Bonner Maher adds further to his legacy

By James Hayden

One of Lorrha’s most famous sons, Patrick ‘Bonner’ Maher is known the length and breadth of the country in GAA circles.

His performances in the blue and gold of Tipperary are the stuff of legend, and the three-time All-Ireland medal winner was very much again to fore as Lorrha captured the county Premier Intermediate hurling title following victory over Thurles Sarsfields in Nenagh on Saturday.

Bonner had a hand in both Lorrha goals, creating the first for Cian Hogan and embellishing the replay with a fantastic individual goal of his own making.

Speaking after Lorrha’s victory, Maher paid tribute to his teammates and the backroom team for guiding the men from Lower Ormond to back-to-back county title successes.

“It’s a fantastic day for the parish and it’s great to know we are going back senior next year,” he began.

“There are an awful lot of these boys on the road since we won an intermediate back in 2007 and this group of boys dug this victory out and died with their boots on out there today.”

Agreeing that the victory would give the parish a huge lift, Bonnar paid tribute to club members who had passed during the week.

“I am delighted for everyone. We had a few deaths during the week in the club. They were great people for the club and today is a great day for Lower Ormond and for the parish of Lorrha,” he said.

Paying tribute to his teammates, he said the effort over the past two years has been nothing short of outstanding.

“These lads have dragged themselves through the muck earlier in the year. We knew the drive and the desire was there and they were outstanding out there today,” he added.

“Thurles played their part too and the heart and the desire was there for them also, they are peppered with some serious hurlers, and they showed that there today.”

“I never had any doubt though and we dug in when we had to dig in. We got the scores when we needed the scores and thankfully, we got over the line.

“The goals were crucial for us. We are a goal-scoring team and when we are on form, we are scoring goals. We showed that in the championship during the year when he drilled in a few goals. As Eamonn O’Shea always said, goals win games, and that is no lie in the game of hurling. They make a big difference, and they did today too. We got them early and it gave us a great cushion early on and that bit of breathing space.”