Wexford win Dioralyte Walsh cup final

28 January 2024/in Hurling

Dioralyte Walsh Cup final

WEXFORD 1-21 GALWAY 0-16 By Paul Keane at Netwatch Cullen Park, Carlow

Three games into the Keith Rossiter era and Wexford already have a piece of silverware tucked away, the Dioralyte Walsh Cup title.

A terrific individual display from Lee Chin, who struck 0-9, helped the Model County to claim an 18th pre-season title while half-forward colleagues Jack O’Connor and James Byrne stood out too.

In their sixth consecutive pre-season final, Wexford led virtually from pillar to post in Carlow and will head into next weekend’s National League opener against Kilkenny in a confident frame of mind.

Their defence was solid throughout and restricted Henry Shefflin’s Galway to just nine points from open play.

Galway were chasing back to back titles though Shefflin won’t lose too much sleep over the defeat as he was without a host of regulars including his All-Ireland club title winning St Thomas’ players.

The Tribesmen will hope to bounce back with a win in their opening league game against Westmeath next Saturday in Salthill.

Both sides were experimental again with Wexford including only three starters – Jack O’Connor, Kevin Foley and Chin – from last year’s final Leinster championship game against Kilkenny.

Key men like Matthew O’Hanlon, Diarmuid O’Keeffe, Conor McDonald, Rory O’Connor and Liam Og McGovern were notable absentees.

As for Galway, they were still missing the St Thomas’ players, including David Burke, Conor Cooney and Fintan Burke, and there was no Daithi Burke, Joseph Cooney, Conor Whelan, Brian Concannon nor the Mannion brothers either.

It amounted to just five players – Eanna Murphy, Jack Grealish, Ronan Glennon, Gearoid McInerney and Kevin Cooney – that lined out for Galway in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Limerick.

They played second fiddle initially to a Wexfor side boosted by the late addition of Chin, wearing number 17, in attack.

He stroked over five first-half points as the Slaneysiders hit the interval with a 0-11 to 0-8 advantage.

Cian Byrne, returning to the venue where he struck 0-14 for Wexford in the 2023 Leinster U-20 final, oozed quality and struck two cracking points from play.

There were a couple of eye-catching scores from Corey Byrne Dunbar as well, another who played in that underage decider last May.

The crossfield wind appeared to favour Galway in the first-half though Wexford made light of it and Jack O’Connor won three frees that Chin converted.

They would have been further ahead only for a couple of Chin point attempts that struck the woodwork.

Kevin Cooney pulled off two terrific fetches in the air for Galway which led to back-to-back points in the 17th and 18th minutes but the Tribesmen never led.

The third quarter played out upon similar lines with Wexford keeping the throttle down and they extended their lead to six points by the 50th minute.

Chin pulled one puck-out from the air and slotted it over for the pick of the Wexford points. Both wing forwards for Wexford, O’Connor and James Byrne were on song and the team as a whole showed terrific levels of conditioning for January.

Galway needed at least a goal to rescue a result but it never looked like arriving and it was Wexford that finished strongly with Casey grabbing their goal in the 63rd minute. The Oylegate-Glenbrien man shrugged off Eoin Lawless and bore down on goal before finding the net.

Wexford scorers: Lee Chin 0-9 (0-5f), James Byrne 0-3, Seamus Casey 1-0, Corey Byrne Dunbar 0-3, Cian Byrne 0-2, Jack O’Connor 0-2, Richie Lawlor 0-1, Conor Hearne 0-1.

Galway scorers: Kevin Cooney 0-5 (0-4f), Tom Monaghan 0-3, Alex Connaire 0-2, Evan Niland 0-2 (0-2f), Sean O’Hanlon 0-1, Greg Thomas 0-1, Martin McManus 0-1, Donal O’Shea 0-1 (0-1 65).

Wexford: Aaron Duggan; Niall Murphy, Conor Foley, Eoin Ryan; Charlie McGuckin, Damien Reck, Cian Molloy; Conor Hearne, Corey Byrne Dunbar; Jack O’Connor, Lee Chin, James Byrne; Richie Lawlor, Cian Byrne, Kevin Foley.

Subs: Seamus Casey for Cian Byrne 56, Cathal Dunbar for Hearne 58, Simon Donohoe for Molloy 65, Jack Doran for Chin 67-69 blood, Doran for Lawlor 69, Darragh Carley for Kevin Foley 71.

Galway: Eanna Murphy; Jack Grealish, Eoin Lawless, Daniel Loftus; Ronan Glennon, Gearoid McInerney, David Concannon; Tiernan Killeen, Ian McGlynn; John Cooney, Tom Monaghan, Sean O’Hanlon; Alex Connaire, Kevin Cooney, Greg Thomas.

