Much-maligned Under 21 grade simply refuses to die

Father Christmas may be busy packing his sack of goodies but the hurling fields, both locally and nationally, are still ringing to the clash of the ash.

The Under 21 grade just refuses to die, despite being forever consigned to the back end of the year. It has always been a maligned age bracket. Back the decades the final stages routinely overlapped well into the New Year. It always had that appearance of a leftover, a nuisance grade.

Yet it survives, for two essential reasons: the quality of fare it offers and its crucial role as a bridging point between underage and senior. Recent changes in age structures, especially the introduction of Under 20 for inter-county, appeared to be the final death knell for Under 21. Yet it stubbornly refuses to go and I long for the day when the association eventually recognises that Under 18 and Under 21 really are the optimum age grades.

Anyway, this weekend sees county Under 21 hurling semi-finals being played on Saturday, with Roscrea and Clonoulty/Rossmore in action at Templederry and Drom/Inch and Carrick Swan facing off at Bansha.

In the B grade Gortnahoe face Killenaule at Golden – Silvermines are already through to that decider. The finals are billed for the following Saturday.

There’s no rest then for these lads over the festive week, which is far from ideal. Having the competitions completed within the calendar year seems to be the imperative here, though surely it would be more sensible to delay the finals at least until the early weeks of January.

There was high drama in the west decider, with Clonoulty snatching a late, late steal against Cappawhite Gaels. It was six minutes into injury time, I’m told, when Stephen Ferncombe drilled a twenty-metre free to the net. That was the first time in the game they led, which has to be heartbreaking for the Gaels.

Incidentally, Stephen Ferncombe was the hero of the show, not just for the late winner but for hitting 2-11 of his team’s 2-15 total. Roscrea have been forewarned.

Elsewhere the All-Ireland club series produced two real blockbusters at the weekend, with St Thomas’ of Galway doing the giant-slaying act in ousting Ballygunner and O’Loughlin Gaels just about outstaying Cushendall in the other semi-final.

Many people had Ballygunner installed as shoo-ins for this club title, especially with Ballyhale out of the way. The Galway champs, however, didn’t read the script – or perhaps they read it and disliked the terms so much that it drove them to a manic intensity, one which the “Gunners” couldn’t tame.

I’ve no doubt the venue was significant. In Croke Park Ballygunner’s pacy, ensemble game would have found full expression. In the tighter, stickier confines of O’Moore Park the Galway side was able to reduce the game to a physical battle. In an open, free-flowing match there would have been only one winner; to St Thomas’ credit they never allowed that to happen.

What resulted was a rip-roaring contest between two quality sides. It was understandable that Ballygunner were favourites in advance, but the listed odds were extreme. Remember the Galway champions have won six-in-a-row in their county, which has to indicate real quality. Turloughmore in the sixties was the only other Galway club ever to do six on the spin.

The only blemish on a marvellous spectacle was the penalty shootout at the end. It really is an absurd way to end a game; it’s a negation of all that’s brilliant about the sport to decide a match by a lottery. With the final not scheduled until January 20, why the haste?

After the breathtaking exhibition on Saturday, there was surely no possibility of a repeat on Sunday. Except that there was. Here again we had another rip-roaring engagement, this time at Navan. Ulster outsiders, Ruairi Og, launched themselves like a tornado in this game, 1-4 to nil ahead after just five minutes and still seven-up by the end of the first quarter. This was mesmerising fare from the Cushendall club.

Of course, there was going to be a kickback from the Kilkenny champions, who had the lead down to three at the interval but thereafter it was toe-to-toe stuff in another hectic collision. “Rugby with sticks,” tweeted Eddie Brennan, such was the headlong fury of the contest.

Referee Michael Kennedy had his hands full trying to keep tabs. He missed some illegal hits, though in fairness to him this was a tough one to handle.

Ruairi Og wouldn’t go away. Neil McManus really shone in the second half especially. All they lacked in the end was that little bit of composure to turn openings into winners. They’ll reflect painfully on the missed chances near the end, albeit they were shooting into the wind.

O’Loughlin Gaels did just enough to edge it. Huw Lawlor, the finest full back in the sport at present, was majestic.

When I think of Cushendall and Antrim hurling the one name that always pops to mind is Terence “Sambo” McNaughton. A midfield All-Star in 1991 he seemed to epitomise all that was noble about that Antrim team, combining courage and hurling skill in a swashbuckling style.

His book, “Sambo – All or Nothing”, gives an excellent overview of the difficult circumstances they faced in the North at that time. There’s the incident where a group of UDR men, including one of his neighbours, gleefully smashed his best hurleys to smithereens at a checkpoint.

Even more sinister was the incident where he was returning from a medal presentation in Omagh and on some backroad late at night he was stopped by a soldier who asks for his driving licence and then disappears behind his car for almost two hours. “Sambo” has to sit it out knowing that any move could have fatal consequences. Even when he gets the licence back and slowly moves off, he’s still fearful of what may happen. Such was the environment of the time.

Anyway, St Thomas are slight favourites for the club final. It has the potential to be another cracker.

Watching the games at the weekend, one couldn’t help wonder once more about our clubs here in Tipperary and why we seem to be off the pace of these teams. It remains a nagging concern.

Elsewhere Santa arrived early for GAA clubs last week in the guise of JP McManus and his incredibly generous bequest to the organisation. It’s not a first from JP but it certainly dwarfs any previous gift from a man not shy about showing where his passions lie.

His massive donation met with some predictable begrudgery from equally predictable sources. I’m certainly not insensitive to the issues around tax exiles but that surely is a separate debate. There are many tax exiles who contribute nothing to Irish society, so a gesture like this from the Limerick man should be met with the appreciation that it deserves.

The terms of the donation are specifically designed to assist smaller counties the most. That’s as it should be. It’s an incredible windfall for some clubs in smaller counties especially and one’s hope is that it’s ringfenced for a specific project rather than just paying the usual bills for one year.

Whatever one’s misgivings about tax exiles, who incidentally break no law, a donation of this magnitude surely recognises the incredible contribution of GAA clubs to Irish society countrywide. JP could be parochial about it all, staying local in Limerick, but instead he spreads the largesse to every nook of the island. He deserves huge acknowledgment for his generosity.

Finally, it’s that time of year to wish readers the very best of the festive season and with it the hope for a prosperous New Year.

From a hurling perspective we certainly won’t lament the passing of 2023, so here’s hoping for much better in 2024.