AIB Munster Senior Club Semi-Final 

Drom-Inch (Tipperary) vs De La Salle (Waterford)

Sunday 19th November @1.30pm – Drom-Inch GAA

After a 4 week layoff since their county final win Drom-Inch are just days away from a Munster semi-final meeting with Waterford champions De La Salle. The sides met at the same stage last year in De La Salle, where extra time was needed before Drom claimed victory. On Sunday Drom-Inch will have home advantage but another close battle is expected. De La Salle boast a number of big names but none more high profile than recently announced 2023 player of the year Beth Carton. She was instrumental to Waterford’s brilliant year that led to reaching the All-Ireland final and finished the year as overall championship top scorer. Last year De La Salle defeated Gaultier to win their first senior final. Now having won back to back titles they will be fully focussed on progressing in Munster and winning a Munster title. Beth Carton wasn’t their only All-Star nominee this year as keeper Brianna O’Regan was also deservedly nominated along with Keeley Corbett Barry who will likely feature at centre back against Drom-Inch on Sunday. Another player which Drom will need to keep a tight rein on is forward Abbie Flynn who also featured on the Waterford team this year. Having captured their 5th county title in succession Drom-Inch are seasoned Munster championship campaigners at this stage and are current Munster champions. Having lost 2 All-Ireland semi-finals in recent years they would love to get back to that stage again and go one step further and reach a coveted final. Munster though looks more competitive than ever this year with a star studded De La Salle team and Sarsfields of Cork and Newcastle West of Limerick in the other semi-final. Drom-Inch had a good run to this year’s final looking impressive in the group stages. In both the semi-final against Thurles Sarsfields and Clonoulty Rossmore in the final they really had to dig deep to carve out a win and their character was really tested. The ability to score goals at one end and prevent them at the other end although simplistic has really been the key to their success this year. In both the semi-final and final despite being on the back foot for large passages of the game they didn’t concede a goal in either game, while raising 2 green flags in both. Eimear McGrath has been in fine form all year in attack along with Miriam Campion and Katie O’Dwyer. All star nominee Aoife McGrath and Tipp junior player Caroline Shanahan have formed a very good midfield partnership. The back 6 have been brilliant all year but will no doubt face their toughest test to date on Sunday. Mairead Eviston is the captain and leader of the team at centre back. Niamh Long was excellent in their final win. Maria Connolly, Christina Brennan and Eimear Cahill are tough, tenacious and experienced defenders in the full back line. If they curb the influence of Beth Carton and the forwards click in attack on their home ground they will hopefully be heading for a Munster final on the following Sunday.