Tipperary and Kilkenny legends to face off in benefit game
Wednesday 3 October 2018 12:05, UK
A benefit match between Tipperary and Kilkenny legends will be held in Borrisoleigh on November 3 for Amanda Stapleton.
The 31-year-old teacher from the Tipperary village, who is now living in London, was recently diagnosed with a brain tumour.
Her family, friends, and club are all doing their part to ensure that the evening will be a huge success, thus allowing Amanda to focus on her health.
The counties met in three All-Ireland finals between 2009 and 2011, and again in the two classic finals of 2014.
Amanda has strong family hurling ties, with her brothers Paddy and Shane having won All-Irelands with Tipperary and Cuala respectively in recent years.
"We talked about a few different ideas," Shane told Sky Sports. "At first, there was talk that we could do maybe a celebrity match with players from all counties. Then Paddy said 'what if we went for the Tipperary-Kilkenny angle?' That would really capture the imagination of where we're from. It's right in the thick of hurling country there.
"Paddy contacted all the Tipperary players. They jumped at it straight away. Plenty of them would know Amanda as well, so they were only too happy to help.
"[Amanda] just can't get over it. She's been blown away by it. One of those things, she'd be a very hardy sort of person, and she's got the most terrible possible diagnosis you could get. It's the bleakest outlook there is. But she's like 'I'm going to fight this all the way. I'm a big believer in positive thinking. This kind of stuff energises you and puts you up for the fight.' So that's where we're at with Amanda - that's the sort of girl she is."
Details of how to buy tickets will be released later this week. Donations can be made on the GoFundMe page here.
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TEAMS
KILKENNY
PJ Ryan
Michael Kavanagh
JJ Delaney
Jackie Tyrrell
Tommy Walsh
Brian Hogan
Michael Rice
Richie Hogan
Henry Shefflin
Eoin Larkin
Eddie Brennan
Richie Power
Aidan Fogarty
David Herity
Noel Hickey
Kieran Joyce
Paul Murphy
Michael Fennelly
Cillian Buckley
Martin Comerford
John Mulhall
Eoin Murphy
Padraig Walsh
John Power
Lester Ryan
Joey Holden
Ger Aylward
Liam Blanchfield
Paddy Deegan
Richie Leahy
James Maher
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TIPPERARY
Brendan Cummins
Paddy Stapleton
Padraic Maher
Paul Curran
Conor O'Mahony
Brendan Maher
James Woodlock
Shane McGrath
Pat Kerwick
Seamus Callanan
John O'Brien
Noel McGrath
Eoin Kelly
Lar Corbett
Darren Gleeson
Michael Cahill
Patrick 'Bonner' Maher
Pa Bourke
John Devane
Benny Dunne
Diarmaid Fitzgerald
Donagh Maher
Paul Kelly
Hugh Maloney
Conor O'Brien
Gearóid Ryan
Willie Ryan
Thomas Stapleton
Micheál Webster
David Young
Brian 'Buggy' O'Meara
Cathal Barrett
James Barry
Kieran Bergin
John 'Bubbles' O'Dwyer
Shane Bourke
Jason Forde
John McGrath
Seamus Kennedy
Ronan Maher
Michael Breen
Dan McCormack
Niall O'Meara
Paddy Fanning
