Tipperary hurling legend held his own against youngster at this year's All-Ireland Poc Fada!

Brendan Cummins marked his 50th birthday earlier this summer and if he needed any further reminder of the passage of time, he got it on the Cooley Peninsula on Bank Holiday Monday.

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The Tipperary legend returned to the M. Donnelly All-Ireland Poc Fada final for what he reckoned was his 15th appearance in the event, joining a dozen-strong field that included reigning champion and Louth native Darren Geoghegan.

"He (Geoghegan) was actually carrying the flags for me and watching where the balls were going when I was up here competing years ago," smiled Cummins.

It was his first appearance in the national final since 2019, and while the glory days may be behind him, Cummins still showed plenty of fire.

A seven-time All-Ireland senior hurling finalist and two-time winner with Tipp, he also holds a record nine Poc Fada titles, the last of which came in 2015.

"Ger had the record, I always had it in my head that I wanted to get past that," he said, referring to his great rival, Ger Cunningham. "I gave years to it. Back in the day when we'd be training with Tipp, and the All-Ireland finals were on in September, I'd have been up here in the middle of the Championship and people were going to me, 'What are you going up there for?!'"

"But I always felt that if I could win it, and if I had a chance of doing it, I wanted to come up and give it a go. From an achievement point of view, I'm delighted to have had the success I did. As a personal challenge, it's right up there."

On Monday, Cummins finished seventh - no small feat considering he was going up against active inter-county players in peak physical condition.

"At my age now it's more of an endurance test," he said. "If a 50-year-old starts beating 25 and 26-year-olds in a Poc Fada competition, they'd want to have a look at themselves."

That said, the Ballybacon-Grange man’s competitive edge was clear as ever. His friendship with Kilkenny hurler Fionán Mackessy — forged during their time together with Kerry — added an extra layer to proceedings. Mackessy had won the last two Poc Fada titles, with Cummins having previously offered him plenty of guidance.

"He said he couldn't ring me this year because I'd be competing against him," said Cummins. "I said, 'Ah look, why couldn't you? Of course you could'. But he didn't anyway."

This year’s event was shortened due to high winds and poor weather conditions, a move that, Cummins reckons, may have counted against Mackessy.

"To be fair, he probably would have had a better chance, endurance-wise, if it had been the full course. They shut about half of it because of the wind and the weather.

Now they played three quarters of it last year as well, and he still won, but the longer the course goes on, the more that plays to Fionán Mackessy’s strengths because he's big and he's strong and he's athletic."

"He has everything going for him. So if it was going to take 52 or 53 pucks to get around, it would have given him a better chance than just doing 26 or 27."

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