BY COUNTY PRO ED DONNELLY COUNTY SENIOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINALS Following last weekend's Quarter-Final action, the draws for the County Senior Hurling Championship semi-finals were made and set up two intriguing matches scheduled for next Sunday at Semple Stadium. At 2:00pm, 2005 County champions Thurles Sarsfields will play West champions Clonoulty-Rossmore while at 3:30pm, 2007 County champions Loughmore-Castleiney take on 2006 County champions Toomevara. LIVE MATCH TRACKER Anyone at home or abroad who is unable to attend this weekend's Semi-Finals at Semple Stadium can keep in touch with the action via a Live Match Tracker on the Tipperary GAA web site (http://tipperary.gaa.ie). Log in to the web site for live text updates online as the action unfolds. Check out the web site to see the match tracker from each of last weekend's Quarter-Finals. COUNTY SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINALS The semi-final line-up in the County Senior Football Championship is now complete. Reigning County champions Moyle Rovers (6 County titles) will play Cahir (2003 champions) on Sunday next at 1:30pm in Clonmel. The other semi-final which has yet to be fixed will see Galtee Rovers (5 County titles - last in 1981) take on Aherlow (2006 champions). SEAMUS O RIAIN CUP FINAL The Seamus O Riain Cup Final between Kilruane MacDonaghs and Carrick Swan will be played as a curtain-raiser to the County Senior Hurling Championship Final at Semple Stadium Thurles on Sunday October 19th. In the second semi-final played last Saturday at Templemore, Kilruane MacDonaghs defeated Upperchurch-Drombane by 4-18 to 4-8. ALL-IRELAND LADIES FOOTBALL FINAL Many congratulations to all involved with the Tipperary Ladies Footballers following their All-Ireland success on Sunday last at Croke Park. ALL-STAR HURLING NOMINATIONS The nominations for the Vodafone-sponsored GAA All Stars were announced last week with Tipperary hurlers receiving nine nominations, second only to the All-Ireland champions Kilkenny. The Tipperary players in contention for an All-Star are as follows - Brendan Cummins (Ballybacon-Grange - 3 All-Stars to date), Paul Curran (Mullinahone), Conor O'Brien (Eire Og Annacarty), Conor O'Mahony (Newport), Shane Maher (Burgess), Shane McGrath (Ballinahinch), Seamus Callanan (Drom & Inch), Lar Corbett (Thurles Sarsfields) and Eoin Kelly (Mullinahone - 5 All-Stars to date). Tipperary players have won 67 All-Stars awards since 1971, 65 in hurling and 2 in Football. Tipperary have received at least one All-Star award in each of the last nine Hurling selections. Meanwhile, Seamus Callanan has been nominated for Young Hurler of the Year along with Cathal Naughton (Cork) and Joe Canning (Galway). MUNSTER SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP 2009 The Munster Council at its meeting on Thursday night decided that the Senior Football Championship for 2009 will be on the basis of an Open Draw. This replaces the seeded system from this year which saw both finalists kept apart until the Final. MUNSTER COUNCIL REPORT The Tipperary County Board recently received a report on the Crowd Control issues in the Blackrock Terrace at Pairc Ui Chaoimh during the Munster Senior Hurling Championship semi-final between Tipperary and Cork on June 8th 2008. The report was compiled with the assistance of the Munster Council, Cork County Board and the Gardai. The report explains that theories about patrons from the City End Terrace entering the Blackrock Terrace don't stand up given that the Blackrock Terrace has a capacity of 12,000 and 11,700 patrons entered the styles on the day. 38,500 tickets were pre-sold for the event with an extra 4,000 sold on the day. With 40 minutes to throw-in, less than 20,000 patrons had entered the stadium. While the process of getting everyone through the styles safely was achieved just after the throw-in of the Senior game, the task of "getting late comers safely into the spacious areas around the Blackrock Terrace proved impossible". One of the main issues involved was that many patrons on the terrace were sitting down and many attempts were made to get them to stand up. The 50 Stewards on duty, supported by the 12 Gardai personnel in addition to 2 sergeants and 1 inspector on the Blackrock terrace worked diligently to keep the yellow passage ways clear on the terrace and this was achieved just up to throw-in time. The report explains that when the Senior game began, the volume of patrons still entering the Blackrock terrace and stepping on to the yellow passage ways "made the job of Stewards and Gardai almost if not totally impossible". Patrons entering at this stage were distracted by the events on the pitch which slowed their movements and caused a back-up of people on the yellow passage ways. Up to 200 patrons were corralled under the Blackrock Terrace and those at the front pushed towards the gate to the field at the corner of the terrace, creating a nervous experience for all those involved. This happened after the game had begun allowing no opportunity to take any remedial action such as delaying the game. The reports goes on to explain - "In the interests of the health and safety of the patrons and more especially as young children were present, the Gardai and Head Steward present in the area took the decision to allow patrons