Subs: Gavin Lee for Killeen h/t, Cianan Fahy for Concannon h/t, Evan Niland for Kevin Cooney 46, Sean Linnane for O’Hanlon 49, Darren Morrissey for McGlynn 51, Martin McManus for Thomas 56, Donal O’Shea for Connaire 61,

Referee: Owen Beehan (Kilkenny).

Team News: Walsh Cup Hurling Final

25 January 2024/in Hurling

The Galway Senior Hurling Team to face Wexford on Sunday is announced:

Watch Live on Clubber TV https://www.clubber.ie/

Buy Match Tickets Online in advance

Click here to purchase tickets.

Prices:

Adults/Students/Senior Citizens: €10.00

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Ticket T & C’s

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#riseofthetribes

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Damien Finnerty of St Thomas', centre, and teammates celebrate with the Tommy Moore Cup after their side's victory in the AIB GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Club Championship Final match between O’Loughlin Gaels of Kilkenny and St Thomas’ of Galway at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile.

AIB All-Ireland Club SHC Finals: St Thomas’ win thriller

21 January 2024/in Hurling

2024 AIB All-Ireland Club SHC Final

ST THOMAS’ (Galway) 0-18 O’LOUGLIN GAELS (Kilkenny) 0-17 By John Harrington at Croke Park

If you’re going to win an All-Ireland Final, then this is the way to do it.

Éanna Burke scored one of the most spectacular points ever seen in Croke Park to edge what was an almighty battle in favour of an oh so courageous St. Thomas’ team. Winning possession on the left sideline line and hemmed in by a posse of O’Loughlin Gaels defenders, in one fluid movement the full-forward somehow spun on the spot and hit an outrageous point off his left side while in the process of falling. It was a scarcely believable score and a fitting way to bring the curtain down on a dramatic game of hurling that smouldered throughout despite the miserable playing conditions. St Thomas’ win was all the more impressive considering they were reduced to 14-men for most of the second half after the dismissal of James Regan, a set-back that only seemed to heap coal on their fire.

For much of the first half they’d come off second-best in the hooking, blocking, and 50-50 challenge metrics, but they dominated that warzone in the second-half which was ultimately the winning of the game. O’Loughlin Gaels, who take plenty of honour in defeat, may reflect that in the second half they erred by going too direct and attacking St. Thomas’ down the centre instead of spreading it to the wings.

This game was ferociously contested from the off, and despite the wind and the rain both teams hurled with skill as well as grit and endeavoured to play patient, passing hurling. O’Loughlin Gaels had the elements at their backs, but it didn’t seem to give them a discernible difference in the first quarter as defences on both sides dominated. The Kilkenny side looked that bit sharper – their high-pressure tackling and blocking was especially impressive – but a very experienced St. Thomas’ team were able to stay in the fight despite having less quality possession. They needed a heroic intervention from Fintan Burke to prevent the concession of an eight minute goal though as he somehow stopped a shot from Owen Wall on the goal-line. David Burke and James Regan also had impressive moments for the Galway side, with Regan’s second point from play drawing the teams level at 0-4 apiece.

As the half progressed though, O’Loughlin’s started to dominate thanks to the excellence of their defence. Huw Lawlor and Mikey Butler locked things down in the full-back line, and their half-back trio of David Fogarty, Paddy Deegan, and Jordan Molloy didn’t just carry out their defensives duties well, but also posed a huge offensive threat. They hit five points in the first half, with Deegan and Molloy nabbing a brace each. Deegan’s were trademark boomers from distance, while Molloy’s ability to move into attacking positions and create space to shoot with clever movement was highly impressive. Deegan’s second of the day put O’Loughlin Gaels 0-8 to 0-5 ahead by the 25th minute, and at that stage it looked like they’d kick on and maybe take charge of the contest.

Credit to St. Thomas’, though, they gritted their teeth, caught O’Loughlins on the break a couple of times, and when the half-time whistle blew had reduced the deficit to two points, 0-10 to 0-8. And with the wind and rain at their backs for the second-half, they must have believed they were in a great position.

They were given further encouragement when David Burke landed a monster of a point at the start of the second-half, but shortly afterwards Regan was given his marching orders when he caught Jack Nolan with a high elbow. In the face of that adversity, St Thomas’ found boundless courage, and despite having a man less caught the game by the scruff of the neck as players like Fintan Burke, Shane Cooney, and David Burke spread their shoulders and the team as a whole played with a voracious work-ethic with and without the ball. Conor Cooney clipped a nice point from play and then followed up with a free to bring the teams level, and then a Victor Manso point was followed by a monster of a free by St. Thomas’ goalkeeper Gerald Kelly that put his team 0-13 to 0-11 ahead. A couple of minutes earlier Kelly had made a great save from an Owen Wall shot, so two big moments in quick succession for the St. Thomas’ custodian.

