MAHER THE MERRIER Making an All-ireland club final a long held dream for Tipp star Brendan & prize is so close he can smell it
THE closest Brendan Maher has got to an All-ireland club hurling final before now was Chaplins pub on the southside of the capital.
Cuala were playing Ballyea in the St Patrick’s Day decider of 2017. The plan was to head to Croke Park after Borris-ileigh had played St Jude’s in a challenge game that morning.
Managed by a Borris man – Murty Mcgrath – Chaplins on Hawkins Street was the port of call for food beforehand.
“But it started raining, and we didn’t fancy the walk,” laughed Maher. “So we decided we’d stay where we were.”
Less than two years on and Borris-ileigh have made it to Croker off their own steam. There’ll be no pitstop in the pub close to the Liffey this time.
Maher has been the main man in their historic charge out of Tipperary, past Ballygunner and St Thomas’s and into a decider against two-in-a-row hopefuls Ballyhale Shamrocks.
The 31-year-old, who won a third All-ireland with Tipp last August, never thought he would see this day happen.
“Definitely not,” Maher admitted. “I won’t say I was happy with the county final, but it was always, ‘Winning a county final
HOW weird it is that this is the first meeting of clubs from Kilkenny and Tipperary, given the domination the counties have shared at All-ireland level.
Since 2006, they have shared 11 of the 14 All-ireland titles on offer. So there’s a real anticipation about this decider, with Ballyhale Shamrocks striving to add to with Borris is unbelievable’.
“You only had a week to turn around then against Glen Rovers – and it just seems like a bit of a wave since then.
“We were mentally switched on the whole time. That’s the hard part, you’re thinking about the next training session, the games. So we haven’t had a chance to switch off yet.
“We’ll do that after Sunday.”
The effort to get this far was encapsulated in the final score of the semi-final win over St Thomas’s. It was Maher’s 10th point in total. their record seven wins and Borris-illeigh back on this stage for the first time since their one and only triumph some 33 years ago.
Brendan Maher has driven Borris-ileigh to unprecedented modern success but Ballyhale have the nous, the tradition and TJ Reid to succeed. VERDICT: Ballyhale
Having broken his hurl in converting a free, he rushed in to get a block on a clearance from the opposition keeper then got the sliothar back and, with the broken hurl, Maher scored off his left side.
It was remarkable but, Maher revealed, the hurl went missing afterwards.
“A couple of the lads went out to find it but couldn’t,” he smiled.
“I don’t know if it was picked up, it probably went into the stand so somebody might have it. I’m not too bothered.”
Maher points to the team effort that has got his club to their first All-ireland final since their 1987 triumph. Being underdogs again doesn’t faze the current crop.
“Sure we’ve been faced with challenges the whole year and we’re not going to approach it differently to the other games,” he insisted. “We realise we’ll be underdogs. It’s a mammoth challenge but we’re not going to change the mindset.
“There’s no pressure on us. We make mistakes, do things that we shouldn’t do, but we get on with it. We realise we’re coming up against an unbelievable team. But our mindset will be the same.”
WALSH CUP FINAL Galway Wexford Today, 5pm
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WITH League openers against Laois and Westmeath, you might be forgiven for thinking Wexford and Galway will be pouring more into today’s Walsh Cup final than might normally be the case.
Not judging by Davy Fitzgerald’s comments when Wexford launched their eye-catching new jersey last month, however.
When he was being quizzed about where he could take Wexford in 2020 on the back of an encouraging season, he insisted he only had eyes for Eddie Brennan’s side.
He said: “I think Laois will be getting ready for us and trying to make a mark in the first game and they’ll probably know we’ll be down a few lads in O’moore Park.
“That’s a massive one for us and if you were to ask me do I think we could win anything next year or would our sights be on Leinster or the All-ireland, the only sights I have in my head is Laois in the first round.
“We have Laois on the 25th on a Saturday night. I can honestly tell you that’s my only goal for next year so far.”
Wexford last won this competition two years ago after a shootout against Kilkenny but there was no need for any tie-breaker as they brushed aside the All-ireland finalists in the semi-final last Sunday with 12 points to spare.
The outcome largely depends on how much either manager is prepared to stake on winning with more important fixtures upcoming, but Wexford’s form suggests that they’re the more likely.