That’s great stuff
It’s what the GAA is built on
There’d be fella’s on here who’d recognise the Irish Eurovision entrant of 2006 Brian Kennedy but not the Tyrone midfielder.
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Who would Slaughtneil play in hurling challenges?
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Not sure this year. They played Tipp in 2018 definitely.
They’ll be well primed for Sunday, make no mistake about it.
Two fascinating semi finals the weekend.
I have a feeling Slaughneil will give Ballygunner a proper rattle
St Thomas v Ballyhale will be tight . If David Burke and Fintan Burke perform ST have a real chance
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Their camoige team I’d say.
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Banagher from Derry are ulster intermediate champs . They play Kilmoyley
I was told last night that Thomas’s are “humming”.
Can’t see them beating Ballyhale though regardless of who Ballyhale are missing.
The other game could be iconic. Slaughtneil will be absolutely primed and I would say they should match up very well to Ballygunner. Ballygunner will need to be at their very best to win.
Hopefully the people get what they want though and a showdown between Ballyhale and Ballygunner on the second Saturday in February.
Can’t see Toms beating Ballyhale after the Shane Cooney injury. He is a huge player for them at 6 and is pretty much in the running for MOTM in almost every game for them. Being a small club they don’t exactly have a lot of squad depth either so are relying on their main men being available. Will take a huge performance from their remaining backs to quieten TJ, Cody, Fennelly & Mullen, etc. And even that might not be enough unless Ballyhale hit a bad day. I think they’ve already got their scare though.
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I see Rory McGann is the official in Thurles.
Sean Stack on duty in Parnell Park. I’m not sure if he’ll be up to it. That’ll be some cauldron.
They must be keeping Fergal for the final.
I thought Slaughtneil made hard work of the Ulster final and they were absolutely hammered in the Derry football final. They have played a huge amount of games over the years and I think it’s catching up on them, Ballygunner might have far too much for them.
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Fair point . Their good show v BS was 2 years back and they might well have regressed since .
That said they are still decent , Parnell Park will suit them & they will be set up well .
Also we will see whether Ballygunner can hit the level of Munster final
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A lot of their better hurlers like O’Doherty and Rogers are still relatively young though and they improved immensely in the Hurling from the Cuala hammering in 2017 to the Ballyhale game in 2020. (While in football they have declined)
Think this is their 7th AI Club Semi Final between both codes which is absolutely remarkable and bar the Cuala game, they have turned up and performed in every one of them so they know exactly what’s involved.
The odds on this game are a complete joke and totally disrespectful to Slaughtneil. They may not win, but you’d need your head examined to be backing Ballygunner at the prices.
I’d never question Slaughtneils character at all, a remarkable group. But that’s what makes their capitulation in the football final all the more notable, against their nearest rivals who were a very good but not great outfit and they got absolutely blown away. As @Ashman says Parnell Park will suit them and they will give it everything they have, but they have shown very little in Ulster to suggest they are near the level they were previously.
Glen will win the AI club in the next 2 years.
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Can’t see why they wouldn’t. They are a very professional outfit and have been for a few years now. Good experience in this competition should ward against a drop in form.
Maybe they are the hill. I hope they aren’t.
I never felt got they got true respect for what they did over the years.
Even when Loughmore did the double in Tipp last year, if someone compared it to Slaughtneil, it was met with ‘shur anyone could win the Derry and Ulster Hurling titles’ remarks. There always seemed to be an astericks against them.
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Ballygunner will win by somewhere in the region of 13 to 22 points.
Once you go above 13 it’s basically all the same thing.
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An Ulster team has won the club hurling All-Ireland a lot more recently than any Tipperary club. They also won 3 club Camogie All-Irelands in a row in recent years, I doubt they worry too much about validation from outside their parish boundary. I’d love to see them do it Sunday, it’s just hard to make a case for them on what has been seen in recent months.
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