FBD Insurance Senior Quarter Finals preview

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October 15, 2021

The groups games are over and the quarter final pairings are set meaning supporters are in for a treat this Saturday with 4 mouth-watering fixtures to look forward to.

Annacarty VS Nenagh, Saturday 16th October @ 4pm in Annacarty

Despite a first round defeat to Thurles Sarsfields Annacarty finish top of group 1 after 3 impressive wins on the trot over Toomevara, Clonoulty Rossmore and Drom-Inch. Having had a bye this weekend they will be go into the quarter final well rested and confident. They have a very settled and solid spine of a team with Aoife Butler in goal, Rosanna O’Donnell and Karen Fox at full and centre back, Gemma Fox in midfield, Siobhan O’Neill at centre forward and Eibhlis McDonald full-forward. With Leah Heffernan, Cinnait Walsh and Jean Kelly also in the starting 15 on paper Annacarty look very balanced and experienced and so far have have backed it up with 3 impressive wins from 4. They will go into Saturdays quarter final as firm favourites against a Nenagh side yet to record a win in this year’s championship. In their opening game they were beaten by Silvermines by 4 points despite scoring an impressive 2-14. Against Burgess-Duharra they were completely outclassed losing 1-15 to 1-4. They will however take confidence in their final group game against Cashel a game which they led 3-08 to 1-12 at the second half water break. A strong last quarter by Cashel saw them outscore Nenagh by 6 points to 1 to claim victory. Nenagh’s main scoring threat is Tipperary senior player Grace O’Brien. They also possess plenty of other talent in Allanah Morris, Rachel Maher and Caroline Browne. They have a huge task facing them on Saturday and will need to build on the performance against Cashel and produce a brilliant display to have any hope of overturning Annacarty. 


Cashel Vs Thurles Sarsfields, Saturday 16th October @ 3 pm in Golden

Cashel caught everyone’s attention after round 1 of the championship when they put down an early marker against Burgess-Duharra beating them 2-12 to 1-06. Since then they’ve continued their winning ways with wins against Silvermines and Nenagh. They didn’t get it all their own way in either of these games beating Silvermines 1-13 to 1-08 and only pulling away from Nenagh in the final quarter winning on a scoreline of 3-09 to 1-18. With a very young side many who are still minors they have real pace throughout. Sorcha Ryan and Amy Crosse are leaders for them in defence. Aine O’Dwyer brings a lot of enegy in midfield while Tipp senior player Karin Blair is a key player for them up front. Thurles Sarsfileds got their first ever senior championship campaign off to a dream start with an impressive 4-12 to 10 point win over Annacarty. They followed this up with a good performance against Clonoulty despite losing 1-12 to 1-09. A big win over Toomevara meant they went into their final group game knowing that a win would see them top the group on a head to head with Annacarty. However they never got out of the blocks against Drom-Inch and suffered a heavy defeat 3-19 to 9 points. Their team is a mixture of youth and experience with 2020 all-star winner Karen Kennedy their key player operating mainly at midfield. Niamh McCormack and Laura Loughnane form the spine of the defence while in attack they will need Andrea and Nicola Loughnane, Sarah Mcevitt and Rosin Corbett all firing next weekend if they’re to outscore Cashel. Both sides will know each other well from coming up against each other at intermediate grade so a very intriguing battle is in store.


Drom-Inch Vs Silvermines, Saturday 16th October @ 3pm in the Ragg

Drom-Inch are still on course in their bid to retain their senior championship crown but they have a very tricky quarter-final clash against Silvermines to contend with this Saturday. Silvermines scored an impressive 2-18 in their opening group game to defeat Nenagh but suffered a heavy defeat a week later to Burgess-Duharra 2-17 to 8 points. In their final group game against Cashel they lost out by 5 points 1-13 to 1-08. Tipperary Intermediate player Ciara Ryan lines out at midfield for them with Eimear Murphy and Lousise McLoughlin in defence. In attack they have plenty of players to trouble the Drom-Inch defence namely Brid Quinn, Nicola Butler and Sarah Madden. Drom-Inch have had a mixed campaign to date. They began with an away win to Clonoulty followed by a big win over Toomevara. They then were beaten by Annacarty 3-09 to 2-10 but bounced back from this with an impressive win over Thurles Sarsfields 3-19 to 9 points. Niamh Treacy has been excellent in her new position at wing back but at times she is also missed further up the field. Alongside Niamh Aoife McGrath continues to play a captains role. Mary Bourke brings great energy and physicality in midfield while Eimear McGrath has an eye for a goal along with being very reliable on frees. When the Drom-Inch attack clicks they are capable of producing a brilliant display with Joanne Ryan, Michelle Woodlock and Siobhan McGrath all more than skilled at keeping the score board ticking. On different occasions throughout the year however they have been well marshalled and struggled to get into any sort of scoring rhythm. This was evident in both their defeat to Annacarty and earlier in the league quarter final when Silvermines recorded a good win against them. Silvermines will take confidence from that league win earlier the year and will look to a get off to a good start on Saturday in their bid to cause an upset .

 

Burgess-Duharra Vs Clonoulty Rossmore, Saturday 16th October @3.30pm in Kilcoleman

 The 4th quarter final is a repeat of the 2020 county semi-final when Clonoulty held out for a famous victory. And for many observers the clash between Burgess-Duharra and CLonoulty Rossmore is the pick of all 4 quarter finals. Any talk of a Burgess-Duharra demise after their opening round defeat to Cashel was firmly put to bed after they defeated Silvermines a week later 2-17 to 8 points and Nenagh in their final group game 1-15 to 1-04. Their team is littered with multiple county final winners namely Gemma Grace and Caoimhe Maher in defence and Jenny Grace and Ciara McKeogh up front. In  Amy Kennedy they possess a serious scoring forward. If Clonoulty are to win away from home on Saturday they will need someone to quell Amy’s influence. Emer Loughman lines out at wing back for them but for Tipperary she’s regularly given the man marking jobs. It will be interesting to see if she will be deployed in the full-back line to marshall Amy. Clonoulty have had a mixed campaign to date. In the opening game they were beaten by Drom-Inch but bounced back with a hard earned win over Thurles Sarsfields 1-12 to 1-09. In their third game on the trot Annacarty bet them 3-13 to 1-14 however they re-grouped since and were in devastating form against Toomevara on Saturday scoring a massive 8-17 to Toomevara’s 6 points. The performance of the experienced Courtney Ryan, Cora Hennessey and Cait Devane will be crucial to Clonoulty if they are to march onto a semi-final.  The trio are hugely effective and key scorers. Elsewhere they will look to Avril Quirke, Casey Hennessey and Eimear Bourke to be on top form in attack to break down a stern Burgess-Duharra rearguard.