Ed Donnelly brings us all the latest news from the Premier County. NATIONAL HURLING LEAGUE Tipperary will play Clare on Sunday next at 2:30pm in Cusack Park Ennis in the fourth round of the National Hurling League. Michael Wadding (Waterford) will be the referee. The counties have met four times in the National League since 2001 with each county winning two games each. Tipperary's last victory against Clare in the League came on April 26th 2003 when the Premier County won by 0-22 to 0-14. Tipperary lined out as follows on that occasion - Brendan Cummins; Martin Maher, Philip Maher, Benny Dunne; Brian Horgan, David Kennedy, Paul Kelly; Tommy Dunne, Aidan Butler; Mark O'Leary, Conor Gleeson, Liam Cahill; Eoin Kelly (Captain), Eugene O'Neill, Lar Corbett. Subs: Richie Flannery, Denis Byrne. Tipperary also recorded a 1-19 to 0-17 victory over Clare in the 2001 National Hurling League Final, the last League title won by the Tipperary Senior Hurlers. Clare secured victories over Tipperary in 2004 (1-20 to 1-15 at Cusack Park Ennis) and 2005 (1-16 to 0-15 at Semple Stadium). Meanwhile, Johnny Ryan (Boherlahan-Dualla) will take charge of the Division 1B clash between Offaly and Limerick on Sunday at Tullamore. NHL VENUE FOR LAOIS MATCH Leahy Park Cashel has been confirmed as the venue for the National Hurling League match between Tipperary and Laois on Sunday week, March 23rd as Semple Stadium Thurles is unavailable due to ongoing construction work. This will be the sixth Tipperary venue for National Hurling League matches between Tipperary and Laois with Thurles, Cloughjordan, Nenagh, Templemore and Roscrea the other venues to host this fixture in the past. MUNSTER UNDER 21 FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP Best of luck to Tipperary on Saturday next at 2:30pm when they take on Clare at Ardfinnan in the first round of the Munster Under 21 Football Championship. Michael Meade (Limerick) will be the referee. Check out this weeks Football Scene for more details. Meanwhile, Derek O'Mahony (Ardfinnan) will take charge of the other game in the Munster Under 21 Football Championship on Saturday between Kerry and Limerick in Tralee. BALLINGARRY WIN ALL-IRELAND Well done to Ballingarry who defeated Emeralds from Urlingford in the All-Ireland Junior "B" Hurling Final by 0-10 to 0-8 on Sunday last at Newtownshandrum. THIRD LEVEL COLLEGES FOOTBALL Mary Immaculate College Limerick (Mary I) defeated St. Pats Drumcondra by 1-12 to 0-9 in the Trench Cup Final last weekend. The Mary I team included George Hannigan (Shannon Rovers - man of the match in the final), Laurence Coskeran (Aherlow) and John Coghlan (Moyne-Templetuohy) while Eamonn McCormack (Moneygall) was part of the panel. In the Corn na Mac Leinn final, Marino defeated Mater Dei after extra time on a scoreline of 1-14 to 0-16. The Marino team included Tipperary native Cian Gleeson while the Mater Dei panel included Jody Harkin (Borris-Ileigh - scorer of seven points in the final) and Robert Bracken (Moycarkey-Borris). COUNTY BOARD MEETING The March meeting of the County Board has been put back by two weeks and will take place on Tuesday, April 1st at 8:00pm in the Thurles Sarsfields Social Centre. SUPPORTERS CLUB AGM The 21st Annual General Meeting of Tipperary Supporters Club was held on Wednesday March 5th at the Red Cow Moran Hotel Dublin. The audited financial report showed that over ?125,000 was given by the Supporters Club towards the training and preparation of the senior hurling team and supporting underage hurling through sponsorship for the minor team and the All-Ireland U-16 hurling championship which is run in Tipperary each year by Tipperary Bord na nOg. The funds were raised mainly from the Legends Night in February 2007, the Golf Classic in May 2007 and membership sales along with smaller amounts from sponsorship and donations, Tipperary Credit Card and Table Quizzes. Since it was founded in 1986 the club has now raised over ?1.8m for Tipperary hurling. Following the Secretary's Report on the activities for the year, the Chairman in the course of his address thanked all of those who had contributed to the Club