De La Salle and Thurles Sarsfields do battle in Cork

De La Salle and Thurles Sarsfields lock horns in Pairc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday afternoon next where the prize on offer for the winners will be the Munster Senior Hurling Club Championship title for 2012.

The sides met two years ago at the same stage of the championship and the same venue in 2010 with the outcome going in the way of De La Salle, winning the game on a 0-9 to 0-8 scoreline on a day that the game should never have gone ahead owing to the weather conditions.

The fact that these two sides are meeting in the final is no major surprize as the two have proven to be the best two sides in the Provence all year.

After coming through their respective county championships with somewhat relative ease, both sides since they entered the Munster Championship have found the going much more difficult.

Thurles Sarsfields had to play Limerick champions Kilmallock in the quarter final stages of the championship and came through the game with three points to spare 2-12 to 0-15.

The two respective semi finals proved equally as tight, with both sides that won through needing to hit late scores to secure their passage.

Thurles Sarsfields overcame the challenge of Cork champions Sarsfields on a 2-20 to 2-15 scoreline at Semple Stadium, while in Sixmilebridge De La Salle were involved in a Roy of the Rovers style finish to their semi final against Newmarket-on-Fergus as they needed a goal with virtually the last puck of the game from John Keane to secure a 1-10 to 0-10 victory.

Both sides in this years final are very experienced outfits. The real strength in both sides possibly lies in their respective half back lines. For Thurles Sarsfields they could well have Padraig Maher in the pivotal number six shirt and could well be flanked by David Kennedy and Michael Cahill, while De La Salle are most certain to have Kevin Moran in their number six shirt with Bryan Phelan and Eoin Madigan either side of him.

However, under no circumstances do the two sides rely on their half back lines to see them through games.

Both sides are more than a danger to any side in attack. For Thurles Sarsfields in attack Pa Bourke and Lar Corbett will be their big names but by no means do they over rely on them as Aidan McCormack, Michael O’Brien and Denis Maher amongst others able to chip in with their quota of scores as are Johnny Enright and Michael Gleeson in the middle of the field while on the bench they have Ger O’Grady who was in the Tipperary senior team a few years back and is still a player that knows where the posts are.

Most Thurles Sarsfields supports could be forgiven for thinking that John Mullane is De La Salle’s main target man. They will also need no introduction to John Keane who will be well known to them as he played for Borris-Ileigh before moving to the Waterford city club. Of course these are not the only players that Thurles Sarsfields will have to keep an eye on as Jack Kennedy, Jake Dillon, Shane McNulty, Paudi Nevin etc. all know where the posts are as do Eddie Barrett and Dean Twomey from the middle of the field while Bryan Phelan cannot be afforded many chances of hitting long range frees if the Thurles side are to stand a chance.

Both sides will claim that they have improved since 2010. The question to be answered is which one as done so more.

Sunday’s game is expected to be close. Maybe too close for comfort. De La Salle have never lost a game in Munster in their three times representing Waterford while Thurles Sarsfields have never won the title. It would not be too much of a surprise if those that make the journey to Cork on Sunday would have to sit through two extra periods of twenty minutes and even after that if they were to have to re-meet on December 1 with the eventual winners advancing to play the Leinster Champions in the All-Ireland semi final on the second weekend of February.

History would suggest a close game. Since 2004 up to 2011 (drawn game) just one puck of the ball separated the sides in the final and it could well be more of the dame this time around.

In Munster Club hurling, Sunday’s game is the nineteenth time the Waterford and Tipperary champions have played each other and on head to head clashes it’s the Tipperary champions that lead the way with nine wins against eight wins for the Waterford champions recording eight wins and there has been one draw.

Here is another interesting fact. Since the turn of the Millennium, Waterford clubs have the best record in Munster Senior Club hurling championship. The Waterford champions have played twenty-seven games since 2000 of which the Waterford club have come out on top in eighteen of these games and there has been one draw. Tipperary’s record show that they have played twenty-five games since 2000 in the Munster Championship and have won fourteen of these games and drawn two, so no doubt De La Salle will be hoping to keep Waterford’s good record going on Sunday next.

Here is something however that De La Salle might not want to read, or maybe to do something about.

In 2008 and 2010 De La Salle won the Waterford County Senior Hurling Championship. They won it again in 2012. In 2008 and 2010 the Cork County Senior Hurling Championship was won by Sarsfields and they like De La Salle won the county final again in 2012. Nothing unusual there I year you say.

But in 2008 and 2010, the team that beat Sarsfields in the Munster Semi Final (i.e. De La Salle) went on to win the Munster Final. In 2012, Thurles Sarsfields beat the Cork Champions in the semi finals. Is this an omen?

Munster GAA HURLING Club Senior Championship 2012

Quarter-Final

Thurles Sarsfields (Tipperary) 2-12 Kilmallock (Limerick) 0-15 in Kilmallock


Semi-Finals
De La Salle (Waterford) 1-10 Newmarket-on-Fergus (Clare) 0-10 in Sixmilebridge

Thurles Sarsfields (Tipperary) 2-20 Sarsfields (Cork) 2-15 in Semple Stadium