Our most successful era for South Senior Hurling championships occurred during the 1980s, securing an impressive 4-in-a-row triumph from 1983 to 1986.
The glory of those years fostered a sense of enduring success. However, the tide turned with a disheartening semi-final loss to Ballingarry, the eventual South Champions, in 1987. This setback was followed by a narrow 1-point defeat to St. Mary’s in the 1988 semi-final and a South Final loss to Killenaule in 1989.
As we entered the 1990 South Championship, three years had passed since our last South Championship victory.
1990 marked our triumphant return as Kingpins of South Senior Hurling, breaking our three-year drought.
Little did we know that this victory would stand as our final South Championship win for the next decade.
Below, we’ll run through that summer of 1990, using match reports from The Nationalist to detail the games.
1990 Senior Hurling Championship Games Played:
- Round 1: Loss to Killenaule 2-15 to 1-11
- Losers Play/off: Win over Cahir 3-15 to 2-10
- Semi Final: Win over Ballingarry 4-12 to 0-06
- South Final: Win over Killenaule
- County Quarter Final: Loss to Loughmore/Castleiney
Round 1.
Round 1 of the South Senior Hurling Championship was played on Sunday May 13th, 1990. Swan travelled to Clonmel Sportsfield to take on an excellent Killenaule side who won the South in 1988 & 1989.
Swan were 2-07 to 0-07 points down at half-time and lost by 7 points in the end on a scoreline of 2-15 to 1-11.
The match report is here:
Round 2, The Losers Playoff.
In the Losers Group playoff, Swan got their year back on track with a 3-15 to 2-10 victory over Cahir at Clonmel Sportsfield. 2-01 from Ray Walsh, and 0-04 each from MJ Russell & Sean Cronin set us on our way to victory.
The match report is here:
Semi-Final.
The South Semi-Final pairings in 1990 were St. Mary’s vs Killenaule and Carrick Swan vs Ballingarry. It took a replay for Killenaule to get over St. Mary’s and secure their final spot.
Swan comfortably defeated Ballingarry on a scoreline of 4-12 to 0-06. Ted Dillon wrote The Swan’s Were Flying in The Nationalist, and he wasn’t wrong. 3-01 from Tony Fitzpatrick, another goal from Tom Waters, and 0-06 from Sean Cronin helped us qualify for the South Senior Hurling Final.
Read the match report here:
South Final.
Next up was a South Final against a fancied Killenaule team going for 3-in-a-row where a comeback for the ages saw us recapture our first South Championship crown since 1986.
Killenaule played with a strong wind at their backs and led 1-06 to 0-01 at half time, and looked odds-on to win, however a goal within 30 seconds of the restart started a famous comeback. Tom Waters winning the clash, and getting the ball out to MJ Russell, who in turn found Tony Fitzpatrick who buried it to the net. Tony followed this up with a point shortly after and the roof was lifted of the stand with chants of Swan, Swan, Swan, and the comeback was well and truly on.
On the day, 1-02 from Tom Waters, another 1-02 from Dick Lonergan and 1-01 from Tony Fitzpatrick along with 0-01 from Brendan White & Gerry ‘Sam’ Walsh helped us to victory.
The Swan team from the 1990 Match Programme:
South Final Match Report Part 1:
Click here if on a phone, so you can Zoom in: https://i0.wp.com/carrickswan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/South-Final-vs-Killenaule.png
South Final Match Report Part 2:
1990 South Final Programme: https://carrickswan.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/1990-South-Tipperary-Senior-Hurling-Final-a.pdf
A couple of weeks after the South Final, the Swan Senior Hurlers received a Civic Reception from Carrick Urban District Council, for their accomplishments in the South Final.
County Quarter Final
The South Final win qualified us for the County Quarter Final against Mid Tipperary’s Loughmore Castleiney.
Loughmore lost the Mid Final to eventual County Champions, led by Declan Carr, Holycross-Ballycahill.
The game vs Loughmore was played in Cashel and despite our gallant efforts, we came up short, on the day. Carrick Swan 1-08 Loughmore Castleiney 0-17.
Match Report Here:
A disappointing end to a good year for Carrick Swan.
Swan supporters at the South Final:
Can you spot yourself, or somebody that you know in it? If so, send it onto them.
Look at how shiny Corn Ui Riain was in 1990:
We hope you enjoyed that trip down memory lane to 1990, our 20th South Senior Hurling Championship victory, on this cold winter’s evening. Next month, we’ll delve into another successful year. Stay tuned.
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