TO WIN MAJOR honours, commitment is one of the key ingredients required.
Our Lady’s, Templemore, have that in abundance, as manager Tom Byrnes reveals that his history-chasers trained on St Stephen’s Day, on New Year’s Eve and again on New Year’s day in pursuit of their goal, with a number of challenge matches thrown into the mix for good measure.
Setting out last August, that goal was to win a first Harty Cup for the Tipperary school since 1978. Box ticked when Our Lady’s stormed to glory against St Colman’s at the Gaelic Grounds in February.
39 years ago, the school went one better and added the coveted Croke Cup, the silverware on offer for the winners of the Masita Post-Primary Schools senior A hurling crown.
Last week, Our Lady’s defeated Kilkenny CBS in the Croke Cup semi-final but to win the competition on Saturday, they’ll have to get past St Kieran’s, chasing a 22nd title and four-in-a-row.
Byrnes admits: “It’s going to be a huge test. They have great experience all over the field and are used to winning Croke Cups, and used to being here nearly every year.
“They have great names as well in the full-back line, their centre back is excellent and they have one of the best forwards in the country in Adrian Mullen. He can play anywhere in the forwards, and will be difficult to pin down.”
Byrnes mentions the full-back line, and it contains famous surnames. Corner back Tommy Ronan is son of former Kilkenny star Adrian, while full-back Michael Carey is the son of Cats legend DJ.
At centre back, Martin Keoghan, as Byrnes notes, is indeed an excellent player, and along with Mullen, chasing a third successive Croke Cup medal.
“I saw them in the Leinster final (against Kilkenny CBS),” Byrnes says.
“Very balanced outfit, big and physical. A very good team, confident as well, a typical Kilkenny team who work very hard.”
But that’s not to downplay the talent in Templemore’s ranks.
Tipperary’s 2016 All-Ireland minor winning captain Brian McGrath is just one of their stars, along with Our Lady’s captain Paddy Cadell and Lyndon Fairbrother. All three started in Tipp’s victory over Limerick at Croke Park last September.
An added bonus for Our Lady’s is the return from injury of Stevie Nolan, their dynamic midfielder who shattered his cheekbone while bravely blocking down an opponent in the Harty final. The game was already won but Nolan still committed to a full-blooded challenge, and was struck by the sliotar through his faceguard.
“He got operated on on the Thursday after the game,” Byrnes explains.
“A short recovery time but he was back training with us on the day before St Patrick’s Day, last Thursday.
“We’ve had injuries all year, very tight in getting back for championship games but some of them are amazing to get over the injuries they’ve had to play in those competitive games at the highest standard, unbelievable really.”
Our Lady’s lost Harty Cup finals in 2013 and again last year before finally reaching the Holy Grail again.
Further back, in 2000 and 2002, they were also Munster runners-up but Byrnes, an engineering and metalwork teacher, has been working with the players since 2011.
His sidekick is Noel Fogarty, two-goal hero from the 1978 Harty Cup final win, and a man who has been guiding the fortunes of emerging young players since before Byrnes joined the school.
As Harty champions, Byrnes detected a different mindset from the players going into the All-Ireland series, compared to those previous cracks at it.
“It was a different position to any other time in quarter-finals or semi-finals.
We were heading into the semi-final this time as champions of Munster. The crowds kept coming and they came the last day because of expectation. It’s hard to pick yourself up after losing a Harty final but this time, when they won it, people wanted to see the Harty Cup champions.
“They (players) have great experience from playing with the Tipp minors and playing at a high level in Croke Park, the Gaelic Grounds, all of these places.
“They’ve been winning Munsters and All-Irelands and the younger lads are trying to feed off that confidence. A lot of them have improved from August to now, long season.”
Three times a week, Templemore’s players have togged out for training.
And he confirmed: “We trained a fair bit over Christmas, three games before we played Thurles (Harty quarter-final) on 11 January.
“We would have trained on St Stephen’s Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s day, matches in between as well. Hectic.”
And yet the commitment that Byrnes and his fellow selectors required was as near to total as it could have been.
“37 on the panel, and we always had over 30 at training.
“It starts with that but you get that on the field of play as well, lads helping each other.
“It’s a team effort and you have to be as involved as the man beside you is, in your effort.”
When it came to another Harty final, Templemore would not be denied again.
The fact that final day brought with it a magnificent team performance was immensely pleasing – but Byrnes felt that St Colman’s froze in their first final in 14 years.
“They (Our Lady’s) were excellent on the day but I felt that St Colman’s froze a bit too.
“We’ve been in final situations before and while one thing we didn’t want was hype, we knew there was going to be a certain amount of it.
It was in the school environment and in the town the school is in. But we’re lucky enough that some of our players have Munster and All-Irelands under their belt, and have played county at various levels in hurling and football. They understood not to get wrapped up in the hype.”
Ahead of an All-Ireland final appearance, Byrnes and his backroom team have been keen to emphasise a similar message.
“It’s about keeping the heads down and knowing what’s coming, more than anything.
“They know there’s a serious test coming on Saturday. Tipp and Kilkenny in Thurles is always a huge draw. Of course, St Kieran’s are going for four-in-a-row, which would be a huge achievement if they can pull that off. We’re under no illusions.”
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