Disappointing day for Tipperary hurling as Kiladangan are beaten in Munster Championship

Westside brought to you in association with AAL

Tipperary’s abysmal record in Munster club championships continues, with Kiladangan the latest to sample defeat after an eventful clash with Clonlara of Clare. Red cards dominated the post-match chatter after the Tipp champions came up a point shy of John Conlon’s side.

From a county perspective it’s desperately disappointing. Coupled with Lorrha’s defeat in the intermediate and Ballinahinch’s exit to St Catherines of Cork in the junior, it’s a whitewash for the county in the top three hurling grades.

Our club championships are very competitive, but our champion teams are faring poorly against their counterparts from other Munster counties.

Kiladangan’s first venture into the Munster series won’t be one they’ll relish in the recall. Indiscipline cost them dearly. Two years ago, Loughmore had two players red-carded against Ballygunner in what were ridiculous refereeing decisions. One was subsequently rescinded – the other should have been. This time, I’m afraid, you could make no such defence.

It amuses me the way people try to argue these matters. It reminds one of Kilkenny in 2019 and the hoops they went through trying to defend Richie Hogan. There are times when you have to put aside partiality and try to be objective; accept the evidence of your eyes.

Kiladangan’s regrets will linger long. Ironically some of their best hurling was played when they were two players short. Alan Flynn’s point in the 28th minute of the second half, which put them ahead, was the score of the game. They worked it the only way possible against a packed defence. No point in pumping a long delivery goalwards so they produced a weaving, ensemble movement from defence to attack.

When Billy Seymour landed a huge free a few minutes later they were two-up and an astonishing outcome looked likely. However, with five minutes of lost time tacked on there was still scope for Clonlara. The leveller came around four minutes into additional time and then came the winner, that won’t be on the Puckane playlist any time soon.

For Alan Flynn it was a nightmare moment, as his attempt to find Willie Connors with a crossfield pass was easily intercepted. Teenager, Diarmuid Stritch nailed the winner. Flynn’s unwise comments after the county final would have left him short on sympathy in some quarters. Karma can be merciless.

It was a cruel way to exit. Fittingly, when a last-gasp free by Billy Seymour from way out dropped short, it was John Conlon back on his own line to make the catch and clear before the final whistle. More than anyone else it was Conlon who steered the Clare champions through to a final date with Ballygunner.

Kiladangan’s regrets will be both long and lingering. Against the wind they were second best early on, when Clonlara twice threatened goals. The first move saw Barry Hogan stand up bravely to deny Ian Galvin; Colm O’Meara was wide on the second when he had some options to pass.

Kiladangan survived those scares and then struck gold with the game’s only goal. Billy Seymour floated a line ball into the danger zone, where Andy Loughnane made a great catch before feeding Dan O’Meara for the finish. It stayed tight for the remainder of the half before the Clare champs took a two-point lead to the dressing rooms. They had enjoyed the considerable benefit of first half wind.

The second half was dramatic, punctuated by those two red cards. Dan O’Meara was the first to go after an unwise jab to the nether regions of an opponent. The Tipp champions might have survived that blow but then around midway through the half it was the turn of Sean Hayes to make the lonely walk.

In full sight of the nearby linesman, he swung carelessly and made contact when the ball was well out of reach. I suspect there was an element of frustration for a player who was struggling to get into the game. Remember Kiladangan also collected four yellow cards on a day when their discipline was poor.

Meanwhile, Ballygunner’s fine form in the other semi-final means they’ll be heavily fancied in the Munster decider. An emphatic spell midway through the second half took them well clear of Na Piarsaigh, though they diced with danger in a nervous finale when their goal line just about survived.

On the balance of play they were full value for the win and now have bookies’ backing for the All-Ireland. Their story is one of great consistency over several years.

Elsewhere, a Croke Park proposal to drop five counties from the hurling league has drawn fierce fire from some quarters who see it as an attack on hurling itself. If endorsed, division 3 counties Leitrim, Louth, Fermanagh, Longford and Cavan would not play in the hurling league.

The reaction has been quite vehement, with no shortage of voices joining the bandwagon of disapproval. Donal Og Cusack penned one of the more trenchant pieces, using the issue to launch a blistering attack on the GAA and its perceived lack of backing for the game of hurling. Somewhat over-done, I’d suggest, because this isn’t a simple issue with simple solutions.

Since its foundation the GAA has failed to develop the game of hurling beyond the traditional areas, so it remains a minority pursuit, one very much in the shadow of football in many counties. But like all intractable problems, solutions aren’t simple.

At one level then the GAA in Croke Park is an easy target here. Those lousers on Jones’ Road have no regard for hurling and want to kill it off in counties like Leitrim. Except that there is another side to this debate, one articulated by Leitrim’s treasurer in a Sunday Indo piece with Sean McGoldrick. It’s worth listening to the other side of the debate because social media is dominated by the Donal Og guff.

Martin McCartin is the Leitrim treasurer and he favours the proposal, which is hardly the reaction of one who sees the move as an attack on hurling in his county. He sees the present model as unsustainable and puts forward very cogent arguments for his viewpoint.

Leitrim, it appears, has just two senior hurling teams, so the championship there this year was a one-match affair, which produced gate receipts of €1,700. The football championship by comparison brought in €140,000. It sounds like a reversal of the Tipperary situation.

Then on the expenditure side the Leitrim County Board spent €215,000 this year on their hurling team, up from €75,000 six years ago. Sponsorship, grants and rebates reduces the net cost to the Board but there’s still a hefty outlay for a county with very meagre resources.

Martin McCartin’s point is that this situation is unsustainable and it would be far wiser to invest this money in developing underage hurling rather that concentrating it on a small pool of players playing at the very lowest rung of the league ladder.
He makes other interesting points that Donal Og and his GPA colleagues might consider. The GAA/GPA deals agreed in the past have impacted very negatively on a county like Leitrim.

These deals involved increasing panel sizes and the number of training sessions per week that were covered by expenses. The catering and mileage costs, among others, increased accordingly.

The mileage one is interesting. Under the GAA/GPA deal the mileage rates increased to 70 cents per mile. For a county like Leitrim this was massive because nearly all of their players were travelling from outside the county. The same would not apply in Dublin, for example.

It’s easy to roar from the rooftops that the GAA is failing hurling. However, tackling the issue is not as simple as some suggest.