Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor A Championship: Round 1

Tipperary 3-10

Kilkenny 2-07

On Sunday at Sean Treacy GAA ,Tipperary clashed with Kilkenny in a highly anticipated opening round of the Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor A Championship. The stage was set for a captivating showdown between two provincial winners, and the match did not disappoint.

The sides were evenly matched in the opening quarter with scores difficult to come by as both defences dominated. With 17 minutes gone Tipp’s sole score of the game had come from a Caoimhe Stakelum point while Kilkennys’s Tara Roche well struck shot off the ground found the back of the Tipp net. The game began to open up in the second quarter with Ciara O’Shea (0-03, 1 free), Katie Brennan and Angela Carroll all registering fine scores for the visitors.  Tipperary also began to get the scoreboard ticking with Danielle Ryan and Ciara Shelly carrying on their good form from the Munster championship with points while Cashel’s Hannah Butler scored a goal and a point in succession to leave the half time score 1-05 to 1-04 in Kilkenny’s favour at the break. 

However, Tipperary emerged from the break with renewed vigor and determination. Crucial goals from Lucy Purcell and Caoimhe Stakelum helped to put John Ryan’s team into the driving seat and they finished the half strong outscoring the visitors to run out 6 point winners. Despite the performance being far from a polished display there was plenty of positives for John Ryan’s management team to take away including a spread of 9 different scorers with 2 subsitutes Elana McGrath and Eimhear Troy making an impact with a point each. Limiting Kilkenny to just 1-02 in the second half was also a big plus and a testament to the strength of the defence and the overall workrate of the team. 

Several standout performances were key to Tipperary's victory, with players such as Caithlyn Treacy, Ciara Shelly, Caoimhe Stakelum, and Hannah Butler delivering stellar displays on the field. Next up is an away trip to Galway this Sunday. Galway enjoyed an opening round victory over Waterford and will sure to be very stiff opposition. 

Tipperary: Danielle Butler, Paula Quirke, Aoife Mellerick, Ellie Franklin, Eabha Dolan, Sarah Corcoran, Caithyln Treacy(0-01), Lucy Heffernan, Emer Dwan, Lucy Purcell (1-0), Danielle Ryan(0-02), Ciara Shelly(0-01), Ava Bevans(0-01), Caoimhe Stakelum (1-02,1 free) , Hannah Butler(1-01). 

Subs: Aine Dooley for Emer Dwan,  Elana McGrath (0-01) for Lucy Heffernan, Eimhear Troy (0-01) for Ava Bevans