Tullogher and Thomastown chase Croker club success

It’s a huge couple of weeks for Kilkenny club hurling with all three county champions appearing in All-Ireland finals in Croke Park.

First up are Tullogher-Rosbercon and Thomastown who both face Cork opposition in the junior and intermediate deciders respectively on Saturday evening.

Tullogher will be looking to make up for previous agony after they lost out to Dripsey in the 2009 All-Ireland junior final with St Catherine’s now standing in their way as they appear in a second final in their history.

Along with Pat Hartley, Walter Walsh is one of two current Tullogher players that started on that occasion and the Kilkenny star is hoping for better luck this time around.

“We were beaten by three points in that final 15 years ago and it’s a game I think about a lot, which is strange,” he said.

“Dripsey were better than us on the day and I even look at my own performance and maybe think that you could have done more but I was only 17 and still in school.

“That’s the way it is and at least we’ve a chance to maybe make up for it in the final on Saturday,” Walsh added when speaking at the launch of this year’s AIB All-Ireland junior and intermediate hurling and football finals.

The Good Counsel teacher has seen many of Tullogher’s emerging talent come through the New Ross secondary school including the likes of Cathal Mooney, Danny Glennon, Marty Murphy and Jamie Lyng.

“One of the reasons that we’ve been able to go on a run is that we have a lot of good young players coming through,” he said.

“I’ve been lucky enough to see them come through Good Counsel and you can see their talent.

“I'm teaching there now maybe six years and I’ve seen them all the way up so I knew our future was bright. They’ve taken their chance and grabbed a starting jersey and they are mainly the reason for our success.

“We probably needed that influx of youth to get back up to intermediate in Kilkenny,” he added. “Now we have it, they are probably making myself and Pat Hartley want to hurl on with the club for another few years.”

Like Tullogher, Thomastown are also appearing in a second All-Ireland final after they beat Fullen Gaels in the junior grade back in 2013. They will be big favourites when taking to the field against Castlelyons.

The South Kilkenny outfit have been in irresistible form since they claimed county championship glory last October and if they find their form, they will be a very tough nut to crack on Saturday night.

Team captain Stephen Donnelly is part of a forward line that has scored freely throughout the run to the final and speaking ahead of what he describes as the ‘biggest game of his career’, the ace attacker acknowledges that there has been no secret to their success and that they’ve just built on the progress of the last few years.

Donnelly and co are really enjoying their hurling and while winning certainly helps, the whole of Thomastown are really enjoying the journey as Noel Doherty’s men move within 60 minutes of a second All-Ireland success.

Both games will be live on TG4 with the junior final at 5pm and the intermediate decider at 7pm.