We'll come perhaps if we have time before we go off air talk about the FAI Junior Cup Final because a lot of Tipperary people have an interest in not the FAI Senior Cup Final I should say because a lot of Tipperary people have an interest in how Waterford are going but we'll come to the TSDL results first and foremost and there was I suppose was it Munster Junior Cup action was the two mile Boris Peak Villa game which I think you teed up as being a did it live up to the expectations you had for it?

No, not at all.

Like, two adversaries went into Turles a good number of weeks back, and it was 0-0 with only a few minutes to go, and Pete Villas struck late to win it 1-0.

But I said at the time, you know, a lot of Borussia people are maybe disappointed that they didn't have more of a goal, but I thought the management got it spot on.

The set-up stayed in the game, and they were either going to get a point or they were going to nick it.

And at the weekend, they went completely away from that.

They had one or two injuries, but all of their back four were available.

Well, are you not tempted, if you want a holding midfielder, maybe to play five across the black or is that just parking the

I have the highest and utmost respect for that club.

Yeah, look, I think for those of us who are old enough to remember, Carrick, one of the absolute kingpins of junior football, produced so many great players.

Jack Doherty ended up over in Ipswich and stuff like that came true.

That Carrick United set up as well, another distinguished League of Ireland career, and I suppose Lee Grace is the latest.

I suppose Darryl Cabana is another one who had a brilliant League of Ireland career as well.

So Carrick has a real history and tradition of bringing players through to play in League of Ireland football.

And for anyone who follows it, I suppose Dan Cleary, Lee Grace and Pico Lopez have been the heart of that defence for Shamrock Rovers in all six title-winning campaigns.

They went up to North Tip in the FAI Youth Cup and won 8-0.

I'll go to the Premier League in a minute but just on Clommeltown they seem to have put a backroom team together that is not quite a dream team because that puts pressure on them but there are fellas who know that club left right and centre who have spilled blood in some instances for that club and will do so again and they are the right people I think to bring that club back to where it needs to be because of the fact that it might not be a one year or two year project but they're the lads who are well best placed to do it

A hundred percent.

Look, I think it's junior football royalty, the people that are there.

I couldn't even begin to count the amount of medals that are there with the lads over the team.

Paul Scully is obviously at the head of it and I don't think he needs any introduction in terms of what he's done in the game.

He's helped them by people like Stephen O'Neill, Glenn Conway.

It's a real who's who of the TSDL over the last 20 years.

St. Michael's coming at the better end of a 2-1 scoreline.

Tumal Boris needed extra time, though, against Ballymackey.

Yeah, look, I was really disappointed with this.

Full credit to Ballymackey, but in terms of...

A lot of people ask me, you know, they think I'm a little bit critical of Boris and why I don't see them as challengers to win the big trophies and stuff like that.

They've come so far in a short space of time, but they've another step to go.

It's that inability to just keep clean sheets and be defensively sound.

Only for Ballymac, he went down to 10 players.

Cullen Lattin credits them they had to go up to Clodagh and beat them 2-0

He says women's soccer is making huge strides.

To be honest, I'd say it's probably in the best place it's ever been in terms of it's probably the fastest growing sport in Ireland is women's soccer.

Uh, I suppose I've seen it even at schools level here in Pres Thurles, obviously, where it's huge, and the girls have won national titles and stuff like that.

And the girls, a lot of the girls are coming from the, when I started, were coming from the local game, playing with clubs like Peak Villa, Clonmel Town, Cashel, Cahir, and so on.

Um, suddenly now we'd have five, six, seven players playing League of Ireland football, um, in academy level, underage and stuff like that.

So there's such a good pathway for girls now.

If at 13, a girl can go into the League of Ireland now, uh, and they're training three nights a week, including a gym session as well, um, and they're getting everything that I suppose a boy would be getting in League of Ireland football as well.

Yeah, but I suppose the game of the weekend must be the one in Banshee where Clamiltown and Banshee shared eight goals, but Banshee got five of them.

Yeah, look, I suppose we talked a few times about Bancho, kind of when the GAA comes to an end, they become a very difficult place to go and they really gave Peak Villa a difficult game a couple of weeks ago and we kind of mentioned that.

