Kilruane won’t fear Kiladangan heading into Sunday’s County Senior Hurling final.
That’s according to former Tipperary defender Paddy Stapleton, who’s one of many looking forward to this year’s decider.
Kiladangan go into the game as bookmakers favourites, and are preparing for a fourth county final in seven years.
For Kilruane, it’s their first county senior final since 1986.
However, Paddy Stapleton says the Magpies familiarity with their neighbours means they won’t fear them come Sunday.
“They’re very comfortable playing Kiladangan, not that it’s easy to play Kiladangan but they know what to expect.
“They feel like they’ve matched them up at different times, they haven’t always beaten them but they have beaten them but they’ve been close to beating them at times and they have beaten them at different times.
“I don’t think they’ll feel like this is very intimidating.
“They’ve been to semi-finals, they’ve played great teams in the likes of Sarsfields, they’ve come very close.
“They will feel that this is their time. If they are going to do it, they can always come back again next year but if they’re going to do it, this is as good a chance as they will have I would say because they won’t be fearing Kiladangan going into it.”
However, Paddy gives Kiladangan the slight edge on Sunday.
“I’m only basing it that if it opens up in the last 15 minutes, I do think Kiladangan might have more legs around the half-forward line area and they’re cool under pressure and they can make scores.
“I’d say maybe Kiladangan by a couple of scores but the way Kilruane are going I have really enjoyed how they played the last day, they are going to come with a fire that I suppose we haven’t seen out of Kilruane before.
“I wouldn’t be writing them (Kilruane) off whatsoever at all but just If I had to, with my head, nearly logical, I’d probably just go Kiladangan by a few scores.
“I’m looking forward to it, I actually can’t wait for it now, i think it could be a cracker and it’s just so hard to predict.”
We’ll have live commentary of Sunday’s final from 4.30pm on Tipp FM with thanks to Road Safety, Tipperary County Council.
We’ll also have live commentary of Sunday’s premier intermediate hurling final which sees Roscrea taking on Gortnahoe-Glengoole at 2.15pm.
Our coverage of that game is with thanks to Roscrea Express – your local trusted nationwide courier service.
