Moneygall and Ballingarry both crave Intermediate glory

GAA: FBD Insurance Tipperary Intermediate Hurling Championship Final Preview

By Liam Hogan

BALLINGARRY v MONEYGALL

Templetuohy

Saturday 12th October

Throw-in @ 2.00pm

Referee: Kevin Jordan (Thurles Gaels)

There should be no shortage of hunger for silverware as far as these two clubs are concerned as Ballingarry and Moneygall chase the County Intermediate Hurling title on Saturday, and with it promotion to the second tier of Tipperary hurling.

North champions Moneygall are back in a county decider two years after losing to Lorrha, aiming for their first county title since defeating Arravale Rovers in the 1991 decider.

On the other side, Ballingarry must go back to 1979 when they defeated Clonmore in the final.

Moneygall manager Willie Greene came on as a replacement in the 2022 final against Lorrha and he remarked the quality of the opposition that day.

“In that final we got off to a very bad start,” he recalls.

“We gave away early goals, but the team hurled very well after that. We can see what Lorrha did after that. They won the Premier Intermediate and now they are in the Dan Breen.

“But we have a different team to two years ago. Now we have a mix of youth and experience. The lads are hurling really well, and I hope they can continue the same trend on Saturday.”

Greene took on the mantle of manager this year. He has been a great servant to Moneygall. He played senior for almost two decades,enjoying success in later years when he won three North Intermediate medals in 2019, 2021 & 2023 before retiring from playing and taking on the role of manager.

When Moneygall knew the identity of their opponents in next Saturday’s final their thoughts must have turned to their County Hurling League Division 3 final defeat at the hands of the opposition last June, who won 1-24 to 1-13 by Ballingarry.

“It was the first thing that popped into my head as soon as we realised it was going to be Ballingarry,” Greene said.

“It wasn’t a good night for us over in Templetuohy. We were missing a few players and I know Ballingarry were missing a few also.

“Ballingarry were streets ahead of us that night and really made us sit up and take note of what we wanted to improve on. I hope the performance on Saturday will be an awful lot better than that.”

Things stepped up following that for Moneygall for the championship and impressed in the North Championship with wins over Shannon Rovers in the semi-final and Portroe in the decider.

After winning their games in the group stages of the county championship against Carrick Davins, Knockavilla-Donaskeigh Kickhams and Upperchurch/Drombane, they had a number of sticky patches in the quarter-final win over Portroe while Cappawhite pushed them all the way in the semi-final.

“The county championship is very competitive,” Greene says.

“There’s nothing between the teams in any of the groups.

“Semi-finals are for winning and we were delighted to get over that hurdle against Cappawhite. They gave us a serious game and the weather was pretty poor which didn’t help either team. Look, twelve months ago, we failed to get over the line in similar conditions against Boherlahan in Templetuohy.”

There is plenty black and red bunting around the parish of Moneygall and Dunkerrin with the clubs camogie team also in an intermediate final on Sunday, as their supporters hope to repeat the celebrations of the 1991 victory.

“County finals are hard to come by,” Greene added.

“It’s a long time since Moneygall won the county intermediate final. Eamon Toohey (father to Brendan who will play centre back on Sunday) was the captain that day. There was great excitement around the place.

“The gap is far too long for winning county titles.

“But we are under no illusions. Ballingarry are a serious team, and we have an eleven point deficit to try and make up. We have to be disciplined. They have Dylan Walsh who is a great free-taker and is good from play as well. He has scored something like 3-37 to date in this year’s championship. There is more than Dylan Walsh. They have serious pace to their team, and they have other forwards who can score as well.”

Overview

When Ballingarry gave Moneygall a lesson in the Division 3 League Final, they served notice they were a team to reckon with for 2024.

They went onto be South champions and were favourites to advance to the knockout stages. Their first group game was a tight affair against Borrisokane was Ballingarry were outscored 3-6 to 0-4 in the final quarter before winning 2-17 to 3-13 with Dylan Walsh, Conor Vaughan and Sean Doheny to the fore.

Two weeks later, they had a narrow escape when defeating Kilsheelan/Kilcash (without the suspended Mark Kehoe) 2-17 to 4-10. Their third game against Skeheenarinky was not played with Ballingarry receiving a walkover.

The use of a good bench can make a huge difference and Ballingarry needed it when Patrick Burns scored two late goals to help them come from behind and pip Knockavilla Kickhams in the quarter final. The semi-final was just as tight as Ballingarry just about survived over 2023 runners-up Golden Kilfeacle.

Moneygall have been the nearly team over the past six years. They were beaten county finalists in 2022 and finished lost to eventual champions Boherlahan-Dualla in the semi-final last year.

As a result, they were tipped to make it to the knockout stages again this year. With an impressive North championship run thanks to victories over Shannon Rovers and Portroe, the odds shortened.

Two goals by Sean Kenneally and accurate free taking of Adam Hogan saw them win 2-24 to 0-17 against Carrick Davins in round one. Knockavilla Kickhams were their next victims with Moneygall winning 4-22 to 1-21. Upperchurch/Drombane found Moneygall too strong as the North champions won 5-27 to 0-17.

In a repeat of the North final, Moneygall found Portroe a tougher nut to crack in the county quarter final but five unanswered points midway through the second half was enough to allow daylight seep between the teams as Moneygall won 2-24 to 3-13.

Scores were level nine times in a close fought encounter with Cappawhite in the semi-final but late scores by Sean Kenneally and Joe Fogarty ensured Moneygall’s place in the county final.

Moneygall will enter this game as favourites. They have the forwards to make it happen with Joe Fogarty and Sean Kenneally are one of the best twin forces in intermediate hurling for some time. Both Sean & Paddy Fogarty are goal-scorers with the hard working Bob Kenny capable of being a match-winner also.