and to Tipperary Hurling during the year including Club members, sponsors, funders, committee members, County Board and Bord na nÓg officials, team managers, selectors and backroom teams and of course the players who wore the Blue and Gold. He made special mention of the great work Babs Keating did on behalf of the Supporters Club despite his busy role as Team Manager and thanked Babs, Tom Barry and John Leahy for all the good work they did during their two year term. He wished Liam Sheedy and the team every success for 2008 and assured them of wholehearted support from the Supporters Club. In particular, tribute was paid to Gerry Ryan who was retiring after many years of tremendous service as PRO and Membership Officer of the Club. Tribute was also paid to retiring committee members Andy Lacey, Kieran O'Meara, Pat Creed, Jim Donovan and Tom Maxwell for their great service. Both Andy Lacey and Kieran O'Meara served with distinction on the committee since the inception of the Supporters Club. The following trophies won by Tipperary teams were on display at the meeting: Tipperary Supporters Club All Ireland Under 16, Munster and All Ireland Minor Hurling and Waterford Crystal Cup. The following were elected as officers for the coming year: Ger Ryan (Chairman), Joe Tuohy (Secretary), Michael Nolan (Treasurer), John Ryan (Assistant Treasurer) and John Coman (PRO and Membership Officer). New committee members elected were Christy Hayes, William Maher and John Malone. In conclusion the meeting was addressed by the following: John Costigan, Chairman of the Tipperary County Board who highlighted the invaluable role played by the Club in funding and supporting the preparation of the Tipperary teams; Liam Sheedy, Senior Hurling Team Manager; Liz Howard, Uachtarán, Cumann Camógaíochta na hÉireann; Seán Fogarty, GAA Presidential candidate; and Michael Fenton, President of the Tipperary Association, Dublin. MUNSTER SCOR SINSEAR SEMI-FINAL The Munster semi-final of Senior Scor was held in Halle na Feile Cashel on Sunday evening last, March 9th. The Tipperary champions competed along with their counterparts from Waterford and Clare. Tipperary successfully qualified for the Munster final in six categories as follows - Figure Dancing (Gortnahoe-Glengoole); Solo Song (JK Brackens - Donal Bowe); Instrumental Music (Newport); Question Time (Borris-Ileigh - Paul Boyle, Pat Kavanagh, Brendan Kenny); Novelty Act (Borris-Ileigh); Set Dancing (JK Brackens). The winners will participate in the Munster final which will take place on Saturday, March 29th at 6:00pm in the Gleneagle Hotel Killarney. SCOR NA BPAISTI The second Mid semi-final of Scor na bPaisti took place in Drombane in front of a large attendance on Friday evening last. The following were the clubs who qualified for the Mid Final - Figure Dancing (Upperchurch-Drombane and Holycross-Ballycahill); Solo Song (Loughmore-Castleiney - Caoimhe Maher and Upperchurch-Drombane - Michael Ryan); Instrumental Music (Upperchurch-Drombane and Loughmore-Castleiney); Recitation (Upperchurch-Drombane - Erin Ryan and Loughmore-Castleiney - Edel Nyland); Ballad Group (Loughmore-Castleiney and Holycross-Ballycahill); Question time (Durlas Og and Upperchurch-Drombane); Novelty Act (Loughmore-Castleiney and Upperchurch-Drombane); Set Dancing (Gortnahoe-Glengoole and Upperchurch-Drombane). The Mid Scor na bPaisti final will take place on April 4th at Drom. The County Scor na bPaisti Final will take place on April 11th at 8:00pm in Halle na Feile Cashel. THURLES CBS Hard luck to Thurles CBS who lost out to the defending champions De La Salle Waterford in front of a huge crowd at Leahy Park Cashel on Saturday last in the Dr. Harty Cup Final. While the dream of winning the Harty Cup will have to wait for another year, Thurles CBS are still in the shake-up for All-Ireland honours and have been drawn to play the Leinster runners-up Kilkenny CBS on the weekend of March 22 / 23 in a match likely to be played at O'Moore Park Portlaoise. The winners will play Dublin Colleges in the All-Ireland semi-final. YEARBOOK PRESENTATIONS At a very enjoyable function at Borrisoleigh on