Nenagh CBS Captain Darragh McCarthy is taking it all in his stride

By Shane Brophy

“Thinking about it since day one,” was how Nenagh CBS captain Darragh McCarthy described his desire to win a Dr. Harty Cup with his school.

The Leaving Cert student saw his older brother Kevin skipper a fancied Nenagh side who were knocked out by a last minute goal to CBC Cork in the quarter final stage in 2019, and getting one over on the Cork side in this years quarter final provided some element of revenge for that.

The Toomevara clubman has contributed 1-43 of Nenagh’s scores in their four game run to the final, including thirteen points in the semi-final win over Charleville CBS.

“We got lucky in fairness,” he said of the injury time comeback.

“We showed a never-say-die attitude which is what we have been about since the start of the year and it has to be shown on Saturday as well.”

McCarthy is mature beyond his years and was part of the management team of the junior side, that won the schools first Dean Ryan Cup last November, revealing that success generated added belief that Nenagh could finally win a Harty.

“The belief is in the group,” he insists.

“The Dean Ryan team winning drove us on as well, as they showed that anything is possible. At under 15 level they were at nothing, no disrespect to them, and we (senior) were poor down the grades as well, but we have grown and matured a lot, and the belief is there that anything is possible.”

“Myself, Cian (Connolly) and Zak (Keller), we got a bit jealous and said to ourselves we have to do this now, and imagine if we could do both.”

Despite still being in school, McCarthy’s form over the last twelve months, particularly in his first senior campaign with Toomevara, saw him called into the Tipperary senior panel. He hasn’t featured so far under Liam Cahill but is training regularly at Dr Morris Park with the group, however, there is a good understanding between both the Tipperary and Nenagh CBS managements not to overload the nineteen year old.

“The lads are spot on,” McCarthy said.

“They pull me out when they feel they need to pull me out. There is no over-training, they are on the ball,” he said, revealing that in the week after the Harty Cup semi-final he trained solely with Tipperary but this week in the build up to the Harty Cup final he is fully with Nenagh CBS.

As an All-Ireland minor winner with Tipperary in 2022, a Tipp under 20 in 2023 and a senior panellist in 2024, and off the back of a stellar club campaign, Darragh McCarthy is the star of this Nenagh CBS team, much like Jason Forde was in 2012 when Nenagh last reached a Harty Cup final, losing to Colaiste na nDeise, but recovered to go on and win the All-Ireland title.

McCarthy comfortably assumes the mantle of being the star man but doesn’t see himself as being any other than just one of the fifteen players on the team.

“I don’t let it get to me at all as I know the boys around me are all leaders and everyone can stand up in different places on the field and get scores.

“That is some help, everyone puts their hand up, it’s not one or two lads, the fifteen starters and the lads that come on,” he said.