Senior salvation

In All Fairness column

For sheer pressure and tension, relegation finals are the best, but also the worst!

For a long time now, I have found relegation match-ups more gripping affairs than county finals which is the ultimate prize, as the potential loss of a clubs status generates more than a trophy on offer.

Last Sunday, I experienced a relegation final first hand on the side-line as Lorrha got the better of Templederry Kenyons to retain our senior status. Joy and elation wasn’t the main emotion at the final whistle, it was more sheer and utter relief at ensuring our stay in the top tier of hurling in the county wasn’t just one campaign and a return to the dog-fight that is the premier intermediate championship, which has to be one of the most competitive competitions in any code or grade in the country. Such was the draining nature of such emotions; the lure of the bed was as tempting as Denis & Lil Maher’s steak eventually was back in Lorrha.

On top of that was coming into the game with the favourites tag, added to by Templederry unable to line out without their best player, Sean Ryan. Getting word about an hour before the start that he wouldn’t be lining out, as rumours circulating throughout the week proved to be true, we made the decision not to tell our players for fear that they might ease off mentally in the knowledge that Templederry were missing their star forward.

As relieved as I was at the final whistle and congratulating our own players, I made sure to commiserate with as many Templederry players as possible. What they produced, short not only their best player, but also fellow injury victims Brian Stapleton and Adrian Ryan, was nothing short of heroic. Many clubs would have thrown their hat at it in that situation, but this is what made Templederry an even more difficult proposition as they had absolutely nothing to lose in the circumstances, yet it was they who were pushing for an equalising goal in the last play.

There’s no doubting that at full strength, Templederry wouldn’t have been near a relegation final but as we in Lorrha experienced in 2021 when we dropped from premier intermediate to intermediate level when ravaged by injury at the time, small rural clubs cannot afford to be missing key players, as they depth of panel to replace them with just isn’t there compared to the bigger clubs that have a better scope to cope.

There is chatter that some of the Templederry players that have seen the club through an unbroken run at senior level since 2008 might call it a day but I hope they don’t and hang on for at least the first year back in the second tier, particularly to avoid a slide developing, plus if they can get all their players fit, there is no reason why they cannot contend strongly for an immediate return next season.

I don’t know whether it is the same in other counties but there is something about the status of being a senior club that means more in Tipperary. There were up to 32 senior teams as recently as 2021 when the senior and Seamus O Riain Cups were linked at divisional level, prior to the rebranding of the latter as the premier intermediate championship. Some clubs continue to lament effectively been relegated in the boardroom as the link was removed from 2022 but that decision has proven to be an unqualified success such is the competitive nature of the premier intermediate championship in its own right.

One of Lorrha’s potential opponents at senior level next year will be one of Carrick Swan or Cashel King Cormacs who meet in the second tier decider on Sunday week. It is a welcome development that one of the key urban areas in the county will be back competing at senior level next year which will only be good for the game in the county.

The senior decider will have a novel feel to it in that it will be the first ever county final meeting between Toomevara and Loughmore/Castleiney. The Mid Tipp club will go onto the game as warm-favourites because of their more recent finals experience but there will be a little fear because of the tradition Toomevara have.

It has the makings of a very competitive final as Loughmore/Castleiney don’t tend to hammer teams, they tend to beat you by a thousand cuts, which in the final ten minutes will take their toll as they have shown throughout this championship campaign as they have finished strongly than all their opponents.

Some might think that having a senior football semi-final next Sunday will be a negative for Loughmore/Castleiney as they will go up to ten days without hurling training, but in some ways it is a help as they will have something to distract them this week whereas Toomevara are mentally already thinking about the hurling final and that can drain the emotional energy if not planned for which is what manager Ken Dunne will have to deal with, but is a good issue to have.