Familiar rivals to meet again
It is no surprise the managers of the respective teams in this year’s senior county football final between Bennekerry-Tinryland and Old Leighlin talk a similar talk. They know each other well and no doubt have nothing but the utmost respect for each other.
Bennekerry-Tinryland are the reigning All-Ireland intermediate football champions. Old Leighlin may not have gone the whole way but they have a Leinster club football junior title. That was garnered back in 2018. They have been regular protagonists in Carlow finals ever since.
The met in the first group game in Carlow this year.
“We had a very good game in Tinryland. They won the game by a point but it was a very good game. The quality of the football was very good. It is all to play for as we go into this county final,” said Old Leighlin manager, Barry Hayes.
Also in the group were Rathvilly, Eire Og and St Brigids. Those sides may not have been able to close the gap but the performance against the YIs suggested Old Leighlin had a few issues to deal with.
“We struggled that night. They caused a lot of problems and we were not happy “with our performance that night,” noted Hayes who says his side are definitely underdogs here.
“We know Bennekerry-Tinryland are going to be favourites coming into the final. Their record speaks for itself. They are going for three-in-a-row. They won the intermediate All-Ireland last year. We are under no illusion the size of the task that lies ahead of us.
“They have a lot of players in with the county team. We have played against each other in every county final since 2017-18.We know each other very well. They have a lot of experienced players in their squad.” Many of the Old Leighlin players featured with the Naomh Bríd camogie team who lost to Mount Leinster Rangers in the county semi-final at the weekend. Hayes is keeping his fingers crossed.
“Obviously camogie took place at the weekend. We have a few bumps and bruises from that. We have a couple of players carrying knocks but we hope to be in a position to have a whole panel to pick from. Hopefully we will get the game down the back stretch to give ourselves a change and get a bit of luck which is required on the day,” he says.
Bhris Townsend, the Benneker By Kieran Murphy y-Tinryland manager may have led his team to an All-Ireland title last December but all bets are off now as the new club season comes to an end in Carlow.
They beat Old Leighlin in their opening game but skated through the rest of the group games with no-one laying a glove on them.
“The group went well. We topped the group five from five,” he acknowledges.
“That game against Old Leighlin was close. We won by a point but it was tight,” he says.
He repeats the word. “Close.” Almost as if he is trying to head off any thoughts of complacency which might even attempt to enter into the BT mindset.
“These games are always close. One point. A one score game. I would imagine this game will be like that,” he predicts.
Players come and go in every club. So it was with the All-Ireland champions.
“We lost three or four. We had to do some rebuilding and have brought players up from the minor team of last year. That is normal with most teams. Nuala Mohan retired. Liz Lowry stepped back for a year and obviously Lauren Dwyer has been occupied with soccer,” he explains.
After that the champions have no injury worries and have a clean bill of health.
Townsend himself is goalkeeper with the Tinryland team who find themselves in a senior relegation play-off. That is scheduled for a week after the ladies football final. He is on a balancing act but he has back-up.
“It has been busy but there is great help in the background from a BT point of view. They are a very easy group to work with. Great help in the background so they are very easy to be with during the week. They make my job very easy,” he explains.
So now comes the big test. Fear is never present with these two. Just respect.
“Nine or ten finals in a row. We know them well. They are a fantastic team with great players. They are in with Carlow as well. We are under no illusions this will be a tough battle as it always is,” suggests Townsend.
