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Eoin Brennan previews the TUS Dr Harty Cup Semi-Final between St Joseph’s Tulla and De La Salle Waterford
Uncharted territory for St Joseph’s Tulla but a first ever Harty Cup Semi-Final appearance is at least against somewhat familiar foes as De La Salle provided the opposition in the opening round of this year’s competition back in early November.
It was a tie that the Waterford side shaded by 0-20 to 0-18 but Tulla will definitely feel that with more of a clinical edge, they should have edged matters.
Fourteen wides left the East Clare school frustrated but with the benefit of hindsight, perhaps they wouldn’t have reached the penultimate stage were it not for their determined reaction to that performance and opening reverse.
After all, since then St Joseph’s have been ravenous in their trailblazing pursuit of a first ever Munster Senior A PPS Hurling Championship crown.
Having carved out a never-say-die attitude along with being boosted by successive victories over fancied Cork duo St Colman’s Fermoy and CBC Cork, a revenge mission against De La Salle appears the perfect backdrop in their bid for further history.
De La Salle hold a perfect record thus far however albeit having only played two matches to Tulla’s three but crucially the Deise school are yet to concede a goal and have four to their credit; they lowered Nenagh CBS by 4-13 to 0-16 last time out.
That included 1-11 from Ballygunner’s Patrick Fitzgerald, 1-3 of which stemmed from play but it was a feat equally by Tulla’s Sean Withycombe who raided for 0-14 against CBC.
With only a puck of a ball separating the sides in all three of Tulla’s matches so far, it would be foolhardy to expect anything less than another inch-tight battle on Saturday.
And being part of a potentially historic East Clare double header, St Joseph’s Tulla will never get a better opportunity to reach a prestigious Dr. Harty Cup decider.
Venue: Mallow GAA Sports Complex, Saturday 1pm (Referee, Eamonn Stapleton, Limerick)
