Thurles Sarsfields show no mercy as Moycarkey-Borris wait goes on
A non-event. No romance, no fairytale. Thurles Sarsfields torpedoed all such sentimental notions. A ruthless capturing of their 37th Tipp crown.
Moycarkey-Borris brought the colour and the crowd to Tipperary’s concluding Sunday. They brought 42 years of waiting. They even brought a freshly penned song. Squeeze ‘em up was the title of said number.
In the end, though, or rather long before such was the inevitability of there being no fairytale final chapter for the red and gold band, Moycarkey-Borris neither squeezed ‘em up nor brought a challenge that remotely rumbled Pádraic Maher’s blue charges.
It was they and their famine-ending ambitions that were squeezed up on and squashed.
Four points was the closest Moycarkey-Borris stood of Thurles all afternoon. Four points was the difference when Jack Hayes provided Moycarkey’s opener in the fifth minute. Their opponents had already run up 1-2. They were already gasping for air. They were already playing catch-up in a decider where their great hope was to hang in and sow doubt.
Doubt never visited Semple Stadium on this second Sunday of October.
Thurles were slicker. Their hurling was smarter and more cohesive. They withdrew their half-forward line and linked crisply through the lines. And even when they chose the less nuanced approach of direct to full-forward Paddy Creedon, with Eoin Purcell and Kieran Rossiter hovering and hoovering on the breaks, they still found success and superiority.
Physically, Thurles were the more imposing. From Denis Maher to Keith Loughnane to Conor Stakelum to his brother Aidan to the aforementioned Creedon, there were towering, troublesome, and turnover hungry figures in every line.
They held their opponents to one point in the opening quarter. They held them to three across the final 25 minutes.
“We didn't probably play to our best, and we probably weren't allowed either,” said Moycarkey-Borris manager Denis Kelly.
“They got the early goal, which was a killer. It was a sucker punch, and Sars built on it significantly. They're a good team to sit back and soak up pressure and get you on the breaks, so it was tough. It was a tough day at the office, but I'm proud of the lads, they stayed going until the bitter end.
“It was a great experience for them too, their first time in a county final for 42 years. We're disappointed now but when we look back on it, it was a really good year.”
The green flag was Eoin Purcell’s 11th-second strike. Purcell was touch perfect in the opening half. 1-3 from four shots. He finished with 1-4. Moycarkey-Borris were having to change one of their corner-backs as early as the 16th minute.
Kieran Rossiter was man of the match when Thurles CBS claimed the Croke Cup in the spring of 2025. The Tipp U20 sniped a pair of sublime points in the opening quarter. An opening quarter Thurles led 1-5 to 0-1 at the end of.
Euan Murray was another leading member of that all-conquering Thurles CBS team. The U20’s first from midfield was part of a third-quarter four-in-a-row that clinically dismissed any hint of a Moycarkey comeback after goal-scorer Joe Maher and Killian Cantwell (free) struck the opening two points of a second period where the breeze was behind them for a 1-12 to 1-7 scoreline.
The subsequent spin of four blue points returned the final to its single narrative of Thurles oppression.
At 1-16 to 1-7 on 38 minutes, this most underwhelming Tipp decider produced just seven more scores in the 29 minutes still to run.
From newcomers Rossiter and Murray to the 15th final appearance of 42-year-old goalkeeper Patrick McCormack, the Thurles team is a broad and expanding church. Ronan Maher and his still recovering ankle was again used off the bench.
Having failed to emerge from the group phase last season, their nine-year wait to the 2017 county success is no more.
Next stop Munster. Their record on the provincial scene is far less bountiful. One success from 11 attempts. From crushing fairytales to now chasing a Munster version for themselves.
: E Purcell (1-4); A McCormack (0-4, 0-4 frees); A Stakelum, E Murray, P Creedon, K Rossiter (0-2 each); P Maher, D Rossiter, R Maher (free, 0-1 each).
: J Maher (1-1); M Hackett, J Hayes (0-3 each); K Morris (0-2, 0-2 frees); K Cantwell (free), N Heffernan (0-1 each).
: P McCormack; H Fogarty, D Maher, P Maher; K Loughnane, Conor Stakelum, Cian Stakelum; D Rossiter, E Murray; A McCormack, D Stakelum, A Stakelum; K Rossiter, P Creedon, E Purcell.
SUBS: S Maher for Fogarty (32, inj); J Armstrong for S Maher (44-47, temporary); J Armstrong for Cian Stakelum (51); R Maher for Creedon (52); T Maher for A McCormack (54); R Stapleton for K Rossiter (59).
: R Shelly; T Ryan, T Hayes, K Hayes; P Molloy, E Hayes, K Cantwell; S Walsh, N Heffernan; J Maher, J Egan, D Costigan; J Hayes, K Morris, M Hackett.
SUBS: P Melbourne for T Ryan (16); K Cummins for Molloy (37); R Darmody for Heffernan (46); K O’Regan for J Hayes (52); B Maher for T Hayes (61, temporary); B Flanagan for Walsh (63).
: C O’Donovan ENDS
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