Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry are the talk of the county

NOBODY saw this coming. A team which couldn’t beat its Antrim counterparts in the All-Ireland intermediate club hurling semi-final last spring ending up in this year’s Galway senior semi-finals. It’s undoubtedly the story of the 2010 championship and Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry’s unexpected progress is no fluke either.

Remember, this was a team which had taken two attempts to get over Meelick/Eyrecourt in last year’s county intermediate final and appeared set to be more concerned about holding onto their newly earned senior status after losing a winning hand against Tommie Larkins in the opening round of the title race last April . . . but, now, incredibly, the East Galway men are just 120 minutes away from hurling history.

What makes the Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry success story all the more noteworthy is that these neighbouring clubs were separate entities until a few years ago, but their respective dwindling player numbers led to a radical alliance which has obviously been positively embraced by the sporting communities in both Tynagh and Abbey/Duniry.

Their amalgamation also gave new purpose to both officials and players alike, with the club’s 2009 intermediate title triumph underlining how seamlessly two struggling teams merged into a successful one. Last Sunday evening in Athenry, many people got a glimpse of Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry for the first time when they recorded a thoroughly merited quarter-final victory over a flattering Liam Mellows outfit.

It’s interesting to note that their extended management team comprised of eight individuals and while some would argue that having so many mentors militates against decisive sideline action, the flip ship of the coin shows that Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry have no shortage of people willing to throw their shoulder behind the wheel. It’s this level of enthusiasm which has helped the club become the talk of the county in hurling terms.

Admittedly, when they trailed a more seasoned Mellows side by 0-8 to 0-5 at half-time, it looked as though their giant-killing run might be over, but they had missed four scoreable frees in the opening 30 minutes while the team’s overall body language suggested that there was never any prospect of them being prepared to throw in the towel. In any event, it wasn’t as if their city opponents were anything out of the ordinary.

With their youthful energy becoming more critical as the hour progressed, Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry went on to restrict Mellows to three second-half points, while assembling 1-7 themselves. For a side so inexperienced to win coming from behind again reflects well on their mentality with a cracking individual goal from Shane Moloney proving the game-breaker. Veteran Liam Hodgins was cleaning up at the other end; his central defensive colleague Karl Kavanagh sent over a rousing point from play; Ger Burke thundered into the game around midfield; while arguably most eye-catching of all, Galway minor Padraic Brehony was a real livewire on the forty, scoring two critical points, in copperfastening his reputation as a player of immense promise.

Another bonus on the evening was the introduction of the injury prone Kevin Broderick. The former Galway player didn’t score, but he caused some panic in the Mellows rearguard and there was also the odd instinctive touch which showed why he was such an outstanding player in his hey-day. Broderick’s troublesome calf eventually forced him to retire, but he hobbled off to appreciative applause. Old heroes are never forgotten.

Goalkeeper Kevin Devine, Hodgins, Kavanagh, Declan Donnelly and other panel members, Noel Finnerty and Declan Power, are all survivors from that fine Abbey/Duniry team which came so close to winning a county championship in the late nineties, but they are all clearly energised by their new club’s exploits this year which has now seen them claim the scalps of Gort, Castlegar and Mellows in successive knock-out matches. That’s fair going by any standards as was Brian Cunningham’s accuracy in the opening-half at a stage when several of his team-mates were struggling to get to the pitch of the game.

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.