IT’S A HUGE day in the hurling career of Tipperary hurler Jason Forde.

The 19 year-old from the Silvermines club in North Tipperary makes his senior hurling championship debut for his county.

Tipperary face Limerick in this afternoon’s Munster hurling semi-final in the Gaelic Grounds at 4pm and Forde has been selected to start at wing-forward.

And in the opposition camp, there is someone who is highly aware of Forde’s attacking capabilities.

Limerick coach Donach O’Donnell is a native of Mallow who was drafted into their county setup by manager John Allen last season.

O’Donnell’s father Eddie would have been a member of the Cork hurling back room team during Allen’s time with the Rebels from 2003-2006 and that established the connection which lead to Donach being recruited.

His coaching abilities had been demonstrated when he guided Nenagh CBS to claim the Croke Cup, the premier All-Ireland colleges senior hurling title, in March 2012.

The captain of that side was Forde, who starred throughout their campaign as his attacking talents were advertised in dazzling fashion. For the seven games that Nenagh CBS played in the knockout stages from January 2012, Forde amassed a staggering total of 5-41.

His free taking was immaculate and included standout contributions like 1-11 against Ardscoil Rís in the Dr Harty Cup semi-final replay and 0-14 against St Kieran’s in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Since then Forde has moved on from second-level education and is now a business student in UL. He has also graduated to the Tipperary senior ranks for the first time.

This afternoon Forde will be up against his old mentor and TheScore.ie spoke to the pair about their previous hurling involvement together.

Limerick hurling coach Donach O’Donnell.
Pic: INPHO/Cathal Noonan

Donach O’Donnell

“Jason is a very decent, honest young fella. He has a huge work ethic and was very easy to coach. He listens, takes it on board and puts an awful lot of time into his hurling.

“He played three years in the Harty Cup for the school. When he was a bit younger, we played him in the backs but really at Harty level he was a forward. Now that is his main position as well with Tipperary but he would have played county minor in defence and midfield.

“The standout game for me that he played for the school was the 2012 Dr Harty Cup semi-final replay against Ardscoil Rís. He scored the last point of the game with 3 guys on him, it was a magnificent score.

“He also ran 30 yards to dive to make a block at a crucial part of the game. He works all the time and is not selfish. I was glad they brought him in to the Tipperary senior panel.

“He lead with his club Silvermines to win the Tipperary intermediate last year. He’s used to the physical combat now. The hurling was never a question, the only thing going against him was his age. It’s a huge thing for his club as well as Noel Sheedy would have been the last well-known Silvermines player to hurl for Tipperary.”

Nenagh CBS captain Jason Forde.
Pic: INPHO/James Crombie

Jason Forde

“It was fantastic for the school to win the All-Ireland. We left it after us in the Harty final as we just never really performed. We were 40-1 before the All-Ireland quarter-stage but bounced back and pushed on to win.

“We showed really good heart and it was great for everyone in the area, all the clubs that were represented by players and the management that put in huge effort.

“Donach was a massive part of that. He’s an excellent coach with great attention to detail and he helped us particularly after losing the Harty to get back on track. I’m not surprised that he’s involved at inter-county level now.

“Eamon (O’Shea) rang me around December and I went in for a meeting with him to suss a few things. It  went from there and then when the club (Silvermines) was over in February I went back in training.

“I was just delighted to get the call to play for Tipp because it’s such a competitive environment in there. To play in Thurles anytime is special and the league semi-final was a big thing for me alright.”

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