Club Notes: 2nd March 2020

Post date: Mar 15, 2020 2:56:29 AM

Notaí CLG Tulach an Iarainn sponsored by Goalpost Ireland.

Senior Hurling League : We open our campaign against Ballysaggert this Sunday at 11.30am in Ballysaggert.

Where's the Logic? Championship weekend, a weekend of great excitement for both player and supporter but how about this for a predicament ! The county board in their deranged wisdom have decided to play junior hurling and senior hurling championship on the same day. Now look at the logistics of this. Clubs would need two sets of jerseys for the same day. They expect supporters to go to two games in different venues. Now not all clubs have a volume of players, so there is in all likelihood at least some of the junior players being close to starting senior who will have to tog out for two games and could if required be involved in both. Where is player welfare here ? You also have management of both, hurley and water carriers and medical officers having to attend both and not having full concentration on their sole focus which should be one game. We have a paid secretary in this county and the broader thinking should be on the club player rather than the county man. They too added the cost of buying bibs for the sideline now which must be numbered. These were handed out to teams on previous occasions so what has happened to these?

Pairc Eamon De Paor : U14 football Cois Bhride v Kilrossanty 11.30 am Sunday . Ned Power Tournament is on again this Friday in the astro turf on Friday at 6.30pm.

Deise Draw : The tickets will be handed out to promoters over the next week or so. A six month draw with a chance to win €12,500 each month as well as other prizes . It's €15 a month or €90 for the year. A vital fundraiser for the club with €10.50 retained by the club and remainder going to the running of the Waterford county teams. We had a jackpot winner last year in Maura Bermingham .

Tallow GAA Lotto Supported by Kearney's Restaurant.

2/3/2020 Jackpot €12,200 No Winner Numbers: 1,11,15,26.

Consolation Prizes: Melissa Murphy, Mike Condon, Claire Murphy, Christina McCarthy.

Promoter: Daybreak

Next Draw : 9/3/2020 Lukies 9pm Jackpot : €12,600.

Johnny Geary Interview Part 2:

PRO: The Tallow team of that time was made up of four prominent underage age groups. Late sixties ,early seventies, mid seventies and your group the early eighties. They gelled together well?

J.G.: Its debatable if they gelled WELL together but they gelled OK . 4 players came from the 83 u 21 winning side on to the senior the following year , Jim O Donoghue , Philly Curley , Pat Murphy and myself . Philly always told the older lads on the team that we gave them legs and the bit of speed they were lacking ( something they never really agreed with us on ) but we did go on to win 2 seniors in 84 and 85 so I presume what Philly said held a lot of truth.

PRO:You played on the two in a row team of 84 and 85 . Was it difficult to break on to that team?

J.G.: Yes it was difficult Ok . They had a lot of very good hurlers at that time , all who would have played county at under-age and a number who were on the county senior panel . You had the likes of Liam O'Brien , John McDonnell , the Curley and Ryan brothers , Pat Daly , Mick Beecher , Timmy Sheehan all good players so it was wasn’t easy to break on to the team and it was very competitive for places .

PRO: A lot of Tallow men gained intercounty experience for Waterford at this time, including yourself. What do you remember of that ?

J.G.:yes I think all of our senior team at that time would have played intercounty at some level at under age . I remember playing U -21 against Cork in 82 and we had 6 from Tallow on the team including Con Ryan, Mick Beecher , John Fitzgerald , Philly Curley, Pat Murphy and myself . We would have had Liam O Brien, Eddie Curley , Connie Curley , Mick Beecher , Timmy Sheehan , Pat Daly , Pat Murphy , Kieran Ryan , Philly Curley who all played Co senior at some stage . My Intercounty career was pretty short – the highlight being a defeat by Roscommon in Roscommon in a League game –I think it made Front Page news on The Roscommon Herald the following week ..

PRO: The centenary final, the new jerseys and the rain.... Losing to Ballyduff by eight points at half time! Continue...

J.G.: In the Centenary Final in 84 we played Portlaw and had a new set of Centenary Jerseys for the occasion. . It was played in Fraher Field . The forecast was for heavy showers on the day so when we togged out we went out for our warm up while it was still dry . When we completed the warm up and were back in the comfort of the dressing room, there was a cloud burst and Portlaw had just gone for pre-game warm-up and they got absolutely drenched .We had 2-3 on the scoreboard in the first 8 minutes . I always thought that heavy rain had a huge bearing on the final result.. The following year we played near neighbours Ballyduff in an All Western final in Fraher Field . Ballyduff totally outplayed us in the first half leading by 8 points at half-time . A few switches at half-time and an early goal in the second half brought us back into the game and we went on to snatch victory at the end. There was a huge rivalry with Ballyduff in the 80 s where they won 2 county titles and we won 3 in the decade but also huge respect that I think is still there to this day.

PRO: The team was at the peak of it's powers in 85 I would think. You played Roanmore in a county semi final, Tallow scored 4-16 with 4-14 coming from play. The ultimate performance?

J.G.: Yes that performance was probably the best from that team and there was nothing in it in the end. Roanmore were the emerging force in hurling in Waterford going on to win 2 co titles in the late 80's.

PRO: The eighties was a bleak period for the country. Mass emigration and unemployment! You and fellow Tallow hurlers spent times in the states..

J.G.: Yes Unfortunately there was very little work in Ireland in the late eighties so it meant a lot of young men and women had to emigrate to find work . Through the connection with Micky Pendergast in New York it was the choice of most Tallow people to head there and The UK . Micky was a great Ambassador for Tallow and Waterford in New York and did a huge amount of work for emigrants in setting them up in accommodation and jobs on arrival . At one stage there were 18 people from Tallow in the one Apartment Block which was christened: “ The Tallow Towers “ . A lot of us played for Waterford in Gaelic Park in those times.

PRO: Kilruane MacDonaghs in Tallow! Full House!. Munster club championship in our home venue! Lost by a point! They won the All Ireland.....

J.G.: I think it was one of the highlights of Tallow GAA over the years –playing in front of 3000 people in a Munster Club Championship at our home venue . It was a cracker of a game that could have gone either way , unfortunately we were beaten by a point by the eventual All Ireland Club Champions

PRO: How much of an affect did that loss have on the 86 season?

J.G.: I don’t think it really affected the following year . We were going for 3 in a row and were probably a bit complacement and didn’t prepare properly for the earlier rounds . There was a new Championship format that year which was now run on a league basis .We lost a few of the earlier rounds and all of a sudden we were in a situation where we couldn’t qualify for the next stage so we were out of the Championship and in a relegation battle which we lost and were relegated to Intermediate .

PRO:We beat Fourmilewater in the 87 western intermediate final. The cup was named after Raymond O'Brien...

J.G.:Yes Raymond O Brien was an a great hurler who unfortunately died tragically at the age of 22 . He had just began to establish a place on the Waterford Senior team and had huge potential . It was great and fitting to win his Memorial Cup in 87.