'The Church' are one more win away from hurling heaven
Pictured is AIB ambassador Keith Ryan (Upperchurch-Drombane) ahead of the AIB GAA Hurling All-Ireland Junior Club Championship Final between Easkey and Cill Briotáin. A historic club championship season, defined by thrilling encounters and unprecedented journeys, culminates in eagerly anticipated AIB GAA Hurling Intermediate and Junior club finals taking centre stage on Saturday January 10th.
By John Harrington
Upperchurch-Drombane in the Slieve Felim hills of Tipperary is a small place but it has a big heart.
It’s a tight-knit community with a fierce pride of parish that is flaming all the brighter now as the club prepares for Saturday’s AIB All-Ireland Club Intermediate Hurling final against Tooreen of Mayo.
Flags and homemade signs decorate every cross-roads, most of the roughly 1,400 people who call the place home will be in Croke Park tomorrow, and a fund set up to help the team’s preparations for the final has raised almost €20,000 in a matter of days.
“That just shows the unbelievable support we have,” says team captain Keith Ryan. “We're so grateful to get that support from the people of Upperchurch-Drombane.
“It's a small place in Mid-Tipperary but I suppose there's a real sense of community within the parish of Upperchurch-Drombane.
“If anything ever goes wrong, everyone rows in behind each other and everyone is there with open arms if you're ever in need. That's no different on the hurling field as well. We're a tight-knit, close bunch.”
Upperchurch-Drombane was a hot-zone for British forces during the War of Independence and that rebellious, defiant streak has always been a part of the community’s character.
It has found expression too in the brand of hurling that ‘The Church’ have traditionally played, where no quarter is asked for nor given.
The current generation have married that toughness with the sort of skill and tactical acumen that perhaps wasn’t always as synonymous with Upperchurch-Drombane teams, but it’s been guts as much as guile that has brought them to this All-Ireland Final.
One of the many homemade signs encouraging Upperchurch-Drombane to All-Ireland glory.
They’ve won eight matches and drawn one to reach this All-Ireland Final, and many of those encounters were tight battles where they really had to grit their teeth to get the job done.
“I suppose it's what you saw the last day when we were probably out of that game with five minutes to go against Danesfort in the All-Ireland semi-final but we found a way to win it,” says Ryan. “That's been our story all year.
“We've been nearly beat on some occasions but we just refused to lose and refused to give up and we’ve really grinded out results when it didn't look likely, I suppose.
“I think that stood to us along the year because we've had numerous encounters throughout the year when we've been in tight games and we've come out the right side of them.
“We had a match against Ballina in the group phase in Tipperary when we were nearly out of the Championship in the last couple of minutes and we pulled that one out and got through it. The same in the county semi-final against Gortnahoe when we got the last three scores of the game to win by a point.
“We've been in those sorts of scenarios but we haven’t panicked and just stuck to what we were doing and it has served us well.
Upperchurch-Drombane celebrate after winning the AIB Munster Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship.
This Upperchurch-Drombane team is a very hard side to play against.
The same group of players reached the Tipperary senior football semi-final this year so they’re a very fit, athletic bunch and that physical conditioning has really come into its own at this time of the year.
They marry it with a ferocious work-ethic that sees them harry, hassle, hook, and block with an impressive zeal.
In their nine championship matches they’ve conceded just four goals and an overall average of 17 points per match, so they’re defensively very solid with Keith Ryan at full-back and his brother Gavin at centre-back especially dominant.
“For any defence you pride yourself on not conceding goals and not conceding points, and it starts at the top of our forward line, our number 15, all the way back to 8 and 9,” says Ryan.
“Their work rate up the field is absolutely immense.
“They're putting savage pressure on the opposition backs delivering in that ball. It gives us that extra chance, I suppose, to get to the ball, which in turn helps us to be able to defend it that bit better.
“That probably helped us get on top in the final few minutes against Danesfsort but overall when we look back at that game we reflect that we probably weren't overly happy with our performance.
“There were probably areas there that we definitely need to improve on for this weekend if we're to take silverware.
“We're under no illusions that the last day probably won't be good enough for this coming Saturday. We'll have to up our game another five, ten per cent.”
Keith Ryan lifts the cup for Upperchurch-Drombane after their victory in the Tipperary Premier Intermediate Hurling Final.
Upperchurch-Drombane will need to be defensively excellent on Saturday because their attacking edge is likely to be dulled by the injury absence of arguably their two most potent forwards, Paudie Greene and Paddy Phelan.
Greene is definitely out after dislocating his knee in the All-Ireland semi-final and Phelan is also a big doubt with a leg injury.
“The two boys are big losses,” says Ryan. “They're two marquee forwards for us for the last number of years.
“Picking from a small pool of players, I suppose it's just the next man up and the next man to step into that jersey. I've no doubt whoever that is, they'll do a fine job for us.”
The big question from an Upperchurch-Drombane point of view is without Greene and Phelan will they be able to match Tooreen for pure firepower?
The Mayo and Connacht champions have scored a total of 7-70 in their last three matches for an average of 30 points per game and boast a serious set of forwards.
Shane Boland, Liam Lavin, and Eoin Delaney scored a combined 3-76 for Mayo in last year’s Nickey Rackard Cup campaign, Sean Kenny is another prolific inter-county forward, and while team captain Fergal Boland might be better known for his exploits as a county footballer with Mayo, he’s another forward capable of shooting the lights out on his day.
Tooreen and Upperchurch-Drombane captain, Fergal Boland and Keith Ryan, pictured ahead of the AIB All-Ireland Club Intermediate Hurling Final.
The temptation might be to fancy a Tipperary team against a Mayo team in an All-Ireland hurling final, but Ryan and his team-mates are very aware of just how big a challenge they face on Saturday against a team that was narrowly beaten in the 2023 All-Ireland Final by Monaleen of Limerick.
“Absolutely,” he says. “We're under no illusions that this will be our biggest game all year. It could be a massive, massive step up in test.
“I think they've won the last two games quite convincingly. So they're well able to put teams away if they're given the chance and we have to be really ready for that.
“They've some great players there in the inside forward line and all over the field so we'll have to get our match ups right on the day and just bring our best game.”
One of the many homemade signs encouraging Upperchurch-Drombane to All-Ireland glory.
Another important factor will be how well the Tipperary team can adapt to playing in Croke Park.
Team captain Ryan is one of just two Upperchurch-Drombane players to have played there before, whereas the entire Tooreen team has played at headquarters multiple times for club and/or county.
“Obviously, it is a factor, but, look, the minute the ball rolls in, I think all that stuff kind of goes out the window and it's just you're playing the game of hurling and it's you against your man and that's it really,” says Ryan.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and this is why we play hurling, for games like this.”
Saturday, January 10
AIB All-Ireland Club IHC final
Tooreen (Mayo) v Upperchurch-Drombane (Tipperary), Croke Park, 5.15pm - TG4
