Thurles Sarsfields 2-22 Loughmore Castleiney 3-11
Clarity has a habit of announcing itself by kicking the door down. A Tipp county final that had the look of a coin-flip before throw-in took barely a quarter of an hour to reveal itself as anything but.
The county champions weren’t so much dethroned here as ransacked, Sarsfields scorching through whatever mist of doubt might have lingered as to the outcome.
With 16 minutes gone and Sars already kicking back with their feet up on their desks, Noel McGrath and Ronan Maher caught referee Johnny Ryan's eye as they rolled around in the dirt. Maher is the younger brother of All Star defender Pádraic and a Tipp panellist himself but any hint of fellow feeling with McGrath from their summer's journey together was a hazy memory now.
Sars led 0-8 to 0-1 by this stage and their efforts to marginalise Loughmore- Castleiney’s stand-out player from the game – sometimes by fair means, sometimes not – had been thunderously successful. McGrath appealed for a little of the referee’s protection but Ryan wagged his finger at them both and Maher just shrugged, happy to spend the rest of the afternoon driving home the Sarsfields point. Thurles Tarzan, Loughmore- Castleiney Jane.
Every blade
This was Sars’ 33rd Tipperary title, their fourth in six years.
It was built on a bravura hour from the Maher brothers in the half-back line and, an every- blade display in midfield by man of the match Stephen Cahill and some sumptuous scoring from Denis Maher, Aidan McCormack, Lar Corbett and substitute Richie Ruth in attack.
They had five points on the board before Loughmore- Castleiney had one, they had eight up before the holders managed a score from play.
Loughmore-Castleiney didn’t score two consecutive points until the 20th minute; Sars had already stitched two inside the opening 60 seconds. This was over early.
“Yeah, we got a good start,” agreed Paddy McCormack, Thurles manager. “That’s what’s been against us for the last couple of weeks – we haven’t got the start. We watched our intermediate team in the curtain raiser and they didn’t come out of the blocks. We said that in the dressing room when we were getting ready, that look, there’s a lesson here. The team that gets out of the blocks and gets momentum in the game, often times the scores come easier for them.
“Most of the lads have been going every weekend for the last month, even the county lads were going the week before that. So this is the sixth Sunday in a row and to be able to react and be going for county final day is great. We’ve had a couple of close calls along the way and we had to up our performance for the county final. Lough- more are great rivals and we had to match their intensity and hope that our hurling would come out in the end.”
Wired in
In truth, only one side wired into a grey Semple afternoon with any intensity and wasn’t Loughmore. None of the scattering of silk-wristed McGraths shone in the gloom and the only reason they were still within range come half-time was a scrappy goal forced home by Liam McGrath on 21 minutes.
They got to their tea just 1-6 to 0-13 behind, a scoreline that painted them in a far better light than they deserved.
But all it took in the second half was for Sars to lengthen their stride just a little and soon enough Loughmore were tailed off. Denis Maher’s outstanding afternoon continued with the first point of the second half – he would end up with five points from play, as would his half-forward partner Aidan McCormack – and when Michael O’Brien swept home a loose ball that had dropped down off the post soon after, Thurles led by 1-14 to 1-6. Day done, even with 25 minutes still to play.
Loughmore stuck at it and found a couple more goals from John McGrath and Evan Sweeney before the end but Thurles were never flustered.
Corbett skipped in and out of the game as he pleased, his back-handed hand-pass to Pa Bourke for the last Thurles score of the day an outrageous indulgence and a thorough delight all in one.
Great thing
“The one great thing about our lads is that they produce for the county and then come back and do it for the club,” smiled McCormack. “We have those lads – Pádraic Maher, Lar Corbett, Denis Maher, Ronan Maher, Mickey Cahill. They always come back and do it for the club, be it midweek or on a Saturday morning even when they were playing with Tipperary.
“That helped the team grow as we worked through three months without them.
“There’s a great tradition in our club and if you don’t win county titles you get judged very badly. We’ve lads in our club that won 10 in a row so you’re always being compared. A lot of these lads have played in seven or eight county titles and they’re winning a fourth or fifth today. It’s a great achievement in the modern age.”
Thurles go on to meet Cratloe next weekend. Seven Sundays in a row and none of them want it to end.
THURLES SARSFIELDS: P McCormack; S Maher, M Cahill, David Maher; R Maher, P Maher, M Gleeson; S Cahill (0-2), B McCarthy; Denis Maher (0-5), A McCormack (0-5), C Lanigan (0-1); M O'Brien (1-0), P Bourke (1-3, 0-1 free), L Corbett (0-2). Subs: R Ruth (0-4) for O'Brien, (39 mins), G O'Grady for A McCormack, J Maher for McCarthy (both 56 mins), K O'Gorman for David Maher, P Dunne for Gleeson (both 59 mins).
LOUGHMORE-CASTLEINEY: S Nolan; L Egan, D Bourke, J Hennessy; A McGrath (0-1, free), D Kennedy, T King; C McGrath, T McGrath (0-1); J McGrath (1-1), L Treacy (0-1), N McGrath (0-5, frees); L McGrath (1-1, 0-1 free), E Sweeney (1-0), C Hennessy (0-1). Subs: J Nyland for T McGrath , J Ryan for L McGrath (both 57 mins) T Maher for Treacy (60 mins).
Referee: J Ryan (Tipperary).
