Hurt from losses driving Thurles CBS to reach Croke Park finale

Thurles CBS are the first Harty Cup title holders to reach the Croke Cup semi-finals in a decade.

Sat, 01 Mar, 2025 - 06:18

Stephen Barry

After celebrating their first Harty Cup title for a decade, it didn’t take long for the Thurles CBS players to get their feet back on the ground.

“The sixth years went straight into their mocks so that got them back focused very quickly!” says manager Niall Cahill. “They were back into school on the Tuesday and started them on the Wednesday.

“It freshened things up for us that some lads were on a little bit of a break and not training too much during the mocks. Then, other lads got their opportunity to do plenty with the county 20s and minors.

“For the subs and the lads who are battling it out to get on, we got a big opportunity to get more time and plenty of challenge matches to create opportunities for them too.”

It’s been eight years since the Harty champions advanced to a Croke Cup final appearance, with Our Lady’s, Templemore, the last team to do so. But Cahill hopes the four-week break will stand to Thurles.

Their semi-final return to action comes against Connacht runners-up Coláiste Bhaile Chláir in Banagher on Saturday (1pm throw-in).

The reward for the winners is a St Patrick’s Day trip to Croke Park to face either three-in-a-row chasing St Kieran’s College, Kilkenny, or Presentation College, Athenry, who meet later in the afternoon at Bansha (2.30pm throw-in).

Thurles are eyeing a fourth national final appearance and some of their players, including captain Robbie Ryan and full-back Evan Morris, carry added motivation from a semi-final near miss against Pres Athenry in 2023.

“They came up short by a point and that was a big driving feature this year,” says Cahill.

“Try to get back to where they had been two years ago having had all those losses by a point, in the Harty final, the All-Ireland semi-final, and then last year in the Harty semi-final by a point too.

“We've been hoping all year that they're not happy with just the Harty and they want to drive on.

“That's coming from the players themselves because they have that experience and expectation.

“A lot of them have played in All-Ireland finals with Tipperary, be it minor or U20, so they have big expectations for themselves. It's easy guide that in a lot of ways. They're very focused in relation to it.

“And the prize is massive, an opportunity to play in Croke Park. Up to recently, all the All-Ireland colleges were played in Semple Stadium traditionally so it is a lovely opportunity for lads.”

Coláiste Bhaile Chláir draw their team from three clubs, Carnmore, Turloughmore, and Castlegar, and the Claregalway school have produced their share of upsets en route.

They eliminated last year’s Croke Cup runners-up St Raphael’s in the Connacht semi-final and Leinster finalists Kilkenny CBS in the All-Ireland quarter-final.

“They were impressive,” notes Cahill. “A lot of them have played football with Galway at a high level as well.

“They're plucky, very well organised, work really well, and just saw out the game in fairness to them.

“They seem to be making a habit of doing it, they're hard to put away, so we'll have it all to do that way.”

Cahill is happy to report a clean bill of health with goalkeeper Harry Loughnane, who played through the Harty semi-final and final with a broken finger, getting the opportunity to recover.

“He's back training flat out since last week. It was brilliant that way. If we'd to play a quarter-final, you'd have been under pressure alright but he was able to have total rest on it so he's very happy with it.”