Friday night, presentations were made to two former members of the Yearbook Committee, Liam Ó Donnchú and Seamus O'Doherty. The occasion was the annual Yearbook committee dinner and chairman of the committee, Seamus J. King, was joined by county chairman, John Costigan, and county secretary, Tim Floyd, in making the presentations. Seamus praised the two members for their twenty-five years service to the committee, to which they brought very special skills and contributions. During their membership the Yearbook had developed out of all recognition until it had become the foremost production of its kind in the country. Seamus expressed the grateful thanks of the members for their outstanding commitment and service. The two members suitably replied and expressed their thanks for the presentations. TIPPERARY GAA MEMBERS DRAW 2007/2008 The last draw in the current scheme of the Tipperary GAA Members Draw will feature March & April together on Friday March 28th in Jerry Moynihans Pub Clonmel. The draw will be hosted by St Marys GAA Club and then a cheque for ?15,000 will be presented on the night to February winner James English. TIPPERARY ASSOCIATION DUBLIN AWARDS Tony Wall has been announced as the 2008 Tipperary Association Dublin Hall of Fame award winner. The Tipperary Association Dublin has chosen Liz Howard as Tipperary Person of the Year 2008. Congratulations to both. ALL-IRELAND CLUB FINALS The AIB All Ireland Club Finals take place in Croke Park on Monday next, March 17th. The Hurling Final between Portumna and Birr will get underway at 2:00pm and will be followed by the Football Final between St. Vincents and Nemo Rangers at 3:45pm. Best of luck to Tipperary Senior Footballer Hugh Coghlan who will line out for St. Vincent's. Tickets for these games are currently available from the GAA Website, through Ticketmaster outlets nationwide and their website www.ticketmaster.ie. Tickets cost ?20 for adults and ?5 for juveniles (U16). Students and Senior Citizens will receive a ?10 refund on the cost of an adult ticket on production of current, valid photographic ID (Student ID must have an expiry date) at Block D turnstiles prior to entering the ground on the day of the game. For further information telephone 01 8658657. In recognition of the voluntary commitment that has sustained the Association over the years, the GAA offered four complimentary tickets to every GAA club in Ireland for the AIB All Ireland Club Finals. GAA President Nicky Brennan said the initiative was a small gesture to the broader membership in recognition of the support provided for Gaelic Games over the years and said he hoped it would be the first of many opportunities for the Association nationally to express their appreciation of volunteers in a practical manner. A number of Tipperary clubs availed of this offer in the past week. SEAN TREACYS GAA CLUB LONDON The Sean Treacys GAA club in London is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The club has won numerous titles through the years with the last London senior championship win being in 2002. The club has players from every part of Ireland although there has always been a strong Tipperary presence within the club with the current management team of Martin Carroll (Roscrea), John Cormack (Cashel) and Sean McGuire (Thurles). As part of the anniversary celebrations, the club will travel to Tipperary town on May 3rd / 4th with matches planned against Limerick clubs Garryspillane and Doon. Anyone who has been involved with the clubs in the past 50 years is welcome to join the reunion festivities that weekend. If anyone was interested in working and playing hurling in London please contact Martin Carroll (Chairman) on +447736100823, Michael Walsh (Secretary) on +447709119471 or visit their website on www.seantreacys.com. DEADLINE FOR INFORMATION Please note that the deadline for information for next weeks Tipperary GAA Scene column is this Friday, March 14th at 4:00pm. Visit the Tipperary GAA web site at http://tipperary.gaa.ie to keep up to date with all the latest news in Tipperary GAA circles. Tweet

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