Connolly added to Tipp panel

By Shane Brophy

Double All Ireland under 20 & 21 hurling winner Eoghan Connolly has been added to the Tipperary senior hurling training panel for the forthcoming season.

It comes as no surprise to see the Cashel King Cormacs clubman join the senior set-up after skippering the Tipperary Under 20’s in 2020 where he was outstanding at centre back in the Munster final defeat to Cork before Christmas.

A tall rangy defender, he has the ability to play at both full and centre back, as senior manager Liam Sheedy begins tweaking his panel for the 2021 campaign. The Nenagh Guardian understands that there will be no major shake-up to the squad with Connolly replacing Sean O’Brien who announced his retirement from the inter-county game last month.

However, Daragh Mooney, who was third choice goalkeeper in last years shortened campaign is no longer part of the training panel, but it does include Ger Browne and John O’Dwyer, the latter badly hampered by injury throughout the last campaign.

Tipperary were due to resume collective training on Friday 15th January, but it has been pushed back to the end of the month by the GAA because of the rising rates of Covid transmission. The National League is due to get underway on 27-28 February.