Thurles Information

"CBS reach for the sky"

In one of the most exciting hurling encounter this year,  over 3,000 spectators saw Thurles CBS and Ard Scoil Ris play out a cracking draw after extra time in the Dr. Harty Cup hurling final replay at MacDonagh Park, Nenagh, Co.Tipperary on Saturday afternoon last.

Thurles CBS captain Denis Maher’s goal in the first minute did not deter the sharpness of Ard Scoil Ris who dominated the first 20 minutes and raced to a 1-8 to 1-2 lead. Thurles CBS however were soon to respond with four unanswered points coming up to the interval which saw Ard Scoil Ris lead by 1-9 to 1-6.

"A clash with the ash"

In the second half, substitute Kevin Slattery of Thurles CBS drew the sides level with a goal after 33 minutes. Thurles took the lead in the 53rd minute with a long range free taken by Pat Ralph which ended up in the net.  Despite 14 men, with Cathal McInerney sent off, Ard Scoil Ris managed to equalise.
Final score after normal time saw Thurles CBS 3-10 – Ard Scoil Ris 1-16.

Dramatic extra time was now to follow and back up to 15 men, Ard Scoil Ris took the lead again with a goal from Declan Hannon. Denis Maher’s penalty however also found the net, leaving Ard Scoil Ris leading by two points, 2-20 to CBS Thurles 4-12, at the half-time mark in extra time.
Thurles CBS scored the first three points in the second half of extra time, but a long range point from Ard Scoil Ris’s Declan Hannon ensured no winner on the day.

Final Score: Thurles CBS 4-15  – Ard Scoil Ris 2-21.

Pictures courtesy John O’Loughlin.

Reigning All Ireland champions Kilkenny failed to show previous form against old rivals Tipperary, in this afternoon’s re-fixed Allianz NHL Division 1 hurling clash in Semple Stadium, Thurles.

Paidraig Maher Tipperary reaches high against Kilkenny

This long awaited game took place under pleasant Spring sunshine on the third time of asking. Two previous attempts having being cancelled because of heavy snowy conditions forcing last minute postponement.

This afternoon a 20,000 plus following were admitted free of charge to the mecca of Tipperary Hurling, which saw both teams meet for the first time since Kilkenny retained the All-Ireland title back last September.

Tipperary captain Eoin Kelly and Padraic Maher were in top form with the latter immersed in a most entertaining battle with Kilkenny’s Eoin Larkin for most of the match.

Noel McGrath’s pass to Eoin Kelly, found the Kilkenny goal before half time to put Tipp in the lead 1-06 to Kilkenny’s 0-06.

Despite  finding their rhythm early in the second half , Kilkenny were not as accurate as one would expect and ran up a series of consecutive wides.

John Mulhall managed to close the gap to two points for Kilkenny, but  Jody Brennan and McGrath put the icing on the cake for Tipperary with late points to secure Tipp’s four-point win.

However it was the accuracy of  Tipperary Capt Eoin Kelly, who continued throughout the game, to enhance the score board for Tipperary, with a final personal tally of 1-7.

Final Score: Tipperary 1-14 – Kilkenny 0-13

Picture courtesy J.O’Loughlin

Cathal Barrett

A converted free from John Fitzgibbon in the fifth minute of stoppage time saw Ardscoil Ris salvage a deserved draw in the final stages of the Harty Cup Final at Nenagh yesterday.

Thurles CBS and Ardscoil Ris, Limerick must return to McDonagh Park, Nenagh, next Saturday for what promises to be a thrilling decider, starting at 3.00pm.

Ardscoil Ris, appearing in their very first Dr Harty Cup final, deserved the draw from this gripping decider, which was played out in front of approximately 3,000 hurling supporters.

Kevin Downes got off to a brilliant start netting in the seventh minute to open up a 1-4 to 0-1 lead over Thurles

Blocking action from Denis Maher (Capt)

However despite playing against a strong first-half breeze, last years champions, Thurles, were giving nothing away and were just two points behind, at half-time which ended 0-7 to 1-6.

The second half saw the match level on four occasions eventually ending in a draw with 15 points each, with the final score Thurles CBS 1- 12, Ardscoil Ris 1 -12, and goals coming from K Downes and D Maher resp. Scorers for Thurles CBS were M O’Brien 0-9 , D Maher 1-1, P Ralph 0-2.

Thurles CBS Team:- A Stakelum; S Maher, C Carroll, J Bourke; C Barrett, D Maher, J Meagher; P Dunne, P Ralph; N O’Brien, P Looby, J Bergin; C Treacy, D Devane, M O’Brien.

Referee:- Waterford’s S. Casey.

