Odds strongly favour Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry

Date Published: 21-Jan-2010

IT is Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry’s turn to see if they can make a successful bid for the All-Ireland intermediate club hurling title when they face Ulster champions St. Gall’s in the penultimate stages of the championship at Parnell Park on Saturday (2:30pm).

After previous Galway contenders, such as Tommie Larkins, Killimordaly and Cappataggle, failed to make the breakthrough, the opportunity now falls to the amalgamated club to write its name into the history books.

Unsurprisingly, the inclement weather conditions of recent months have hampered Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry’s preparations, with the icy spell in early January, in particular, having a significant impact.

“Obviously, we had planned to play a series of challenge matches early in the New Year, so our match schedule was interrupted by the frosty weather,” outlines team mentor Mattie Kenny. “But it was the same for all teams across the country.

“We did get to play GMIT in Parteen last week, and we were happy to get the guys out hurling again. We also played NUIG in Tynagh on Sunday, so at least we have those games behind us.”

With no injuries of note to report, Kenny and his management cohorts of Tom Havil, Tom Brehony, Gerry Madden, Tom Moloney and PJ Kenny can call on the likes of goalkeeper Kevin Devine, defenders Liam Hodgins, Karl Kavanagh and Padraig Shiel, midfielders Anthony Burke and Ger Burke, and forwards Ronan Madden, Colm Larkin, Brian Cunningham and Michael Dervan. Of course, former Galway star Kevin Broderick, an impact sub in the Galway championship, adds another dimension to the East Galway club’s play.

No doubt, Tynagh/Abbey- Duniry were hugely impressive in the manner by which they claimed both county and provincial titles in 2009. A 2-10 to 1-7 victory over Kilconieron in the county semi-final set up an intriguing meeting with Meelick-Eyrecourt in the decider. Indeed, it took a Colm Larkin injury-time goal to save Tynagh’s title aspirations and earn them a second bite of the cherry.

The replay was just as unforgiving, going to extra-time, but in the end Tynagh/Abbey- Duniry pulled through as Ronan Madden tallied 1-5 from placed balls in their 1-20 to 1- 16 win.

Just 24 hours later, the Galway champions added the provincial title to the trophy cabinet, when defeating Mayo rivals Ballyhaunis on a scoreline of 1-19 to 0-12 in the final in Athleague. Brian Cunningham was Tynagh/Abbey- Duniry’s top scorer on the day with seven points, two from frees.

Meanwhile, St. Gall’s strolled to the Ulster intermediate hurling title. After accounting for Shane O’Neill’s 4-11 to 2-6 in the county semi-final, they hit a speed bump against local rivals Lamh Dhearg in the decider, when a long range free from Antrim football star Paddy Cunningham denied them victory.

However, St. Gall’s made no mistake in the replay less than a fortnight later, winning 0-18 to 1-7 to claim the silverware …and a quarter-final place against Lisbellaw of Fermanagh in the Ulster championship.

As it was, their Ulster sojourn was to pose little difficulty to the Belfast outfit, with the Antrim champions recording a 6-16 to 1-6 win over Lisbellaw before they hammered Eoghan Ruadh of Tyrone 5-15 to 1-6 in the penultimate stages.

This set up an Ulster final meeting with Middletown of Armagh, who had accounted for Liatroim of Down in their semi-final fixture. Again, St. Gall’s impressed, registering a 14-point victory, 5-11 to 0-12, with Sean McAreavey tallying a massive 4-4 of his outfit’s total.

Those four goals were netted in a 10-minute spell and underlined the utter destruction St. Gall’s can cause if given the time and space. In any event, those scores effectively quashed the challenge of Middletown and secured St. Gall’s their first ever Ulster hurling championship title.

Of course, it is a big month for St. Gall’s, who have also an All-Ireland senior football semifinal clash against Galway and Connacht champions Corofin looming large on the horizon. As expected, there is a certain amount of cross pollination between the two panels, with the likes of Anto Healy, Kieran and Conor McGourty and Aodhan and Ciaran Gallagher excelling in both codes.

No doubt, St. Gall’s – who certainly have the Midas touch in front of goals, scoring no less than 16 in their three provincial games alone – will harbour genuine ambitions of taking the scalp of the Galway champions on Saturday.

However, one suspects Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry boost a far greater pedigree than any of the sides the Antrim men have faced so far … and that is no disrespect to the fantastic work being done in hurling circles in the northern province – and the Galway champions look banker material here.