TIPPERARY SCHOOL ABBEY CBS achieved All-Ireland hurling glory yesterday and fittingly it was Shane Power who slammed home the goal that sealed their six-point win.
Power found the net at the end of extra-time and sparked scenes of celebration amongst the Abbey CBS players and supporters.
It was poignant that Power raised the green flag as sadly the funeral of his sister had taken place on Sunday.
Limerick hurler Darragh O’Donovan, a member of the Abbey CBS management team, paid tribute to Power’s character after the game.
“Shane is just an amazing fella. He was very emotional beforehand – he’d normally be the craic at the back of the bus, he sat on his own today.
“His performance was something else. There’s not a player in Tipperary can catch a ball like Shane can. He’s beaten every centre back he’s played this year.
“To come out and do what he did today, I don’t think anyone else could have done it.”
O’Donovan was thrilled to see the Abbey CBS players succeed in an All-Ireland hurling final, a year after many of them had lost a football decider in Croke Park.
“Eight of the boys played in the football final last year, the experience of losing stood to them. Josh Ryan, Shane Power and Tommy Lowry, the experience them boys have is unreal.
“The boys were never going to get tired. We had a lot of work done with them over the year.
“We came in eight days over the Christmas, this week we were in four times, we’ve trained 6 o’clock in the morning, 7 o’clock in the morning, we’ve often done two hours after school.
“198 days we’ve been together, on the 10th of September we first met since we came back to school.
“From there, we took over, we played Harty teams in challenge matches, went up to Mountrath, we were in Gort, Portumna, we travelled everywhere.
“It’s a fitting end to that game. Those boys will go out tonight, they’re together every day in school, they’re a very tight bunch. It was a fitting end to the game with Shane getting the goal to seal it.”
An All-Ireland U21 winner with Limerick last year and a Fitzgibbon Cup victor with Mary Immaculate College last month, O’Donovan took a break from his playing commitments to enjoy success on the management front.
“It’s different. I came in to do teaching practice here. Kieran (Hickey) said to me would I get involved in the senior team and I said no problem at all.
“It’s a new experience for me and I just brought what experience I was having from managements like John (Kiely) and TJ Ryan.
“People said to me at the start of the year this is a football team – this is a hurling team. The greatest hurler that ever played for Tipperary came from this school – Nicky English.”
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