St. Thomas’ were now winning most battles for possession in the middle third and that gave them a platform to hurl despite their numerical disadvantage. Every time O’Loughlin Gaels rose a white flag, St. Thomas’ went straight down the field and did the same themselves as Cathal Burke and Manso cancelled out scores by Seán Bolger and Conor Heary. And when Mark Bergin landed a free to reduce the gap to one again, Éanna Burke gave us a taster of what was to come when he pivoted on the spot to somehow score when it looked like he would surely be bottled up. t was only when the game ticked into injury-time that St. Thomas’ tired, and it looked like O’Loughlin Gaels would take advantage when Bergin, Conor Kelly, and David Fogarty hit three fine points to draw the teams level. But in the fourth and final minute of extra-time up stepped Burke to produce that moment of magic that will never be forgotten by anyone associated with St. Thomas’ hurling club. Mark Bergin had a late chance to bring the game to extra-time with a long-range free, but the gusting wind and rain he shot into made it tough ask, and his effort drifted left and wide.

The final whistle blew moments later, and a St. Thomas’ panel that included 10 players who won the club’s first All-Ireland title in 2013 and finally reached the promised land again.

Scorers for St. Thomas’: Conor Cooney 0-6 (4f), David Burke 0-3, Eanna Burke 0-3, Victor Manso 0-2, James Regan 0-2, Gerald Kelly 0-1 (f), Cathal Burke 0-1

Scorers for O’Loughlin Gaels: Mark Bergi 0-4 (2f), David Fogarty, Paddy Deegan, Jordan Molloy, Sean Bolger all 0-2, Mikey Butler, Luke Hogan, Conor Kelly, Conor Heary, Stephen Murphy (f) all 0-1

ST THOMAS’: Gerald Kelly; Cian Mahony, Fintan Burke, David Sherry; John Headd, Shane Cooney, Cathal Burke; Damien Finnerty, David Burke; Darragh Burke, Conor Cooney, Victor Manso; James Regan, Éanna Burke, Oisín Flannery. Subs: Evan Duggan for David Sherry (20), Bernard Burke for Victor Manso (50), Damien McGlynn for Oisin Flannery (59)

O’LOUGHLIN GAELS: Stephen Murphy; Tony Forristal, Huw Lawlor, Mikey Butler; David Fogarty, Paddy Deegan, Jordan Molloy; Jack Nolan, Cian Loy; Mark Bergin, Eoin O’Shea, Conor Heary; Owen Wall, Luke Hogan, Seán Bolger. Subs: Conor Kelly for Eoin O’Shea (47), Jamie Ryan for Jack Nolan (50), Paddy Butler for Cian Loy (59)

Ref: Seán Stack (Dublin)

Galway and Wexford through to Dioralyte Walsh Cup Final

20 January 2024/in Hurling

Wexford and Galway will contest the 2024 Walsh Cup Final after respective semi-final victories over Kilkenny and Dublin on Saturday afternoon.

Evan Niland was the main man for Galway as they defeated Dublin comfortably enough in Parnell Park. He struck 17 points, five of them from play, in what was a tour de force of beautiful ball striking.

A Jason Flynn goal helped Galway into a 1-11 to 0-7 half-time lead, and even at that stage you couldn’t see a way back for Dublin because they posed no real goal threat in attack.

They did have a brief period of dominance at the start of the second-half, but Niland’s unerring accuracy meant Galway were always able to stay out of arm’s reach.

GALWAY 1-24 DUBLIN 0-17

Team News Walsh Cup Galway v Laois

13 January 2024/in Hurling

Galway 🆚 Laois
📆Sunday 14th January
📍 Duggan Park
🕰️ 1:30pm

Buy Match Tickets 🎟
https://www.universe.com/events/dioralyte-walsh-cup-sh-2024-round-3-galway-v-laois-tickets-T3WKR6

Live Streaming on Clubber TV🔽
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The Galway Senior Hurling Team to face Laois is announced:

