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Thurles Sarsfields Festival Of Gaelic Sport July 4th – 12th 2014, in Conjunction With Tipp FM Radio; John Enright and John Lanigan (Joint Chairpersons of the Thurles Sarsfields Festival of Gaelic Sport 2014) both now report:
Thurles Sarsfields Festival Of Gaelic Sport July 4th – 12th 2014 – In Conjunction With Tipp FM Radio
To all this years Participants, Supporters and Guests; welcome to the 2014 Thurles Sarsfields Festival of Gaelic Sport.
It started as an eight team International Hurling Festival for the Tom Semple Cup in 2011. In 2014 this annual growing event now incorporates not just Hurling but also Camogie, Ladies Football, Target Ball, Rounders, Handball, Road Bowling, Camán Abú and a Fun Run.
This year for the first time Tipp FM Radio has come on board; in conjunction with the Festival committee and are running the “Irish Garth Brooks Experience” Concert on July 5th here in the Sarsfields Social Centre. (Reminder to all, Tickets are now available.)
This years Festival will conclude with a Céili Mór on July 12th. (See programme of events hereunder).
This Festival of Gaelic Sport this year is being actively supported by Tipp FM Radio, Hidden Tipperary Tourism, Tipperary County Council and Thurles Chamber of Commerce. All Thurles businesses and local Tourist attractions are supporting the festival by providing discounts where possible, music sessions and displaying the colours of the participating teams.
Thurles Sarsfields hope all taking part and all visitors to Thurles will enjoy a great week of Gaelic Sport, Music and Fun.
Fleadh agus Failte – A banquet and a welcome.
Draft Programme of events for Thurles Sarsfields Festival of Gaelic Sport. July 2014.
Friday 4th July:- Target Ball for Special Needs Groups in Sarsfields Centre. Five Teams entered to date and start time proposed is 12.00 noon.
Saturday 5th July:- Ladies Football Sarsfields Outside Field begins 11.00 am.
Road Bowling, Cormackstown Road. Singles and inter-club competition. Afternoon start.
Durlas Og Juvenile Hurling Tournament Preliminary rounds. (Final Saturday July 12th.) Pairc Na Nog.
Fun Run from Greyhound Stadium via Seskin to Sarsfields Centre. Walkers assemble at 6.30 pm. Runners at 7.00 pm.
Tipp FM Concert will take place in Sarsfields Social Centre. The “Garth Brooks Experience” and the “Jackson Brothers” will begin at 9.00 pm. Admission is €15.
Monday 7th July:- Caman Abu 7 a side in Sarsfields Outside Field. Evening.
Tuesday 8th July:- Caman Abu 7 a side in Sarsfields Outside Field. Evening.
Friday 11th July:- Caman Abu 7 a side Finals in Sarsfields Outside Field Evening. .
Saturday 12th:- July Hurling Tournament in Morris Park and Sarsfields Outside Field. With 13 aside, this tournament commences at 11.00 am or earlier. (Time subject to the All Ireland Hurling Qualifier in Semple Stadium.)
Camogie in St. Patrick’s College begins 10.00 am.
Durlas Og Juvenile Finals at Pairc Na Nog.
Rounders in Croke Athletic Club Grounds.
Handball Tournament in Thurles Handball Club. Junior and Juvenile level doubles and singles.
Ceili Mor in Sarsfields Social Centre begins 9.30pm. Admission €10.
Thurles Sarsfields extend their always to be expected warm welcome to all visitors and hope that this event will be, as usual, a great week for lovers of sport, music and “mighty craic,” for all in attendance here in Thurles, the true home of hurling.
Michael Dundon, former editor of the Tipperary Star newspaper and PRO of the Thurles Sarsfields 2014 International Hurling Festival reports.
Over eighty teams will be taking part in this year’s 2014 forth Thurles Sarsfields International Hurling Festival, which takes place this coming July, is a week-long event to tie in with the Munster hurling final.
