After ending their long wait within the realms of Tipperary intermediate hurling, Kiladangan will soon face into playing against senior opposition next year. However, before they embark on this path, they first must forgo a new experience in the shape of the Munster Intermediate Hurling Championship when they face Cork Champions, St Catherines on Saturday afternoon in MacDonagh Park Nenagh.

It is the second year of the Munster Intermediate Championship and certainly Kiladangan are venturing into the unknown after winning the Tipperary County Final for the first time in many years. Speaking to the Nenagh Guardian, manager Eamonn Kelly gave his thoughts on the Saturday’s game.

“We don’t know what to expect. It is something that we hadn’t really focused on in the run-up to the county final and we haven’t done a whole lot since. We have only got together on a few occasions, but hopefully things will go right. It is hard to know at this stage.”

“It will be a big game at the weekend. With St Catharine’s, we don’t know what to expect. All we know is that they are the Cork Champions and they will be a good side. If you look at what Cork are doing at Intermediate level, they won back-to-back All-Irelands with new teams. That competition is very strong down there. St Catherine’s had one or two of the panel this year and a few last year as well and they have two obvious names in Denis Walsh and Cathal Casey who have won All-Irelands with the Cork senior team.”

“I was talking to a guy that knows one of their players and the Munster Cup that we are playing for is actually donated by somebody from St Catherine’s, so they are seemingly well up for this. Their county final was on the day after our county final and a couple of our lads went down to it. The county final down there would have been as good as any senior match in Tipperary, so they are a very good side.”

However, with Toomevara winning the senior equivalent of this competition last Sunday, there has been a renewed focus and interest in this competition. Kelly admits that there is a realisation that now as well as playing for their parish, they are also representing Tipperary and he has vowed that his charges want to give a good account of themselves on the day and try and emulate Toomevara’s exploits on the provincial stage. The Tipperary champions do have injury concerns with both James Flannery and Brian Kelly seriously doubtful for this tie.

Kelly continues, “It has been a fantastic year without this. We got the club of the year and everyone in the club is proud of. We took 10 days off and then went back training again. We have been doing two nights a week since that. We are not looking beyond this match and we are just focusing on this game and all you can do is take one game at a time. We know that they are a very good side and we know that they are well up for this so we hope that we will do our own best on the day and that it will be good enough.”

“We are blessed that we have an incredible bunch of guys. The atmosphere that we have in training is 28 guys that are like friends, everyone gets on great and they are all in it for one another. One thing is that our supporters have been great all year and hopefully they will support us again on Saturday. It is a new horizon for us. I don’t think our club has ever played in Munster before so we will be there to give it our best and we certainly are looking for ward to it.”

Match Report by Liam Hogan:

Kiladangan got their first taste of Munster success, when they defeated Cork champions St Catherines in a rip-roaring tied, at MacDonagh Park, Nenagh last Saturday. The game produced all the thrills that are usually associated with Tipp v Cork clashes. While playing with the breeze in the first half, Kiladangan only managed a 0-10 to 0-9 lead at the interval. However the second half showed a different picture. Kiladangan showed contempt for the elements and played their best hurling this year. Their half-backline of Karl Hogan, Dan Hackett and Ger Slattery formed a partnership as strong as the Berlin Wall. Sean Maher was outstanding at wing forward. Brian Kelly scored a well-executed goal in the 44th minute to put the Tipp team seven points ahead. Eight minutes later, victory was assured after Enda Nolan added a second goal. There
was no way back for St Catherines, but in true Cork fashion, they battled to the final whistle.

There wasn’t a better game in Nenagh this year and Kiladangan followers will be eagerly looking forward to their semi final clash with Smith O’Briens, of Clare, next Saturday. Conor Hayes opened the scoring after just 15 seconds followed by a point from Hugh Flannery inside the second minute. As in the Cork County final, St Catherines brought Cathal Casey to midfield and the experience of the former All-Star was beginning to tell. The teams were level at 0-2 each with eight minutes gone after the illustrious Shane Kearney pointed for St Catherines. The teams were level for the third time before St Catherines took the lead for the first time at 0-4 to 0-3 after 11 minutes. That score could have changed the course of the game but for Dermot Hogan making a wonderful save arising from a Shane Kearney effort, at the expense of a point.

