Cormac Fitzpatrick, CBS Thurles, and Seán Murphy, Presentation College Athenry, in action at Croke Park. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Masita Croke Cup Senior A hurling final
Thurles CBS 0-24 Presentation College, Athenry 2-17
By Paul Keane at Croke Park
Croke Park comebacks don't come much better than the one produced by CBS Thurles this afternoon, the Harty Cup winners capping a memorable college campaign by adding the Croke Cup title in the most dramatic of circumstances.
Trailing by eight points with 18 minutes to go, you'd have been forgiven for presuming the 2009 champions were going to have to settle for second best.
Presentation College Athenry, containing five players who were also runners-up in 2023, were fresh off a third quarter blitz of scoring at that stage, which had yielded an unanswered 1-6 for them.
But just as their first ever title loomed following four previous final defeats, disaster struck again for them in the form of a quite magnificent Thurles comeback.
Midfielders Kieran Rossiter and Euan Murray were at the hub of the Thurles revival, scoring six points between them overall and dominating the middle third in the closing 20 minutes or so.
Murray's high fielding was spectacular while Rossiter weighed in with back-to-back points to help his team turn the screw and was later named Man of the Match.
In all, Niall Cahill's CBS outscored Athenry by 0-12 to 0-3 in the closing minutes to seal a landmark win.
Free-taker Fitzpatrick will go down as the matchwinner, nailing all eight of the placed balls he took on the afternoon, though it was a wonderful team effort.
A number of the players were also part of the Tipperary team that won last year's All-Ireland minor title and the latest underage success will be warmly celebrated in the Premier County.
It was tough on Athenry who played their part in an enjoyable encounter despite the bitterly cold St Patrick's Day conditions.
They were able to call upon the services of Galway senior panellist and 2024 county U-20 Aaron Niland who is just back from a long-term hamstring problem.
He came on after 20 minutes and had a busy afternoon, taking 10 shots for scores which yielded 1-2.
Niland's goal came from a 29th minute free which helped Athenry to level the game, 1-8 to 0-11, having started slowly and dropped five points behind initially.
Thurles may have expected the Clarinbridge man to go for a point but his bravery was rewarded though a similar 54th minute effort, at a stage when Athenry were two points ahead and struggling for traction, hit the side netting.
Niland had another late, late opportunity to level the game but his 63rd minute point attempt from long range flew agonisingly wide.
Athenry oozed quality in that third quarter and Jason Rabbitte, one of the players who also featured in the 2023 final, gave a sumptuous reverse hand-pass at one stage for Cian Hannon to grab a point.
A minute later, Frank Burke burst beyond the Thurles full-back Evan Morris and rifled to the net, leaving the westerners 2-14 to 0-12 ahead and apparently in command.
But it turned out that Thurles were only just getting going and four points in a row from them signalled their intention to take this one all the way.
Their unique brand of hungry hurling, and clever use of possession out from the back, created plenty of opportunities which the likes of Rossiter, James Butler, 2024 Tipp minor star Cillian Minogue, Murray and David Costigan were all happy to capitalise on.
Ciaran Leen, who struck nine points for Athenry, tied things up again in the 59th minute after being fed by Galway senior defender Sean Murphy who'd bombed forward.
But Thurles weren't to be denied and when they were awarded a free in, Fitzpatrick did the needful to the joy of his team's supporters in the 5,796 crowd.
Scorers for CBS Thurles: Cormac Fitzpatrick 0-10 (8fs), Kieran Rossiter 0-4, Cillian Minogue 0-3, Euan Murray 0-2, Keith Loughnane 0-1, Jack Hayes 0-1, James Butler 0-1, David Costigan 0-1, Robbie Ryan 0-1.
Scorers for Presentation College, Athenry: Ciaran Leen 0-9 (6fs), Aaron Niland 1-2 (1-0f), Frank Burke 1-1, Eoin Hannon 0-2, Cian Hannon 0-2, Jason Rabbitte 0-1.
CBS Thurles: Harry Loughnane; Jack Lahart, Evan Morris, Tony Corbett; Killian Cantwell, Keith Loughnane, Ryan Bargary; Euan Murray, Kieran Rossiter; Tiarnan Ryan, David Costigan, Cormac Fitzpatrick; Jack Hayes, Robbie Ryan, Cillian Minogue.
Subs: James Butler for Tiarnan Ryan 41, Darragh Hickey for Cantwell 47, Leelan Donoghue for Costigan 63.
Presentation College, Athenry: Chris Callanan; Aodhan MacDonagh, Sean Murphy, Lucas Keane; Michael Fallon, Darragh Counihan, Robert Burke; Oscar Fitzpatrick, Ronan Murphy; Cian Hannon, Frank Burke, Ethan O'Brien; Jason Rabbitte, Ciaran Leen, Eoin Hannon.
Subs: Aaron Niland for Robert Burke 20, Eanna McDonagh for Frank Burke 58, James Diviney for Cian Hannon 60, Shay Brady for Fallon 64.
Referee: Johnny Murphy (Limerick).