The video slide-show hereunder gives just a small taste of the preparation and the taking part by some of last year’s talented participants. (Click HERE for full HD)
Arrangements are at an advanced stage for this prestigious event which for the first time will include ladies football and juvenile hurling tournaments in addition to the usual, thirteen-a-side hurling, camogie, road bowling and Caman Abu competitions, which have been so successful over the last three years. The Target Ball bowling competition for the handicapped, such a big hit last year, will again be part of this year’s festival.
Former Sarsfields chairman, John Enright, the driving force behind the festival, says that the Semple, Carew, and Culhane Cups will again be the main feature of the hurling festival, but this year teams will be taking part from some of the more traditional counties with the aim of upgrading competition. Sixteen teams will participate in these, with eight teams in both the camogie and ladies football tournaments.
Last year a Caman Abu inter-pubs/societies recreational hurling competition was introduced and was a massive hit. This year it is planned to have thirty two teams involved and the event will be run over three nights in the week, leading up to the Munster final.
The festival will commence on July 5th with the ladies football, target ball, and road bowling events. The Semple, Carew, and Culhane cups hurling and the camogie competition for the Helen O Mara cup take place on Saturday July12th.
John Enright stated that the cultural side of the festival is not being forgotten and this year a Ceili House will be staged at the Sarsfields Centre on Saturday July 12th, following the competitions and presentation of prizes.
John Enright stated “The festival is evolving each year and we are continually seeking ways to improve it; to make it more attractive for both participants and spectators. We have additional teams this year and supplementary events which we hope will make it an even better spectacle than before.
The festival has grown steadily over the last three years, thanks to the great support of our sponsors and the hard work of our committee and club members. Our aim is to promote Thurles as a sports tourism centre for the benefit of the town and to achieve this we would welcome all the support we can get from the Thurles public.”
The Hidden Tipperary Tourism Group, chaired by Mr Seamus King, gave their full commitment earlier this month to assisting where possible in attracting as many visitors to Thurles as possible for this major sporting event. Visitor attractions in Thurles will halve their entrance fees or offer free admission during this week-long festival period, beginning July 5th through to July 12th 2014.
Sounds like Thurles will be the place to visit in early July 2014.
 It was 3/1 outsiders Limerick that scored a sensational 2-18 (24pts) to 2-16 (22pts) victory against Tipperary (in front of 24,962 spectators) in the Munster SHC semi-final at Semple Stadium, Thurles this afternoon. The artistry of Shane Dowling’s scoring prowess saw the Premier county being edged out only in the last dying minutes of a truly classic Munster Championship, bewildering their hosts with a late salvo of 1-2, after the Premier County appeared to be on target for a Sunday Final showdown.
Both sides had exchanged early points before Niall O’Meara edged Tipperary in front after about 10 minutes. Limerick soon equalised and then took the lead when Shane Dowling rifled a 20-yard free into the roof of the net with Kevin Downes further stretching this advantage from the puck-out. However four minutes later Tipperary’s Patrick Maher returned the compliment, to find the opposing net.
The game remained one of ‘retaliation in kind’ for the remainder of the first half with offerings from Seamus Callanan and Declan Hannon both matching each hard-fought crucial score, to leave the sides level at 1-8 (11pts) apiece as they headed for the well deserved break.
The first minutes of the second half saw a fully determined Gearoid Ryan grant Tipperary a goal, but Limerick remained resolute, replying with four successive single points. Both sides now began to fight it out in earnest and when Denis Maher put the Premier County three points ahead in the dying minutes, Limerick’s future looked dangerously ominous.
However Tipperary had not bargained on the momentum of Shane Dowling, who deposited home an amazing goal in the 68th minute, thus equalising both sides yet again. Now spurred on by this determination and with everything to play for, two insurance points by Tom Ryan and Seamus Hickey in quick succession saw Limerick cross the line to victory to wrestle a deserved place in the 2014 Munster final, thus repeating once more last year’s provincial victory against their very same opponents.
Tipperary Team: D. Gleeson, C. Barrett, P. Maher, M. Cahill, J. Barry, B. Maher, C. O’Mahony, K. Bergin, S. McGrath, G. Ryan, N. McGrath, N. O’Meara, J. O’Dwyer, S. Callanan, P. Maher.