And I think for Clermont Town in terms of, I went to Turlesbush, Clermont Town against Peak Villa B team a couple of weeks ago and the real positive for Clermont Town at the moment is, The young players, Leon Kelly, Fred French-Davis, Shea Scully, Dylan McCormack, these guys are coming through and they're doing fantastically well.

Kobe Quinn, really, really good young players.

And the job of the older players now is to kind of help bring them through and stuff like that and lead with experience.

But I think going away to Banja was going to present a totally different kind of challenge for those younger players.

a tight pitch, a big physical side.

was when you had Paul Breen and Chalky White's head to aim it.

Let's give credit to Tumal Boris before we go any further.

Yeah, look, I think both sides probably felt they needed the win.

In the end, both had settled for a point.

Boris could be the happier with the point in terms of how the game went.

15 minutes into the game, Shawnee Hawkins went on a great run.

Some lovely football.

Irvin Nolan stepped over and Jason Kelly fired home to put them 1-0 up.

Just before I let you go, I kind of got the impression that the Irish players walking off the field in Serbia at the weekend were just glad to get this whole charade circus over.

So, as you kind of said, they're beginning to be a bit of clear water between those three.

I've seen Wilderness already draw with Ballingary.

Yeah, Ballingari is going to be a difficult place for everybody to go.

I think their home form will be particularly strong.

And I think that will, in the first division, I think if you win your home games and you pick up some points on the road, you're going to be in that title race at the end of the season.

And I think that's going to be key.

And the Wildies tend to have a pretty good home record as well.

And just before I let you go, your thoughts on, not the game against Israel, but the 24 hours beforehand.

But Wilderness Rovers came and not spoiled the party, but certainly showed that they're not there to make up numbers.

Yeah, look, I suppose it was a great occasion, really well supported, and well done to everyone in Comiltown for organising it, and the support of Wilderness Rovers as well.

Aaron is a real legend of the TSDL, one of the great, great players, and I think everyone was delighted to come together and try and support a brilliant cause like that.

It was great to see Aaron and his mother there as well.

But in terms of the football, Wilderness Rovers, full value for the win, really produced a storming performance.

And this is a team that was struggling them for numbers before the start of the season so they've really gathered themselves and you know the game was probably typified by Hayden Hashman's goal an absolute screamer where Schwall tells me it's the best goal he's ever seen in the complex tried to debate that one with him today but he tells me no that's the best and look it's hard to argue with him But in terms of for Wilderness, it's brilliant.

Puts them top of the table.

I know you always make the point in relation to GAA, but I think Galty Rovers are pretty much done for the year, so maybe that'll see an uptick in their fortunes.

He says females dropping out of sport is a huge challenge.

Oh, look, it's such an issue, Paul.

It's something probably because I've worked so much in the female game with Cork and then obviously working in the female game here in school.

It's something you see so much of and it's I think I remember looking at a statistic at one stage from Sport Ireland where it was like 30% of females drop off in secondary school compared to boys.

And, you know, it makes you look at that a lot and think about things that could be done.

And just small little details.

Like I remember myself and Keane Tracy were over a ladies football team and we got to an All-Ireland final in school up in Galway.

Are there kind of anything like that at all in place in the world that you live in, in terms of in the women's sport or even in local soccer at the minute? Is there things like that that try to kind of ensure that there's more participation and kind of everyone's getting a fair crack of the whip?

You might interpret it for me.

Yeah.

Look, I suppose I'm a little bit baffled myself.

Clonmel Celtic started the season, um, with a hugely positive display up in Thurles, where they kept Peak Villa scoreless right to the last 10 minutes, and Peak Villa got a late goal.

And Peak Villa manager, Derek McMahon, probably said afterwards that, you know, Clonmel Celtic maybe were value to take a result from that.

Um, you know, and it looked really, really positive.

And then they were beaten by Cashel at home the following week, and then they go on a cup competition and they're beaten by Cullen, who'd suffered a couple of really heavy defeats themselves at the start of the season.

But then Peak Villa take on the free-scoring Two Mile Borris, and the clean sheet perhaps might please the lads in Thurles as much as anything else.

