Tag Archives: Munster senior hurling championship

Pulses are racing ahead of the Sunday’s Munster final, particularly in the high pressure zone along the borderline where families are divided, yet united, between Clare and Limerick as hurling ties run very deep, writes Joe Ó Muircheartaigh. IF you were a hurling man and wanted away from the banter on the borderline separating Clare and Limerick, you’d think that Tipperary would be a good place to go — a refuge where they’d be loath to talk hurling because the blue and gold’s travails this year. Scion of Clonlara Jim Gully, who in 2008 brought the first senior title to the club in 89 years, goes to Newport, where he owns a shop in the village square. But, there’s no getting away from the ties that bind Clare and Limerick, whenever big championship clashes come around. Not that Gully really wants to escape the hoopla — he’s too much in hurling’s thrall for that and automatically defaults to a nugget …

BEFORE a sliotar was struck in the 2022 championship, an easy way to fill some space before any battle was joined was to do a round of the pundits, be they ex-players or ex-managers who have been there and done that, or the GAA hacks who actually do this thing for a living. See what they think. See what their expert predictions are from the hurling ditch, for good or for ill, and why. See what shall come to pass after all the ash has been clashed — not forgetting the bamboo too — and the dust of hurling’s late spring and high summer campaign has finally settled. What’s it to be lads, and lassies too as we’re well down the road to having gender quotas [and there’s nothing wrong with it] in the world of GAA punditry? Who will the movers and shakers be? Or, parsing it down to the bare facts, who is going to come out of …

No tickets are currently available for the Munster Hurling Final after the 11,000 put on general sale this morning were all bought in a mere 11 minutes. All stand tickets and some for the terraces were allocated to clubs earlier in the week, meaning that only a portion of the terrace tickets were put on sale this morning. Yesterday, some of the county’s clubs had announced that the allocations they received were not sufficient to cover the demand from their members, such is the level of interest in what will be the first Clare-Limerick Munster final since 1995. While Clare GAA has been beset by infighting for the last couple of years, the performances of the hurlers this year have been outstanding, and supporters have backed the team in large numbers, with an attendance of over 16,000 at Cusack Park last Sunday, the vast majority backing Clare, even though the Banner had already qualified for the Munster final. With Limerick …

SEMPLE Stadium is set to be sold out on Sunday week for the Munster Senior Hurling Championship final, according to the Munster Council. On Wednesday Munster GAA Communications Manager Ed Donnelly stated that 90% of the stand tickets had already been allocated to clubs in Clare and Limerick, and to season ticket holders. He said that the remainder of the stand tickets had gone to other Munster counties, the Camogie Association (the curtain raiser is a senior camogie game between Waterford and Tipperary), and Munster GAA. Mr Donnelly said that terrace tickets have also gone to the clubs of Clare and Limerick and the remaining tickets for the two terraces will be going on sale at 10am this Thursday morning, May 26, online at Ticketmaster and at participating Centra and Supervalu outlets. The launch of the new trophy for the Munster Senior Hurling Champions took place at the Castle Oaks Hotel, Castleconnell on Wednesday night. The Mick Mackey Cup will …

Having soared to a place in the Munster Final with a game to spare, Clare are faced with the same conundrum as Limerick were in the lead-up to last Sunday’s Shannonside derby in Ennis. Essentially that they don’t want to lose the unquestionable momentum built up so far by fielding a weakened team and possibly suffering defeat but at the same time their main focus must be on taking down the three-in-a-row champions and garnering a first Munster title since Brian Lohan himself was at his peak in 1998. What should transpire is a combination of both as any player that has any complaint or ailment will sit out this final round showpiece. Those that require some valuable game-time such as the returning Ian Galvin, Shane Meehan, David Reidy, Aron Shanagher and possibly even Mark Rodgers will get the opportunity to stake their claim for a stating berth in that provincial final showdown It must also be noted that this …

BEFORE a ball was pucked the line ‘Are they Gods or real folk’ was belted out again and again on Cusack Park’s new surround sound system. It was part of an eclectic playlist that’s now part of the pre-match entertainment on big match days at Clare headquarters, in a welcome move away from ‘My Lovely Rose of Clare’ and more. It’s from the old Horslips number ‘Trouble’ — the answer to ‘are they Gods or real folk?’ coming in a game from the Gods played by out two teams that don’t know what it’s like to take a step back, just as their managers don’t know either. Always going forward, always driving and giving us everything we expected it to be — a ferocious, breathless and sustained battle from first to the last whistle. No wonder the Rolling Stones’ ‘Give Me Shelter’ was aired pitchside after it was all over — just because there was no shelter, or no hiding …

It didn’t end in victory but Sunday’s box-office encounter was every bit as satisfying as the previous triumphs over Tipperary and Cork as Clare met fire with fire against runaway All-Ireland favourites Limerick. Having come into the championship firmly under most people’s radar, the Banner’s spectacular rising star over the past month also inevitably heightened the expectation levels that Brian Lohan’s men certainly matched if not surpassed in a sensational Shannonside derby in Cusack Park. “We are happy enough,” began Lohan afterwards. “With a big crowd in Ennis, there was a little bit of expectation from our own supporters who came in their droves to support the team and we were probably under a little bit of pressure to make sure that we didn’t disappoint them. I am happy enough that we performed to a reasonable level. “This place hasn’t been packed for a while and there hasn’t been as big a demand for tickets in a while. And when …

THERE HAS been much talk around the county over the past few weeks about Clare not getting the true credit they deserve for their perfect start to the Munster Championship. It’s no different to last year’s championship opening demolition of Waterford or back-to-back victories over Wexford as there was more concern about what happened to the vanquished sides such as Tipperary and Cork rather the rampant Banner that inflicted the damage. That’s certainly not a concern that the management hold as being written off makes their job much easier in terms of motivation and ambushing potential. Realistically though, Clare will only truly get merited credit if they could take down perennial champions Limerick. The big question for both teams however is their mindset in the approach to this group clash on Sunday. With Limerick almost certainly safely through to a fourth consecutive Munster decider, it difficult to see how or why they would bring a full strength side to Ennis …