PREVIEW: Upperchurch Drombane just one game away from historic final appearance in Croke Park

All-Ireland Intermediate Club Hurling Championship Semi-Final

Upperchurch Drombane vs Danesfort, Sunday, December 21

in O'Moore Park, Portlaoise @ 2pm

Upperchurch Drombane will continue their remarkable 2025 journey this coming Saturday afternoon when they take on Leinster and Kilkenny champions Danesfort in Portlaoise.

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The Mid Tipperary club are riding the crest of a wave in the wake of their eventful Munster final victory over O’Callaghan’s Mills last month, and despite the famous victory being well celebrated, they will have parked the celebrations promptly to get back to brass tax and prepare for what is a massive opportunity for the club.

There is no bigger enticement in gaelic games than the prospect of lining out in a national final in Croke Park, and that is exactly what await the winners of this game, and therefore, the pressure will come on from the off in this one and it would be the perfect Christmas gift for the victors if the win was to be secured.

Standing in Upperchurh Drombane’s way is an experienced Danesfort team that has plenty of household names.

Team captain and former Kilkenny corner-back Paul Murphy leads the side from centre-back, while there was a big helping hand for the Kilkenny side in the recent Leinster final win over Meath’s Ratoath when former Hurler of the Year Richie Hogan made his 2025 bow off the bench in the second half, scoring a crucial goal in the middle of the second half.

Richie’s brother Paddy operates as the goalkeeper for the team, and he has intercounty pedigree himself going back the years when he was involved in Kilkenny panels in the early 10’s. 

His long range freetaking has been a big weapon for them this year, and that along with young talent like Anthony Ireland Wall who has featured as a key player for St Kieran’s College in years previous means they are like every Kilkenny club championship winning team; not to be underestimated.

Since the inception of the provincial competition at intermediate level, Kilkenny teams top the roll of honour with eight titles with the most recent honours being won by Thomastown two years ago, who then went on into the senior ranks in Kilkenny the following year to win the senior county final, so the quality of the teams coming from Noreside is always of a high standard.

However, it has to be said that Upperchurch have continued their steady progression through the gears as each game has come this year, and even allowing for the sendings off in the Munster final, they played well throughout the game and made no mistake in putting away their Clare opponents on that occasion.

There is some bad news in their preparations however that young talent Paddy Phelan looks set to miss out on the game through a leg injury suffered in training in recent weeks.

The Tipperary U20 winning panelist from earlier this year has been in good form for his club and with a tight panel, he will be sorely missed here.

They do have some good options to come in and do a job for him with Colm Ryan and Paul Ryan having plenty of experience to bring to bare, with the former scoring a late goal off the bench in the Munster final.

Again, the defensive solidity that Upperchurch have shown all year is the biggest weapon they possess and when it comes to winter hurling, it goes a long way towards winning games and that will be the hope here once again. They did hit the 20 points mark for the first time the last day out, but that is with the caveat of the opposition being depleted.

This is a huge opportunity for Upperchurch. They have the ability to, at the very minimum, match Danesfort and should they find their straps, they could be preparing for a trip to Croker in 2026! 

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