Pictures courtesy John O’Loughlin

Thurles CBS will be seriously looking for a two in a row Dr Harty Cup hurling final victory this weekend, when they take on  Ardscoil Ris Limerick  in the 2010 competition’s final decider.

Tipp students from the CBS should be favourites going into this final, but they will be casting a very wary eye on their Treaty opponents.

Ardscoil Ris have greatly improved in recent years and scored a very convincing win in their recent semi-final against St Caimin’s, Shannon.

Here’s hoping Michael O’Brien and company are up to showing their usual inspirational form.

The two teams will meet in the Munster A Senior Colleges final this Sunday at Nenagh, with the throw-in scheduled for 3.00pm.

Tipperary have  named a strong side to face Dublin in next Sunday’s  NHL match in Parnell Park.

A couple of changes have been made from the side named to play Kilkenny in the teams scheduled for Thurles last Saturday and Tuesday, both of which were postponed due to snow.

Brendan Cummins is rested and Darren Gleeson replaces him in goal. Declan Fanning makes way for the return of Conor O’Mahony in the half-back line and Tipp All Star, Lar Corbett, comes in at left corner forward for Micheál Webster with Eoin Kelly moving to full forward.

NAMED TIPPERARY TEAM:
D Gleeson; C O’Brien, P Curran, B Maher; P Maher, C O’Mahony, S maher; B Dunne, S McGrath; S Hennessy, S Callanan, H Maloney; N McGrath, E Kelly, L Corbett.

National Hurling League Division One clash between Tipp and Kilkenny, which was postponed on Tuesday night for a second time, has been re-fixed for Sunday March 7th at Semple Stadium in Thurles, with a 2.30pm throw-in.

The much awaited game fell victim to snow on two recent occasions this month, much to the annoyance of fans, as the wintry weather returned with a vengence, leaving referee Barry Kelly with no choice but to cancel both matches.

The new date will mean a free weekend for the NHL, and both sides will now be in action for six straight weekends in a row.

Saturday’s Allianz Hurling League, Division One, clash  between Tipperary and Kilkenny postponed due to snow on Saturday night last has now been re-fixed for Tuesday night (8.00pm) in Semple Stadium.

This postponed clash was the most high profile victim of the weekend weather which forced a number of GAA fixtures to be called off.

Kilkenny manager Brian Cody has named an unchanged side for this re-fixture.

The counties agreed to the re-fixture within minutes of the decision to call off Saturday night’s game and it means that they will both face two games in six days with Tipperary to play Dublin next Sunday while Kilkenny will take on Offaly.

This is the second successive year that Kilkenny’s first league game of the season has fallen victim to snow. They were on their way to Pearse Stadium to play Galway last year when road conditions forced them to abandon the journey.

The GAA has confirmed that tomorrow night’s rescheduled Allianz Hurling League fixture between both counties at Semple Stadium, will be free of charge to all comers, following their failure to make refunds to patrons on Saturday night last.

Tipperary and Kilkenny will contest Round 1 of the Allianz GAA Hurling National League on Saturday evening next, February 20th, at 7:30pm in Semple Stadium Thurles.

This Division One game is a much-anticipated curtain raiser for the league as Tipperary and Kilkenny renew old acquaintances under the floodlights of Semple Stadium this Saturday.

Having lost out to the Cats in the finals of both League and All-Ireland championship last year, Tipp will be keen to lay down a marker for the 2010 season.

The game will be shown live on Setanta Ireland and will be refereed by Barry Kelly.

This afternoon’s fixture at Thurles has been cancelled following an 8am inspection this morning.

The Co Tipperary race track was found to be unfit for racing due to an unexpected severe frost. The overnight temperatures plummeted to as low as minus 9 centigrade.

This cancelled fixture is expected to be rescheduled for Friday, February 26th next.

Update: Thurles Racing for Thurs 11th Feb has been called off. Click here for details.

The recent bout of frost has yet to reach Thurles and the race track  management are confident it will pose no problems for next Thursday’s race card.
The first of seven races are expected kicks off at 2.05pm.

Race Summary:-

Thurles Race Course

14:05     Irish Stallion Farms E.B.F Mares Beginners Chase

14:35     Horse And Jockey Handicap Chase

15:05     Urlingford Maiden Hurdle

15:35     Tipperary (Lady Riders) Handicap Hurdle

16:05     Cashel Maiden Hurdle

16:35     Littleton Handicap Hurdle

17:05     Ladbrokes Cheltenham Bumper Series Flat Race

On Tuesday the going was  officially described as soft to heavy in places on both the hurdle and chase track and race course manager Pierce Moloney was pleased with conditions when walking the track on Tuesday afternoon.

“We had no frost last night and are not forecast anything this evening, so fingers-crossed Wednesday is clear,” he stated.