Nenagh established a top hurling school - O'Donnell

By Shane Brophy

Losing the toss for venue for the Dr. Harty Cup final wasn’t the worst thing in the world for Nenagh CBS.

It means going back to the scene of their greatest day in the competition where this Saturday will be two years to the day since they won their first ever title at the fifth time of asking, defeating Ardscoil Ris at Cusack Park in Ennis with a last gasp Andy Hoolan goal.

The scenes in the aftermath will live long in the memory, including in the dressing room with long standing manager Donach O’Donnell sitting back and watching the players celebrate, taking in what they had achieved.

To that end, going back to Cusack Park to play St Flannan’s College which is just a twenty minute walk from the ground, isn’t the worst thing in the world.

“The fact we were there two years ago, a lot of the panel will be familiar with the place,” O’Donnell began.

“It’s a really good surface and has a good atmosphere. Ideally, Thurles would have been lovely, it’s a good second choice.”

That Nenagh get to have an opportunity to win a second title in three years has led to a frenzy of excitement in the school.

“There is a great atmosphere around the place,” O’Donnell added.

“Coming off a win against a really good team in Thurles who were champions last year, it’s great. We are really lucky in that we have a really good support within the school from staff and students. You can feel it around the place. The support we have had from people, the clubs, there is a really good feelgood factor.”

To add a second Harty Cup so quickly after their first would announce Nenagh as a major force in post primary schools hurling, after so long playing the role of best-man, both in and outside the county, now able to attract some of the best players in the region due to their Harty participation.

“The fact we are at the top table with the top teams in the country is really nice to be there,” O’Donnell admitted.

“It’s lovely to get a couple of guys in, we don’t get too many. We have one or two in on this panel. It is lovely to see fellas that could go somewhere else, come to us but most are there from first year.

“The Harty competition itself is very prestigious. It is something we don’t take lightly. It is a real honour to be involved in it first of all, and then to be competing well is hugely important to us as a school. The players all know that and there is a real emphasis on trying to make the Harty team, and then make the Harty squad, they are all really innate in them, that they really want that.

“They are playing at a really high level. It is very close to county under 20 standard and if you are playing well at Harty level you are close to those panels.

“The whole hype around the competition has gone up and up over the last few years.”

There are many comparisons with the 2024 team but the Nenagh manager feels the depth of this panel is stronger, led by Eoghan Doughan, the only player remaining who started in the final two years ago, that team captained by one Darragh McCarthy, who is part of this management team.

“He is a real leader,” O’Donnell said of his captain.

“He has taken on all the pressure in his stride. Maybe, he has learned from two years ago, and he has probably learned from Darragh McCarthy too, whom he played with two years ago.

“It is important to have someone who is close to the players in age. Seanie (Kenneally) was captain a couple of years ago and got involved with us (previously). He was a great sounding board and you get nuggets of information about a player whether a guy is in bad form or good form; how he is playing with his club so it is great to have that information.

“Mark (Gennery) when he finished school started to get involved with us and now we have Darragh (McCarthy) so it is really good to have that closeness. He led us two years ago, a lot of the guys were involved with that panel, and Eoghan has learned a lot from him in terms of his attitude and the way he talks in his leadership role.”