I met a man Sunday night who did one of the powers specials at the weekend - 80/1
Tony Kelly to score the last point and Clare to win by 1!
I’m he got a fair ride out of it for a couple of minutes.
Cillian McDaid is 14s for mom on Sunday, he was Galway’s mom in 2022 wasn’t he?
He’s also been injured and come back which I like similar to Tony Kelly. He should be fresher than most players playing.
Looks a big price to me anyway.
I’d a buddy who did that too. Was fit to kill Aaron Shanagher
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Bet 11: Tipp SHC - Kiladangan outright 7/2 with Boyles - 4 point win - Closing Balance - 76 points.
The greatest show on turf gets under way this weekend.
I like the look of reigning champions Kiladangan to do what no team has done since 2017 and retain their crown. They’ve been in 4 of the past 5 finals and in the odd year out, they were edged out by two points by Thurles in a high quality semi final. Their consistency has been excellent and they’ve been in all 5 North Finals played in that period, winning three including this years edition.
In that final v Toomevara despite being pushed to the pin of their collar they showed great composure to pull clear in the final straight. The spine of the team is very strong for Club level from Hogan in goals right the way through the Flynns, Gallaghers, Willie Connors, Quigley and Seymour. Despite being on the road a while the age profile remains decent and despite winning last year, i think they’ll be a little sour over how the Munster Club went for them last year so hunger won’t be an issue. One slight concern is that Sean Hayes who started for Tipp this year against Limerick is injured but he should be back for the knockouts i hear.
Of the other contenders, while its considered an open championship, i think it can be narrowed down to Kiladangan, Loughmore and Thurles.
Loughmore looked good in the Mid and are actually coached now by a Kiladangan man, but they’ll need John McGrath firing on all cylinders to win it and he seems to be struggling for form and fitness. No sign of John Meagher this year either.
Thurles have the best 30-40 hurlers in Tipp and while its great to have them, its a very difficult balancing act to maximise them. Last year they made the Senior and Premier Intermediate Finals but lost both. There’s a sense that they could swap in and out a load of lads between both teams and it wouldn’t make a huge difference. They’ll still be there or thereabouts but they might need to wait for Euan Murray to come through before they start winning County Finals again.
Nenagh, Drom and Toome are probably best of the rest. All well capable of taking scalps but i dont see any of them winning it.
Recent winners Borrisileigh, Kilruane and Clonoulty are probably past their best and on a downward trajectory while those on an upward curve like Moycarkey, Holycross and JK Brackens are probably another year or two away from seriously contending.
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Does Drom dropping out of the Football mean they are giving the Hurling one last hurrah this year? Any shot at all?
Nope. Lack of depth and injury issues
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I’d say they didn’t train once for the football last year but may have seen it as a slight distraction that they missed a chance for an internal game on their weeks off. I doubt it will help them much.
They probably have 25 senior standard players good enough to compete but they don’t seem to be the sum of their parts. Cormac Fitzpatrick will help a touch this year as he’s a 9.5/10 free taker and will score a couple from play. Callanan should also be fresh after No county action.
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Drom are a fairly young team now. Won the County U21 A last year and a Minor A in 2019.
Callanan’s knees are gone now i believe but he is soldiering on.
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Thanks lads. No bet on Championship for me so - Don’t trust anyone at the top level in it
Drom must have the bones of 20 ex County Minors, U20/21s or Seniors involved. Dont think they realise the talent they have.
Part of the problem i think is the Drom public are absolutely ruthless and are on their backs as soon as things go wrong.
I think that says more about the state of Tipperary hurling than the apparent strength of Drom
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Within a Tipp Club Championship it should count for something though.
Not even Thurles have as many.
Cork -8 or alternative handicaps vs Dublin in the camogie this weekend.
Cork walloped them by 30 points in group stages. Dublin are way overpriced after overcoming KK who had a terrible mgmt appointment and were in a downward spiral of self destruction to be rid of them.
Members of Dublin mgmt team also away on holidays these past two weeks as they never expected to get this far.
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365 was at 6 PTS last week!!!
Bet 12 - Toomevara to beat Borrisileigh in Tipp SHC - 5/6 - 6 point win - Closing Balance 70 points.
Borrisileigh are a team I’m looking to oppose this year. They’ve had a couple of bad years since Johnny Kelly left at the end of 2022 and have had an unsettled look, going between about three different management teams in that period. Paddy Stapleton and some of the old guard have retired and Jerry Kelly is away travelling. Paddy McCormack is an addition but they were well clipped by Kiladangan in the North Championship and seem like a team heading in the wrong direction.
Brendan Maher is 35 now and hasnt done much hurling yet this year. He’s named at full forward for the weekend so i guess the game plan will be simple enough.
Toomevara have been a very solid team for the past 5 or 6 years without much silverware to show for it. They had a very good North campaign beating Roscrea and Nenagh before going down narrowly to Kiladangan in the final. Darragh McCarthy is now an elite club forward and they have a deep enough bench now built around a strong Junior A team. They have an excellent management team of Club Legends Ken Dunne, Philip Shanahan and Francis Devanney along with Clare’s All Ireland winning coach Shane Hassett. I expect them to emerge from this Group starting with a win this weekend, and Borris to be fighting to stave off a relegation battle from this Group of death which also contains Drom/Inch and recent champions Kiruane McDonaghs.
Bet 13 - Cashel to beat Gortnahoe in Prem Inter Championship at 8/13 - 6 points - Balance 64 points.
Cashel are a coming team in Tipp with a serious number of lads involved with Tipp at various levels. Eoghan Connolly is their main man and Cathal Quinn was part of the Tipp Senior Panel this year too. Oisin O’Donoghue was one of Tipp’s best 20’s this year and Ronan Connolly played on that too. Throw in Devon Ryan who was one of the best Fitzgibbon Cup players this year and its the spine of a serious team. Ger Browne is out for the year and is a loss but I still expect them to go very far in this years Premier Intermediate. They’ve won three cups already this year (West Championship, Crosco Cup and County League) and should be full of confidence.
Gortnahoe lost to Boherlahon in the Mid Intermediate and only scored 13 points in the process so i dont think they’ll have the firepower to beat Cashel who have been putting up big scores all year.
Bet 14 - 2 point double on the above two teams.
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Hard to believe John Conlon and Brendan Maher are both 35. Seems like Brendan Maher has been retired from intercounty hurling an age at this stage.
This week’s selections:
Loughmore (won already), thurles and Drom treble at 2.1 (2.5 points)
A couple of small accums then:
Cashel, Sars A, Sars B, Ballina (0.5 point accum)
All of the above plus Clonkenny & Drom (0.5 points)
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Winner, winner chicken dinner
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Thanks very much. GAA knowledge on here is unbelievable. You couldn’t have been any stronger on it and twas never in doubt.
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Cashel lose by 1 and Toome lose by 2. A total wipeout.
The Tipperary SHC would tame lions.
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