Nenagh are now established as a true Harty Cup school

By Shane Brophy

This St Joseph’s CBS Nenagh team will go down as one of the great Dr. Harty Cup winning sides after capping off an incredible 2025/2026 campaign in style on Saturday.

Considering the rich calibre of schools Nenagh had accounted for on route to the final and then taking down 22-times champions St Flannan’s College, around the corner from the famed school where among them, Tipp greats Len Gaynor and Shane McGrath went to, to further their hurling education, Nenagh CBS can now mark themselves down as a true hurling nursery with their second Harty Cup in three years with nine players having the fortune to be involved in both successes.

And it was the trio that featured in the 2024 final win over Ardscoil Ris who brought their experience to bear on Saturday with notable performances.

Much like Darragh McCarthy was the spearhead to the 2024 success, Eoghan Doughan played much the same role two years on. There is a lot of pressure not only being the captain but also the marquee forward yet the Moneygall clubman took it in his stride with a remarkable campaign which saw him score whopping 4-63 in six games, an average of twelve points per match.

Not only that, his hurling ability has also gone to a new level in the last twelve months, now a really elusive forward with his improved footwork while his free-taking, which was a little hit and miss as a minor, is now almost flawless, his only miss in the final coming from the limit of his range.

He was targeted with St Flannan’s detailing Conor Hill in a man-marking role, and for the first fifteen minutes was kept quiet at centre forward before switching into the edge of the square where he had three of his four points from play scored by five time.

Joe O’Dwyer made a marked impact as a sub in the 2024 final, and between injury and form, this campaign hadn’t gone smoothly for the Burgess clubman but come the big day he was ready and firing.

The space and quality of the Cusack Park surface certainly played to his skillset with his low centre of gravity with his contribution to five points, two of which he scored himself keeping the St Flannan’s full back line under pressure all through.

Austin Duff scored 1-1 in the 2024 decider and in a repeat performance from the semi-final win over Thurles, without the stats compiled, it felt like he had the most possessions of any player on the field, and in the first fifteen minutes when Nenagh were under pressure, he was one of the few standing out.

This is an incredibly well coached Nenagh team and manager Donach O’Donnell along with Jack Peters, Paul Butler, Mark Gennery and Darragh McCarthy deserve immense credit. Every player knows their role and what to do on the ball.

Nenagh are comfortable working the ball out from the back, epitomised by their first point in the fourth minute when goalkeeper Paddy McCormack went short to Shane Cleary who fed Emmett Jones, with Dara O’Dwyer making the run to take the pass and fire over from long range.

There is a flexibility and trust to the way they play, Cleary and O’Dwyer rotating between full and centre back depending on the situation, with the latter going into the edge of the square to curb Thomas O’Connor after his strong start.

Emmett Jones’ performance was notable in that the Nenagh Eire Og clubman could have been vulnerable in retaining his place after being subbed off at half time in the semi-final against Thurles. On Saturday, he was outstanding, not only in possession but also in the reading of the game, taking a yellow card for the team in denying O’Connor a goal scoring chance in the first half. There is no black-card penalty in schools hurling; a player who knows the rules.

It wasn’t plain sailing for Nenagh as they had to overcome the loss of Billy O’Brien to a ruptured Achilles last week. To lose such an experienced player who scored the winning goal for Tipperary in the never-to-be-forgotten 2024 All-Ireland Minor Final would be a huge loss to most teams but Nenagh’s panel is strong. Hugo Healy slotted in comfortably in midfield with Patrick Ryan going to the half-forward line where he was tremendous, particularly in the closing quarter when then at midfield, Nenagh were coming under pressure. He along with the half-back line really got on top and provided the platform for victory with the four-point surge between the 51st and 55th minutes the key period in Nenagh’s victory.

The Nenagh management have incredible trust in their panel with three players making their debuts in the quarter and semi-finals respectively, and they did so again in the final with sixteen year old KJ Dunne sent into the fray for his Harty debut on 48 minutes, just after St Flannan’s had gone back in front. On another day he could have ended with 1-2 but his impact will be an incentive for every other player panel that if they stay working hard in the coming weeks, they could play a key role in their quest to add the Croke Cup to the Harty Cup already in the trophy cabinet.

That’s the next target, Croke Park on St Patrick’s Day is certainly within their realm but for the moment they can bask in the glow of an incredible achievement – 2026 Dr. Harty Cup champions.