Con And Garryowen Set For Senior Cup Final

The Munster Senior Challenge Cup final takes place tomorrow at Irish Independent Park with old rivals Cork Constitution and Garryowen clashing once again (ko 4pm).

It could be history in the making for the Temple Hill outfit as they seek their second ever three-in-a-row, last achieved by the club almost 100 years ago.

Garryowen are the competition’s most successful side and will be looking to add to their hugely impressive haul of 38 Munster Senior Challenge Cup titles.

Last year, Con prevailed over Garryowen with an extra-time penalty to seal their 25th Munster Senior Cup title at a rain-sodden Thomond Park.

Both sides are enjoying successful league campaigns thus far with Garryowen just a point off the top of Division 1B of the All-Ireland League and Con fourth in 1A.

Tom Tierney left his post as Garryowen head coach to take over at Con in the summer and the recently-appointed Ireland Women’s head coach is prepared for a huge challenge.

“I’ve gone from one camp to the other and it’s a great challenge for Cork Con to go for three-in-a-row and not many clubs have done that in the Munster Senior Cup,” said Tierney (in action for Garryowen below against Mick O'Driscoll of Cork Con in 2002 CREDIT: Inpho).

Tierney continued: “The two most famous teams in the competition are in the final and it’s going to be a great occasion. It’s going to be a very, very tough encounter.

“At this stage, the Cork Con and Garryowen players know each other inside out so it’s going to be a real genuine cup final. It’s a Limerick-Cork derby so it’s going to be nip tuck.

“The club are very proud that they’ve won two Senior Cups on the trot and they want to make history. They are very focused on that but also very mindful of the challenge that Garryowen are going to bring. Obviously I was with Garryowen previously – I had great times there and I know that they love this competition as much as Cork Con.”

The winners of the tie will go on to represent Munster in the semi-final of the Bateman Cup. Since that competition was revived in 2010, the cup has stayed in the south with Bruff, Garryowen and, in the last two years, Cork Con all claiming the trophy.

Garryowen will be gunning for their first Munster title since 2011 when current head coach Conan Doyle was their captain and Tierney their head coach.

The Dooradoyle outfit are captained this season by Dave Sherry (in action below against Ballymena in the 2012 Bateman Cup final win CREDIT: Inpho), brother of Munster hooker Mike, and he outlined the importance of the competition to the club.

“Even since I was a young fella, it’s something we’ve held in a very high regard. We’re very proud of the fact that we’ve won the most Munster Senior Cups and it’s a great competition," said Sherry. "It’s something that we hold very dear at the club, we won it back in 2011 and we’ve been to a final since.

"Over the last few years we’ve been relatively successful in the cup and it’s a great springboard for the rest of the season. It’s a great competition and the fact that it actually sends you on to then represent the province in the Bateman Cup semi-final adds an extra bit of weight to it. We’d cherish a medal if we got one.”

Sherry continued: “Obviously there’s a lot of pain after what happened last year but a lot of the players who will play in this year’s final weren’t here last year. So it’s a fresh start and we’re looking to bring the cup back up to Limerick for the first time in a while, it’s something we’re all looking forward to,” he added.