Senior prize awaits Roscrea or Gortnahoe

By Liam Hogan

Next Sunday’s County Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship final between Roscrea and Gortnahoe/Glengoole is a historic one.

Not alone will the winners gain promotion to the top tier, the Dan Breen Cup in 2023, but will also go forward to represent Tipperary in this year’s Munster intermediate hurling championship.

History aside the prize remains the same just like it was when the winners gained promotion only. In reaching the final one might suggest that both teams arrived from opposition directions.

Take Gortnahoe-Glengoole for example. They won their first county intermediate title in 1988 when defeating Arravale Rovers. Success dried up at until they defeated Moyne-Templetuohy in the 2020 final and made the leap to the O Riain Cup or Premier Intermediate as we know it now.

That win two years ago capped a very positive period for the club as they collected two valuable county under 21 ‘B’ hurling titles, their first in 2016 and again three years later. The success of both victories laid the foundation for their second county intermediate title

A quick glance at Roscrea’s fortunes will show that for a club that has enjoyed so much success, it’s difficult to think that their last senior county title was in 1980 when the late Roger Ryan’s last-minute goal helped to victory over Kilruane MacDonaghs.

Since then, Roscrea continued to spend the majority of their time contesting the Dan Breen, but their form dipped of late, and they were relegated to the Seamus O Riain in 2016 before winning promotion a year later after reaching the final which they lost to Toomevara after a replay. Another four years at the top tier produced mixed displays before they were relegated last year.

In the midst of the relegation battles, Roscrea, similar to their opposition won at underage and their county minor ‘A’ hurling final win over Moycarkey/Borris in 2017 topped the lot. Eight of that winning team form part of this Sunday’s panel including James Synott and Darragh Tynan in defence. Daniel Ryan has played a huge part in midfield in addition to Owen Tynan, Jack Lee and Conor Booth have occupied the bench but have made important contributions to their path to the final.

Aside from those players, Roscrea have vast experience in goalkeeper Daryl Ryan plus Keith McMahon, Michael Campion, Darren O’Connor in defence. Jason Fitzpatrick is highly experienced at midfield and is well capable of scoring. He is not alone as Evan Fitzpatrick, Shane Fletcher and Conor Dooley, Luke Cashin and Jason Gilmartin have played huge parts in the art of scoring. Luke Cashin is the team’s top scorer with 1-36 (0-35f) with Evan Fitzpatrick on 0-22 with Jason Gilmartin adding 3-6 from play. The return of Conor Sheedy and the ever-improving Alan Tynan has added value to their scoring prowess and have been a huge boost to Roscrea.

Roscrea’s path to the final began with an impressive 1-33 to 4-12 win against fourteen-man Kiladangan. In round two, a sluggish first half ensued before Roscrea pulled away in the second half with a five-point win over Silvermines. They made it three wins out of three with an eight-point victory over Moyne-Templetuohy.

Scoring 2-26 was impressive against Thurles Sarsfields but their semi-final clash with Burgess was their toughest assignment. Another slow start saw Roscrea take over in the second half but yet the last few minutes were nail-biting as Burgess came in search of winning goal, but the Roscrea defence held firm.

An injury to Darragh Tynan in the semi-final was a setback but his replacement Conor Sheedy didn’t let the side down. Sheedy was reckoned to be out of action for most of the year because of injury but his return could not come at a better time.

In addition, the return to form from Alan Tynan is also an added boost. Both players have scored 2-14 between them with Sheedy claiming the lions share with 2-10.

Entering their second year in the second tier, Gortnahoe/Glengoole took on near neighbours Killenaule in the first round. A formidable task but Gortnahoe defied the odds with a storming last five minutes plus added time when outscoring their opponents 1-5 to 0-1 to win by four. Scoring five goals against Thurles Sarsfields displayed their ability to score goals, helped book a place in the knockout stage when winning by seven points in an eight-goal fest. The winners scored 2-7 in last quarter.

The accuracy of Keane Hayes made him star of the show in the quarter final win over Portroe. Hayes scored 0-17 (0-13 from frees), ten points in the first as his side led 0-10 to 0-6 at half time before they moved away in the third quarter before leaving their supporters in a nervous disposition as Portroe produced a fightback in the final minutes as they sought an equalising goal.

Keane Hayes to the fore in the seven-point semi-final win over St. Mary’s. In fact, the win might have been greater but one or two missed goal chances. What was also good from a Gortnahoe perspective is that their defence kept a clean sheet in front of a very dependable Timmy Dunne in goal.

In addition, with the likes of full back Karl Campion plus team captain Davy Nolan who mans the number six berth. There are more such as Karl Collins, Gearoid Fahey, and their excellent free-taker in Keane Hayes. Fionn Cleary is another player from that era, but he continues to struggle with injury for much of 2022.

Verdict: Roscrea