Thurles edge home in gripper

IT WAS like old times at Claughaun yesterday as Thurles CBS held out for a thrilling one-point victory over St Flannan’s in a superb Harty Cup quarter-final clash before a huge crowd.

There have been fears that the standard of hurling in the Harty Cup was slipping in recent years, but these two schools produced an encounter that did much to restore the pride of this great championship.

Four times they were level and a replay looked likely and there would have been few complaints, after Paul Flanagan pointed for Flannan’s to leave just the minimum between the teams deep in injury time, but the champions held their nerve in those tense, dramatic extra minutes to remain on course for back-to-back titles.