One minute later, Liam Karl Flannery managed to level for Kiladangan which was to be their last score from play in the half. Worrying times for Kiladangan as the St Catherines defence led by Martin O Keeffe at centre back were now well in control. So too were Cathal Casey and Kieran Morrison in the centre field area. With their grip on the game, they hit four points in as many minutes, through Hegarty twice from frees along with Kieran Morrison and Casey himself. At this juncture Kiladangan made a number of switches with Tommy Connors and Liam Karl Flannery moving to midfield. James Flannery made way for Liam Kelly on the full-back line, allowing Brian Lawlor to move to the corner on Kearney. The trend changed as Tommy Connors and Sean Maher forced Ian O’Connell to make two very good saves. With Kiladangan back in the picture, Daragh Egan pointed a 65 and added three frees to go level at 0-8 each after 29 minutes. On the half hour, Hegarty restored the St Catherines lead again but Tommy Connors made a quick reply. There were four minutes of additional time allowed as Darragh Egan put Kiladangan ahead again with a 65 for the final score of the half.

Kiladangan began well in the second half as Sean Maher fired over a line ball and Darragh Egan and Hugh Flannery now out on the forty added two more inside seven minutes. Seven minutes went by with no score to either team. Kiladangan were winning at half back and midfield forcing Cathal Casey to the inside forward line. Enda Nolan gained possession on the left, but his effort sent for a point dropped short because of the breeze before the ball broke to Brian Kelly who fired home first time. Kelly was in action again a minute later as he set up Sean Maher for a great point. But St Catherines came back in search of much needed scores. They went for goal from a close in free but were denied. They returned again when Hegarty pointed a 40-metre free, their first score in 23 minutes of play. From Dermot Hogan’s puck out Ger Slattery cleared before Darragh Egan and Conor Hayes found Enda Nolan who scored a great goal. Yet, Catherines would not decline. Shane Kearney and Hegarty reduced the margin to seven points with a point each. Kiladangan briefly interrupted that spell with a very good point from Egan. At the other end, Catherines reduced the margin to five when Cathal Casey linked up with Kearney for a goal with three minutes to go. But fitness and determination were the key to Kiladangan’s hold on the game and as a result they ended the game with two Egan frees giving them a remarkable victory.

Best for Kiladangan were Ger Slattery Dan Hackett and Karl Hogan. Brian Lawlor did a Trojan job on danger man Kearney. Tommy Connors and Liam Karl Flannery formed a gear double act at midfield while Sean Maher stole the show in attack. There were great performances from Brian Kelly, Hugh Flannery and Darragh Egan while lets not forget the performance of Enda Nolan. On the performance of the opening half Cathal Casey was man of the match. Shane Kearney and Kieran Morrison plus Michael Hegarty performed so well. They faded somewhat in the second half where Martin O’Keeffe and Aidan Hogan performed consistently over the hour. Full back Mike Fitzgerald had his first outing with a Leinster club final the following day. Ian O’Connell made a number of good saves

Scorers - Kiladangan: D Egan 0-9 (5f and 2=65), B Kelly 1-1, E Nolan 1-0, S Maher 0-3 (1-side), C Hayes, H Flannery, L Flannery and T Connors 0-1 each. St Catherines: M Hegarty 0-7(5f), S Kearney 1-3, K Morrison 0-1 C Casey 0-1.

Kiladangan: Dermot Hogan; James Flannery, Brian Lawlor, Michael Ryan; Karl Hogan, Dan Hackett, Ger Slattery (Capt); Sean Maher, Brian Kelly; Tommy Connors, James Flannery, Liam Karl Flannery; Conor Hayes, Hugh Flannery, Darragh Egan,

Subs: Liam Kelly for J Flannery 12th min; Enda Nolan for Minehan 26th min; Pat Lynch for Hayes 58th min; Eoin Kelly for B Kelly; for L K Flannery 59th min.

St Catherines: I O’Connell: A Keane, M Fitzgerald, A Hogan; S Fitzgerald, M O’Keeffe, P Cotter; C Casey, J Sheehan; R O’Connell, K Morrison, P O’Connell; S Kearney, D Farrell, M Hegarty. Subs: B Hogan for Fitzgerald 57th min; P O’Neill for S Fitzgerald; K Dineen for P O’Connell.

