Historic victory for Cashel Community School in TUS Dr Harty Cup hurling final

Cashel Community School 0-12 Thurles CBS 0-11

Cashel Community School are in dreamland after they won the school’s first TUS Dr Harty Cup final, beating favourites Thurles CBS in a closely contested final at FBD Semple Stadium this afternoon.

It was also a first success for the town and despite the fact that the quality of the hurling never reached the expected heights, Cashel’s success was thoroughly deserved in a game played in front of an attendance of 7,283, shoehorned into the O’Riain Stand of the Thurles venue.

They had heroes all over the pitch. Foremost among their young warriors were Ger O’Dwyer, who gave a barnstorming display at centre back; Ronan Connolly, the supplier of so many important scores; and Shane Buckley, who put in a giant performance in the middle of the pitch.

They also benefitted greatly from the performances of Adam Daly, Oisín O’Donoghue, who really grew in stature in the second half; Ben Currivan, and solid, courageous defenders Ciarán Byrne, Jack Quinlan and Dylan Fogarty.

Thurles, who were searching for their ninth Harty Cup and a first since 2015, gave it everything but they always struggled to get into a rhythm. Nevertheless, all their players gave everything for the cause and their standout performers included Tommy Maher, Robbie Ryan, Stephen Walsh and Joe Egan. 

You could sense that Cashel started to believe they could achieve a historic triumph when great work by Oisín O’Donoghue freed Ronan Connolly, who survived a heavy challenge to provide the assist for Adam Daly to shoot the point that put them ahead by 0-10 to 0-7 with eight minutes of normal time remaining.  

But Thurles weren’t a beaten docket yet. Points from Bill Flanagan, Tommy Maher’s free and Robbie Stapleton had the sides level for the fifth time by the 56th minute.

Cashel, however, didn’t do panic. When Ger O’Dwyer picked out David McGrath with a clever pass the Cashel King Cormacs player restored their lead, only for Tommy Maher to tie the scores for the sixth and final time when he nailed a pressure free from all of 65 metres, into the breeze, in the first of three minutes of additional time.

The sting in the tail came from Cashel when Eanna Ormond raced clear to shoot what transpired to be the winning score. They missed three more chances to enhance the scoreline but those wides (they had 13 over the hour compared to Thurles’ nine) didn’t matter when referee Eamonn Stapleton blew the final whistle to signal the start of their celebrations after this historic triumph.

The first half of the first all-Tipperary final in the storied history of this famous competition that dates back over 100 years was a lacklustre affair. Both sides were slow to settle on a day when the significance of the occasion seemed to weigh heavily on the young shoulders of the players, stifling their creativity, with Thurles shooting six wides and Cashel four.

Just eight points, four of which came from frees, told you most of what you needed to know about the opening half. 

Cashel were a point behind at the interval and they failed to score in the last 13 minutes (including additional time) of the first half, and yet they had every reason to be pleased with their performance in that opening period.

They had played against the breeze on a sunny but cold day in Thurles and recovered well after a pair of frees from Robbie Ryan had Thurles two points to the good after10 minutes.

Two frees from Ronan Connolly had restored parity four minutes later before Cashel took the lead with another Connolly free in the 17th minute.

They extended the lead in the 18th minute (0-4 to 0-2) with one of the best passages of play of the first half that resulted in their first score from play. The attack that led to the point had its origins in their defence, where Dylan Fogarty won possession. When he moved the ball onto Ger O’Dwyer, his long clearance was broken by Oisín O’Donoghue into the path of Fabian Ryan, who applied the finish.

Thurles got on top in the closing stages of the half and scores from Tommy Maher’s free, Aidan Stakelum (their first from play) and Tommy Maher from play gave them that slender 0-5 to 0-4 lead at the midway stage.   

Cashel Community School: Tommy Breen (Boherlahan/Dualla), Cian Ryan (Golden/Kilfeacle), Jack Quinlan (Fethard), Ciarán Byrne (Golden/Kilfeacle), Darragh Spillane (Fethard), Ger O’Dwyer  Dylan Fogarty (Boherlahan/Dualla), Ronan Connolly (Cashel King Cormacs, joint captain 0-6, 5 frees, 1 ‘65), Shane Buckley (Knockavilla/Donaskeigh Kickhams), Eanna Ormond (Golden/Kilfeacle 0-1), Ben Currivan (Golden/Kilfeacle, joint captain 0-1), Oisín O’Donogue (Cashel King Cormacs 0-1), David McGrath (Cashel King Cormacs 0-1), Fabian Ryan (Cashel King Cormacs 0-1), Adam Daly (Knockavilla/Donaskeigh Kickhams 0-1).

Subs: Padraig Dalton (Golden/Kilfeacle) for Eanna Ormond (60 minutes) and Ross Darcy (Boherlahan/Dualla) for Fabian Ryan (60 minutes). 

Thurles CBS: Eoin Horgan (Knockavilla/Donaskeigh Kickhams), Liam Doyle (Holycross/Ballycahill), Evan Morris (Holycross/Ballycahill), Padraig O’Dwyer (Killenaule), Eoin O’Connell (Loughmore/Castleiney), Jim Ryan (Holycross/Ballycahill), Stephen Walsh (Moycarkey/Borris), Joe Egan (Moycarkey/Borris), Tommy Maher (Thurles Sarsfields, captain 0-5, 4 frees), Joe Maher (Moycarkey/Borris), Daniel Rossiter (Durlas Óg), Aidan Stakelum (Thurles Sarsfields 0-1), Robbie Ryan (Holycross/Ballycahill 0-3 frees), Jimmie Lahart (Holycross/Ballycahill), Robbie Stapleton (Thurles Sarsfields 0-1).

Subs: Bill Flanagan (Moycarkey/Borris 0-1) for Jimmie Lahart (37 minutes), James Doyle (Holycross/Ballycahill) for Aidan Stakelum (44 minutes), Darragh Kelly (Eire Og Annacarty/Donohill) for Robbie Ryan (46 minutes), Jack Hayes (Moycarkey/Borris) for Daniel Rossiter (58 minutes), Emmet Ralph (Durlas Og) for Eoin O’Connell (60 minutes). 

Referee: Eamonn Stapleton (Limerick).