exit from this area into the field area. This presented a more safe option than attempting to regain the yellow lines in a short period and deposit patrons safely on the terrace". Extra stewards and Gardai were deployed to this area to ensure the health and safety of patrons and to ensure no disruption to the game in progress. A human chain was formed between Gardai and Stewards to successfully achieve both aims at once. The ultimate conclusion of the report was that "what happened on the day was unavoidable in the circumstances and that the decisions taken were the correct ones which avoided a more possible serious incident and any danger to patrons, players or officials." The deployment of Stewards and Gardai and their positioning on the Terraces in the light of the experiences on June 8th have been revised for future matches of this nature. EOIN KELLY INTERVIEW The lucky winner of the prize to interview Eoin Kelly is Eamonn Troy of Ballinastick, Coalbrook, Thurles. Eamonn will interview Eoin and put questions to him that were sent in by Junior Members of the Tipperary Supporters Club. The interview will be printed in the programme for the County Senior Hurling Final on October 19th. Eamonn entered the draw by becoming a FREE Junior Member of the Tipperary Supporters Club and you can join for free on www.tippsupportersclub.com. PADDY RUSSELL BOOK LAUNCH Due to unforeseen circumstances, the official launch of Final Whistle - the Paddy Russell story with Jackie Cahill, which was scheduled for The Golden Thatch, Emly, on this Wednesday October 1st, has been postponed until Thursday evening, October 16th at 7:30pm. The book will be launched by GAA President elect Christy Cooney of Cork. Mainstream Publishing and the book's authors regret any inconvenience caused. All GAA followers in Tipperary and beyond are invited to attend on the new date and Russell's autobiography promises to be a Christmas bestseller. DR. HARTY CUP HURLING The first round of the Dr. Harty Cup will take place next week. On Tuesday October 7th at 2:30pm, Thurles CBS take on Nenagh CBS in a local derby in Templemore in Group D. St. Caimins are the other team in this group. On Wednesday, October 8th at 1:30pm, Our Ladys Templemore play Doon CBS in Cashel in Group B. Reigning champions DLS Waterford and Carrigaline are the other teams in this group. The top two teams in each of the four groups go through to the Quarter-Finals. MUNSTER POST PRIMARY SCHOOLS Clonmel CBS will play Carrigaline Community School in the Corn an Uachtaran (Post Primary Munster Senior "B" Football) in Fermoy at 1:30pm on Friday October 10th. In the Post Primary Munster Senior "C" Hurling competition, St. Mary's Newport take on Mount Hawk Tralee in Rathkeale on Wednesday October 8th at 1:30pm. Meanwhile, in the Dean Ryan Cup (Munster Under 16 ½ "A" Hurling), Thurles CBS defeated St. Colman's on a scoreline of 5-10 to 3-12. POST PRIMARY SCHOOLS FIRST YEAR HURLING COMPETITION A full round of matches in the Tipperary Post Primary schools first year hurling competition will take place next week. All matches are scheduled for Tuesday October 7th at 1:30pm unless otherwise stated - High School Clonmel vs. Colaiste Phobal Roscre in Dr. Morris Park Thurles; Cashel Community School vs. Thurles CBS "A" in Cashel; Abbey CBS vs. Nenagh CBS in Tipperary Town; Borrisokane Community College vs. Comeragh College Carrick on Suir in Littleton; St. Josephs Borrisoleigh vs. Cistercian College Roscrea in Borrisoleigh; St. Ailbes vs. Presentation Ballingarry in Tipperary Town; Scoil Ruain Killenaule vs. Nenagh Vocational School at Killenaule; Thurles Vocational School vs. Colaiste Dun Iascaigh Cahir in Thurles; Carrick-on-Suir CBS vs. St. Mary's Newport in Dr. Morris Park Thurles at 12:30pm; Thurles CBS "B" vs. Our Ladys Templemore in Railway Field Thurles on Thursday October 9th at 1:30pm. TIPPERARY GAA YEARBOOK The 2009 Tipperary GAA Yearbook is being compiled at present. The Yearbook committee are looking to all clubs to submit any obituaries of their deceased members in the last 12 months. The maximum number of words for an obituary is 150 and please include the club name and the years also, e.g. 1930-2008, as well as his/her G.A.A. achievements and a photograph of the deceased person. In addition, if your club has accomplished any unique achievement in 2008, such as winning a major title for the first time, achieving a double, opening new dressing rooms or a new grounds, etc. please send through an appropriate article to the Yearbook committee for inclusion. The deadline for sending information is October 31st, but it is hoped that much of the material will be in long before that date. You can e-mail completed work to Seamus King at [email protected] or John Smith at [email protected]. All photographs must be named and sent to John Smith, c/o Tipperary GAA Office, Slievenamon Road, Thurles. TIPPERARY GAA SCENE Information concerning all areas in the GAA will appear in this section in the future. If you wish to include any item of interest in future articles, please contact the County Public Relations Officer Ed Donnelly at 087-2055642 or via e-mail at [email protected] on or before 3:00pm on Monday. Visit the Tipperary GAA web site at http://tipperary.gaa.ie to keep up to date with all the latest news in Tipperary GAA circles. Tweet

Most Read Stories