But it's certainly something that captured the imagination of kind of local soccer supporters.

Yeah, look, I think there's a general consensus among soccer people in Tipperary that we need to do something to kind of breed a little bit of life into local soccer.

A lot of people can remember maybe 20 years ago when junior soccer was so strong.

Both Nina sides were competing in North Tipperary.

Killavilla were still in North Tipperary.

And, you know, they had a fantastic league as well.

South Tip was so competitive.

Like, how would this even go about happening? Like, is this something that is just kind of a pipe dream or do you think that it could happen?

But I do want to talk to you about the new third tier in Irish football and what your reaction to it is and how you think it might affect junior football.

Yeah, look, I think there's a lot of unknowns around the third tier.

Even in the last few days, the FBI have come out and were very quick to categorise it as the highest level of amateur football in the country, as opposed to senior football and League of Ireland, which I thought was interesting because there was a lot of conversation around Some of the players representing Munster at the Regents Cup and the Irish Junior International Team was technically then senior football.

So now it's been classified as the highest level of amateur football and a bridge between intermediate football and senior football.

So it's a shortened season, what we have coming up.

So there's three divisions that are based on geography.

So we have a division down, I suppose, this area with Carlock, Leckie, UCC, Killarney, Villa, Waterford.

Presumably somebody will drop down then from the first division of the League of Ireland will they?

Barry, Peak Villa back to winning ways in the TSTL.

Yeah, Paul, and look, probably one of those where there was probably a couple of stories within this game.

I suppose the big one is the champions grind out the win.

Key Cal gets a late goal with seven, eight minutes to go to get them over the line.

But I think, to be fair, Celtic played their part in the game, and there was a bit of a resurgence from them as well.

I wondered how they'd replace Fabian Curtin, who'd gone to play third tier with Billa Watford and Rhys Lonergan was a youth goalie a few years ago with Eggy Dyle and those, and he's come through.

I thought he was excellent.

A big win for them now beating Care Park 2-1 at home.

Joe, any kind of new teams to look out for? Any kind of interesting transfers or just storylines, I suppose, going into the new season?

Yeah, look, I suppose there's been a lot going on.

Johnny Cremins has stepped down from St. Michael's manager after a really successful period where he captured some league titles.

He captured a Munster Junior Cup famously against Phil at Watford in their pump.

So a really good kind of inning from Johnny, who I suppose has been synonymous with St. Michael's and has great success every time he's been involved.

And so kind of new beginnings there with Micheál Byrne and Paul Breen assuming their managerial roles.

And I suppose they've been busy in the transfer market as you'd expect.

I think something like nine of the 20 managers are in their first season, which is just pretty much unprecedented.

It's not a competition that will define anyone's season, but as a season opener, what did you make of it?

Yeah, look, I suppose when the draw came out, straight away you knew it was gonna be a difficult one in terms of the split seasons now, and Villa Waterford were bang in the middle of their season where they're closing in on their welfare in the Limerick Premier Division title race.

So they're gonna be champions in Waterford, and obviously it was gonna be in the middle of Peekvilla's off-season, so they're at a distinct advantage.

And then coupled with a couple of injuries and suspensions and stuff like that, they were probably very short.

Um, but at the same time, I think they would've got an awful lot.

They lost the game two-nil, um, but they were very, very good on the night.

It was nil-nil with 44 minutes on the clock, and Villa Waterford scored two goals in 120 seconds, which changed the complexion of the game.

It's the only thing, like he won't be tied in with commitments.

Yeah, if you'll reflect on the whole six weeks with all the teams that were in it, 48 teams started out six weeks ago, how would you summarise the World Cup in total?

Yeah, I kind of was wrestling with that today in terms of on reflection.

I think the best four teams got to the semi-final.

I think the best team won the World Cup.

So in that sense, you know, I suppose you could make an argument.

I think the kick-off times were an issue.

I think the hydration breaks took a lot out of the tournament and the enjoyment as well.

Pico Lopez can look back on his defensive displays with great pride and also putting the league, I was listening to the BBC and they were even referencing this player from the League of Ireland which I thought was great.