Referee: D O’Driscoll Limerick

It might be Kiladangan's first time playing a provincial competition but it looks like the North Tipperary club are going all out to win the Munster Intermediate Hurling Club Championships, after overcoming Cork champions St Catherine's by seven points in the first round last Saturday.

After the game, Kiladangan manager Eamonn Kelly gave his thoughts on a wonderful victory for the club.

" It is amazing. The lads are well up for this competition. We were saying before the match that we are the first Kiladangan team to play in a Munster club and it would be great to do well. We are representing Tipperary as well as Kiladangan. It is a great start but it is still nothing won. We have another game next week and there is still two hours hurling for whoever is going to win this " We had a good second half performance. St Catherine's were a very good side. We got off to an okay start, we got a couple of points but then we lost our concentration for 10 or 15 minutes. They owned that quarter of the game and they led us by four or five points. Just before half time we got a few frees to bring us back into it and went in a point up after playing with a strong breeze. In the second half, the lads put in a huge effort. Things went right for them and we got the breaks.

"We won by seven points. The whole team really played well and the few changes worked. Enda Nolan came on and had a fantastic game and Liam Kelly also came on and had a fantastic game. The whole half back line hurled well. It was one of those days in the second half where they were like a different team than what went out in the first half. They showed great heart." Next up is Killaloe club side Smith-O'Brien's in the Munster semi-final at two o'clock in Nenagh next Saturday. Kelly believes they will be particularly strong given that they overcame Clooney-Quin in their county final, a team which drew with Kiladangan with in a practice match two weeks before the county final.

Kelly continues: "We played Clooney-Quinn, the team they beat in the Clare County final and I thought they were an excellent side. I know Smith-O'Brien's have four or five excellent hurlers and they have to be a very good team to beat Clooney-Quin." " I think it is going to be an even tougher game than last weekend given that I am sure Killaloe were watching us and they would have seen us beating the Cork champions. The spotlight will be turning on us and they are holding all the aces. We will be giving them huge respect because they won the Clare county final, but we will just have to concentrate on our own performance"

Liam Hogan speaks with the Kiladangan backroom team after Saturday's win over St Catherine's.

Kiladangan dedicated their win last Saturday, to Pat Gleeson who died two weeks previously. Pat was a great supporter of Kiladangan GAA Club and a brother of team selector Roger Gleeson.

"The players were asked to do it for one man who is not here today. We did it for him," said Roger who personally thanked each of the players after the game Pat rarely missed a match involving Kiladangan Just last October, he was in Semple Stadium to see his club defeat Moyne Templetuohy in the County Intermediate Final

Club chairman, Liam Kelly felt that the win provided the club with a big lift. "The club deserved the win, especially with the gloom in the area in the past number of days," he said. He went on to say that 20 minutes in to the first half, the team were trailing by eight pomts to four. "We needed some inspiration from somewhere and with Gerry Slattery dominating at left half back. We got back to lead by a point at half time. The second half was the best thirty minutes hurling, that Kiladangan played this year," he added.

Roger Gleeson felt it was a super win. He was happy with the way that the team played in the second half, especially against the strong breeze. "I knew that our team had the ability to take on the Cork lads. Our backs were excellent (in the second half)_, they gave away no frees and we frustrated them."

Team manager, Eamon Kelly felt that the team failed to get out of the blocks in the first half, but played very well in the second. "We had a bit of luck. The lads weathered the storm and took their chances.
"We seen them play in the county final and we knew that they were a very good side. Their senior experience showed. We knew that we would have to play very well to beat them. "We had to make changes. Our backs were to the wall in the first half and the subs that came on played very well,".

And next Saturdays game against Clare champions Smith O Briens in Nenagh? "Next Saturday's game will be like a North Tipp championship game because of the proximity of the teams. Smith O'Briens are a very good side. I have seen them play this year. We would have played against Clooney Quin, the team that (Smith O'Bnens) beat in the county final on a few occasions. We thought them (Clooney Quin) an excellent side," he added. Over in the St Catherine's dressing room, their coach Pat Bennett was thanking his players for their efforts throughout the year. The club from Ballynoe had made the dreaded drop to intermediate this time last year. Winning the county final after one year in waiting was a welcome boost. They arrived in Nenagh confident of at least a 50:50 chance of winning. They had the measure of Kiladangan in the early stages of the game. Once Kiladangan took over, there was only one result.