1 Darach Fahy Ardrahan
2 Shane Morgan Loughrea
3 T. J. Brennan Clarinbridge
4 Dan Loftus Turloughmore
5 Cianan Fahy Ardrahan
6 Padraic Mannion Ahascragh Fohenagh
7 Tiernan Killeen Loughrea
8 Donal O’Shea Salthill Knocknacarra
9 Gavin Lee Clarinbridge
10 Tom Monaghan Craughwell
11 Jason Flynn Tommy Larkins
12 John Cooney Sarsfields
13 Jamie Ryan Loughrea
14 Martin Mac Manus Loughrea
15 Declan Mac Loughlin Portumna
16 Eanna Murphy Tommy Larkins
17 Jack Grealish Gort
18 Michael Walsh Ardrahan
19 David Concannon Killimordaly
20 Ronan Glennon Mullagh
21 Ian McGlynn Kilconieron
22 Seán O’Hanlon Turloughmore
23 Alex Connaire Sarsfields
24 Evan Niland Clarinbridge

#riseofthetribes

Walsh Cup Hurling action

5 January 2024/in Hurling

Our Senior Hurlers get their 2024 season underway this weekend with action starting in the Walsh Cup.

First up its a trip to Tullamore to face Offaly on Sunday at 1.30PM in Glenisk, O’Connor Park.

Match Ticket Details are on

https://www.universe.com/events/dioralyte-walsh-cup-sh-2024-round-2-offaly-v-galway-tickets-0S9Z25

Adults/Students/Senior Citizens: €10.00

U-16’s: Free of Charge (No Ticket Required)

Tickets can only be purchased via the link there will be none on sale at grounds.

Live Streaming on Clubber TV

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Brennan wants Galway’s young guns to fire in 2024

5 January 2024/in Hurling

Friday 5 January 2024

By John Harrington

Galway hurler, TJ Brennan, believes it’s time for the younger players in their panel to drive the team forward in 2024.

The Tribesmen are still quite reliant on the old guard who won an All-Ireland title in 2017 – seven of them played in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Limerick and it most likely would have been eight had David Burke not been sidelined by injury.

Brennan, an All-Ireland minor champion in 2017 and a Galway U-20 captain in 2020, is part of a generation of Galway hurlers who had underage success but have yet to really establish themselves in the senior grade.

He made his senior championship debut in 2020 but hasn’t ever been a nailed on starter, and knows he and a few others in the panel really need to spread their shoulders in 2024 if Galway are to challenge for the Liam MacCarthy cup.

“I think that’s correct,” says Brennan. “There’s a couple of us that need to drive it on a bit further and step up to the plate a bit more. Some of the lads already have an All-Ireland medal and have established themselves, and it’s up to a few more of us to carry the load a bit more.

“I’m up against some good, established players in Galway and it’s tough to get into the team. I’ve gotten a few starts, but I just haven’t held on to them. Hopefully this year now I can improve on that and stake a place for myself.”

Brennan is most comfortable playing in a central defensive position, but Galway have two of the best full-backs/centre-backs in the country in the shape of Daithi Burke and Gearoid McInerney.

Shifting them out of the team hasn’t been easy, but Brennan has learned a lot from watching them at close quarters.

“Them two players in particular would be similar enough to my style of play,” he says. “Left-handed as well and physical presences on the pitch. Daithi was our captain last year and a very good influence on me on a one to one basis.

“You’re just trying to absorb every bit of knowledge you can off those lads as I go along.”

Such has been the level to which the senior inter-county game has gone to in recent years that we’re seeing less and less players make an immediate leap from the U-20 grade to senior championship hurling.

TJ Brennan of Galway during the Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Round 1 match between Galway and Wexford at Pearse Stadium in Galway. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile.

All counties now place a huge emphasis on S&C, and Brennan has found that there’s a significant step-up to make when you first cut your teeth as a senior inter-county hurler.

“Yeah, I would have,” he says. “I came in at 19 and you’ve a bit of work to do physically and even just fitness, you mightn’t be as fit as the more seasoned players there. There’s a bit of work to do when you first come into the panel.

“And then you come off games and you’re thinking coming out with the ball I didn’t hit it to hand that time. You’re always going to make a mistake here and there. You might think you could have gotten a hook in or you missed a pick up. The game takes on a life of its own.

“Every player is always looking to improve and look where they went wrong and how they can rectify it. That’s all you can do. You just try to get better each game you play.”

Galway’s last two championship campaigns have ended in defeat to Limerick in an All-Ireland semi-final, but Brennan believes they progressed as a team in 2023 compared to 2022.

“I know we finished in the same place we finished in the year previous but I thought we left the Leinster final behind us.

“I thought we did a lot of good things throughout the year, put ourselves in a great position against Limerick but didn’t sustain it. We did a lot of things right throughout the year and definitely evolved a bit.

“We dropped off our intensity a small bit against Limerick in the semi-final and they picked up theirs at the same time. When Limerick hit their purple patch, we let them score too much and didn’t shut it down quick enough.

