A roundup of today's other GAA news in brief
Hurling stars set to align in Kilmacud for Sevens
TWO-time Meteor Kilmacud Crokes Hurling Sevens winners Patrickswell of Limerick have named 2007 All Star goalkeeper Brian Murray in their line up. Patrickswell is home to some hurling greats, including Richie Bennis, Seán Foley, Leonard Enright, Gary Kirby and Ciarán Carey, who boast 13 All Stars between them.
Fellow Limerick team Murroe Boher will include the 2007 Young Hurler of the Year Séamus Hickey.
Adare will boost Limerick’s challenge for the 2010 trophy, with Mark Foley and brothers Brian and Jack Croom among their ranks.
Portumna, in addition to Joe and Ollie Canning, will include fellow Galway players Damien, Niall and Kevin Hayes, as well as Eoin Lynch and Andrew Smith.
The competition will commence at 10.30am tomorrow, with quarter-finals to be held in Páirc De Búrca, Glenalbyn (next to the Stillorgan Shopping Centre) from 2.30pm, with the semi-finals from 5pm and the final at 6.45pm.
Swapping the crown around
WHEN Kilkenny met Tipperary in the 1964 All-Ireland final they were defending the title, won against Waterford in a high-scoring decider (4-17 to 6-8) the previous year.
The Leinster champions were favourites to win the game, but were beaten by double scores, 5-13 to 2-8. The game was refereed by Aubrey Higgins from Galway – the last time a Connacht man refereed the All-Ireland final.
Tipperary had previously dethroned Kilkenny in the 1958 semi-final, again after the black and amber had beaten Waterford in the previous decider. Kilkenny have also dethroned Tipperary on two occasions, the 1909 final and the 2002 All-Ireland semi-final respectively.
Playing the numbers game
WHEN Kilkenny beat Tipperary in the 1922 final, played on September 9th, 1923, it was the last occasion that the counties played without numbers on their jerseys. If identification wasn’t hard enough, many of the players wore caps, in the fashion of the time.
Played with the Tipperary v Sligo All Ireland Football Semi Final of 1922, the crowd was calculated at 26,000. Kilkenny’s two late goals by Paddy Donoghue and Dick Tobin won the day, after the teams had been level at half time. Team captain, Wattie Dunphy, became the first Kilkenny man to receive the Liam Mac Carthy cup.
Best attended Tipp v Kilkenny championship games:
2009 Final 82,106; 1964 Final 71,282; 1945 Final 69,459; 1950 Final 67,629; 1991 Final 64,500; 1967 Final 64,241; 1971 Final 61,393; 2003 Semi Final 60,087
Wadding a good omen for Tipp
HAVING been linesman and standby referee for last year’s decider, Waterford’s Michael Wadding takes charge of his first All-Ireland senior final on Sunday. A member of the Roanmore club in the city, Wadding, becomes the fifth Waterford man to referee the final and the first since John Moore took charge of Cork against Galway, in 1990.
He holds the distinction of refereeing Tipperary’s first ever qualifier game in the hurling championship, a 2-19 to 1-9 win over Offaly, at Portlaoise, on July 13th 2002.
The previous final referees from Waterford were
Dan Fraher: 1892; Willie Walsh: 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1921 and the second replay, in 1931; Vincent Baston: 1945; John Moore: 1990.
On the two previous occasions (1916 and 1945) that a Tipperary v. Kilkenny All-Ireland final was refereed by a Waterford man, the Premier County emerged victorious.
Tipperary eight chasing double
THERE are eight under 21-players on the Tipperary panel will be involved in two All Irelands finals in six days, with the under-21 final taking place on September week, against Galway. They are Pádraic Maher (U-21 captain), Michael Cahill, Michael Heffernan, Séamus Hennessy, Brendan Maher, Patrick Maher, Noel McGrath and Brian O’Meara.
