Captain McCarthy never stopped believing

By Shane Brophy

Darragh McCarthy is a special player and the Toomevara clubman had the ultimate honour of lifting the Dr. Harty Cup on behalf of St Joseph’s CBS, Nenagh for the first time.

“Dreams do come true,” was how he described the feeling on the podium after accepting the trophy in front of a joyous Nenagh support.

“I’m so proud,” he continued.

“The best group I have ever been with,” added the winner of an All-Ireland minor medal in 2022 with Tipperary.

Much like the semi-final against Charleville, it looked as if Nenagh were going to be denied with Ardscoil Ris rattling off three points in a row before Andy Hoolan’s last gasp goal.

“I never felt it was gone,” McCarthy said. “It is easy to say that now, but on the field, we knew we had a chance, it was the same against Charleville, we knew not to give up until the final whistle. It’s just pure belief in the group.

“We used Jack Peters and Donach’s (O’Donnell) experience from 2012, that has been hurting on us as much as them. Things went wrong that day, but we used all the experience we had and brought it out onto the field.”

This win will ensure this group of Nenagh CBS players are bonded for life as the first team from the school to win the Harty Cup, but as a winner, McCarthy won’t be settling for just that.

“We are a very close group as it is, so we can only get stronger and I’m very excited for what that might bring,” he added, looking ahead to the All-Ireland series.