“You have to credit Limerick too. They’ve won four All-Irelands and we lost a semi-final to the best team in it so you have to tip your hat to them.”

So when talk turns to whether there’s any team out there that can stop Limerick’s drive for five All-Irelands in a row in 2024, should Galway be part of the conversation?

“We’ll always feel like we’re in with a chance,” says Brennan. “Munster is so competitive, you never know who is going to come out of it.

“If you don’t believe you can stop Limerick, you’re wasting your time going out there in the first place.

“Even talking to Mark Rodgers, my UL teammate, Clare have pushed them closer than anyone and actually beat them in the round robin series last year.

“But just beating Limerick doesn’t give you a medal. You have to perform in semi-finals and finals.”

Conor Whelan picks up his second All-Star Award

18 November 2023/in Hurling

Congratulations to Conor Whelan who received his second Hurling All-Star award this evening.

PwC Hurling All-Stars 2023

(Previous winning years in brackets)

Eoin Murphy (Kilkenny) (2016, 2018, 2021)
Mikey Butler (Kilkenny) (2022)
Huw Lawlor (Kilkenny) (2022)
Dan Morrissey (Limerick) (2018, 2020)
Diarmaid Byrnes (Limerick) (2020, 2021, 2022)
John Conlon (Clare) (2018)
Kyle Hayes (Limerick) (2020, 2021, 2022)
Darragh O’Donovan (Limerick) (2021)
Will O’Donoghue (Limerick) (2021)
Shane O’Donnell (Clare) (2022)
TJ Reid (Kilkenny) (2012, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2020, 2022)
Tom Morrissey (Limerick) (2020, 2021)
Conor Whelan (Galway) (2017)
Aaron Gillane (Limerick) (2019, 2020, 2022)
Eoin Cody (Kilkenny)

Club Hurling All-Stars announced

18 November 2023/in Hurling

CLUB ALL-STARS Hurling Teams of the Year 2023

This is the 9^th year of the Awards, which began in 2013. This year the inaugural Senior B team of the year has also been selected.

The players will be honoured at the Club Team All-Star Presentation night in McCarthy’s Kilbeacanty on Friday November 24th.

Conor Cooney, Eanna Burke and Shane Cooney pick up their 5th awards and the trio lead the way in terms of awards won, while Fintan Burke wins his 4th award
Daithi Burke picks up his 3rd award while Kevin Cooney, James Regan, Conor Walsh and Jamie Ryan receive their second awards. There are 6 first time winners: Gerald Kelly, Shane Morgan, Darren Morrissey, Daniel Loftus, Ger Farragher and Sean O’Hanlon
County Senior Champions St Thomas have 6 representatives, while County Finalists Turloughmore have 4. Semi finalists Loughrea and Sarsfields have two representatives each. One set of brothers selected – Conor and Shane Cooney, while Ger Farragher wins Castlegar’s first Club All Star award

81 Senior Club players have been honoured over the 9 years of the Awards from 18 different clubs. There was no Senior team of the year selected in 2021 & 2022

CLUB ALL-STARS Senior B Hurling Team of the Year 2023 Sponsored by McCarthy’s of Kilbeacanty:

Padraic Mannion becomes the first player since the inception of the Awards to have been selected on the three teams. The Galway star was selected on the Senior team of the year in 2020 at midfield, while he was selected on three occasions on the Club All Star Intermediate team of the year. He was wing forward in 2014 and 2015, and picked at centre back on the 2016 team
County Champions Mullagh have 6 representatives, with finalists Ahascragh Fohenagh having 4 players selected
There are three sets of brothers selected – Ronan and Davy Glennon, Cathal and Padraic Mannion and Paddy and Sean Hardiman
Sean Morrissey was on the Senior Team of the year in 2017, while Cathal Mannion has 4 Intermediate Team of year awards

CLUB ALL STARS Intermediate Hurling Team of the Year 2023 Sponsored by McCarthy’s of Kilbeacanty:

Over the 8 years time span of the Intermediate team of the year, 78 Intermediate players have been honoured from 19 different clubs
Sylane and Tynagh Abbey Duniry are represented on the Club All Stars team for the first time
Conor Whelan is winning his 6^th award, Roy Lane wins his 3^rd and John Fleming wins his 3^rd award with the previous two in the forwards
Kevin Killilea is the first Club All Star winner from the Carnmore Club
There was no Intermediate team of the Year selected in 2020, 2021 or 2022
County Intermediate champions Ballinderreen have 7 on the team, while finalists Tynagh Abbey Duniry have 3