semi-final and next Sunday will be another challenge for us. We will prepare though and get back into recovery tomorrow night and train on Tuesday as we will get ready for next weekend,” John added.

With regard to injuries Kiladangan will hopefully have a full squad to choose from although Seán Hayes was brought off deep in injury time in the semi-final after picking up a knock. O’Meara agreed that Kiladangan’s ambitions are not only to win the Frank McGrath cup but to go on and successfully defend the county title they worked so hard to achieve last year.

“Everyone starts at the bottom of the hill and it's about taking a step every match. Obviously, this is the first competition, and we are into the final of that, and we can’t really talk about the county championship until this competition is over. We will have two weeks to work on that after next weekend,” John said.

O’Meara also agreed the upcoming North decider will also create a buzz in both parishes, the first time the sides have met in North final since 2011, a final which saw the Greyhounds emerge victorious on a 1-18 to 0-13 scoreline, their last North senior title win.

“We will be preparing for Toomevara next week and no doubt they will provide a big challenge. We had two very tough battles with them last year and although we pulled away towards the end in the county semi-final the scoreline wasn’t a true reflection of the competitive nature of the game,” the Kiladangan manager added.

Toomevara

Toomevara manager Ken Dunne is no stranger to North Tipperary Senior Hurling finals. Ken won eleven with his first coming in 1994.

Next Sunday he will relive the nerves and the excitement of taking part in a North final when the Frank McGrath Cup is at stake as he prepares his team to take on Kiladangan in the final, a repeat of the last time the Greyhounds won the North decider.

“It’s great to be there,” he admitted.

“It’s a long time but it’s good to be back. For us now it’s about concentrating on the game more so than the occasion.

“It is a quick turnaround from the semi-final win over Nenagh. We came through but we are concerned about a few niggly injuries. Look everybody is probably in the same boat but we are lucky enough to have a strong panel enough, perhaps stronger than last year as we got a couple of new players coming through.”

Did he see his club having to wait such a long time without appearing in a final and did that come into the players mind as they prepared for Sunday’s decider.

“Winning North finals was ten a penny at one stage,” he admitted.

“Losing the 2012 final against Portroe was disappointing. It was a game we could have won. We missed a goal chance at the end to win it, but Colm Gleeson cleared the ball of the line.

“Look we were probably on the wane a little bit as we had a lot of top class players who were just finishing up in their careers. You don’t see that valley period coming. A lot of clubs got their act together in the meantime like Kiladangan and Boris-Ileigh. Nenagh were always there.”

Verdict: Kiladangan