Tipperary Scorers: G. Ryan 1-2 (5pts), J. O’Dwyer 0-5 (5pts), S. Callanan 0-5 (5pts), P. Maher 1-0 (3pts) and N. McGrath, N. O’Meara, L. Corbett, D. Maher 0-1 (1Pt) each.
Subs: L. Corbett for J. Barry, D. Maher for N. O’Meara, C. O’Brien for M. Cahill, S. Bourke for J. O’Dwyer, T. Stapleton for S. McGrath.
Three Thurles Crokes AC members Billy Phillips, John O’Shaughnessy and Declan Doherty, (Pictured here standing between ladies Colette Charles, representing Irish Autism Action and Martina Leamy, representing Pieta House), presented cheques to two very worthy causes; Irish Autism Action and Pieta House on Thursday night last, following the conclusion of their major fund-raising event, by running the Boston Marathon on the 21st April 2014 .
All three participants would like to thank, most sincerely, all those that supported them with their funding raising efforts, which allowed them to double their originally sought target of €5,000.
Well done to everyone involved.
Kilkenny return home this evening with the Dr Croke Cup, having secured their 17th Allianz Hurling League crown and their first ever ‘three-in-a-row’ of hurling league titles, having played in front of some 21,601 spectators.
It was Kilkenny’s TJ Reid whose last-minute point, aided by Richie Hogan (Latter named ‘Man Of The Match’), secured Kilkenny’s win here at Semple Stadium in Thurles this afternoon. Tipperary goalkeeper Darren Gleeson having launched the sliotar out of play, granted Reid that one, yet vital chance, to snatch the title outright, in a superb match in which both teams managed to draw level on some eleven different occasions.
The first Tipperary goal arrived courtesy of Killenaule man John O’Dwyer; tipping the sliotar into the right top corner of the Kilkenny net, from the edge of the square, having been fed the ball nicely by Noel McGrath.
Kilkenny’s two goals came either side of the half-time break, both successfully rifled into the Tipperary net, again by TJ Reid, from penalties. Reid would go on to score an incredible personal tally of 2-11 (17 pts) by the matches end.
However at the half-time mark this afternoon, Tipperary were still leading 1-11 (14 pts) to Kilkenny’s 1-09 (12 pts).
On the balance of overall play this afternoon, Tipperary did deserved a draw, having rallied from the start two points down to end on equal scores and in doing so ensured the two extra ten-minute periods of play were required to find the overall vanquisher.
In extra time superb goalkeeping from Kilkenny’s Eoin Murphy, crucially blocked what looked like a certain goal from Tipperary’s Seamus Callanan. However Murphy deflected same using his back, spinning it out for a 65 to which Callanan could only gain one point.
While a most enjoyable game to watch, Tipperary players will return home this evening with the knowledge that since winning the All-Ireland final against Kilkenny in 2010, disappointingly they have consistently failed against their constant rival, losing out in the 2011 All-Ireland, the 2012 semi-final, last year’s qualifier and now two League finals. Tipperary still remain the all-time record-holders of Hurling League titles, having won 19 since it was founded originally in 1925.
No doubt there will be much debate in the coming days on that disputed eleventh minute point awarded to Kilkenny, despite TV video footage appearing to show that Colin Fennelly’s best scoring efforts most likely had drifted somewhat wide of their initial intended target.
Final Score: Kilkenny 2-25 (31 pts) – Tipperary 1-27 (30 pts).
Tipperary Team: D. Gleeson; C. Barrett, P. Maher, M. Cahill, J. Barry, B. Maher, C. O’Mahony, K. Bergin, J. Woodlock, D. Maher, P. Maher, J. O’Dwyer, N. McGrath, S. Callanan and N. O’Meara.
Substitutions: T. Stapleton for B. Maher, G. Ryan for D. Maher, S. McGrath for J. Woodlock, S. Bourke for N. O’Meara , J. O’Brien for S. Callanan, S. Callanan for J. O’Brien (Latter in extra time), J. O’Brien for J. O’Dwyer and J. O’Dwyer for S. Bourke.
Referee: J. Owens (Wexford).
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