Thurles quench Harty thirst

Lord Tennyson, one of England's most popular and well loved poets penned that 'Tis better to have loved and lost, Than to never have loved at all.'

On first glance you might think that those beautiful words from In Memoriam:27, 1850 have little relevance to sport, and in particular, to Munster senior colleges hurling.

But if you dig deep, very deep, the link can be made. I have ofter wondered which is worse... Having never tasted success, or having experienced it in the distant past without knowing the feeling would not come around for many, many years again? To paraphrase the Poet Laureate, Tennyson, 'Tis better to have hurled and lost, Than never to have hurled at all.'

But what did Tennyson know about hurling? I can safely assume he was unfamiliar with the national game of Ireland.

In 1956 Thurles CBS won the Dr Harty Cup, their third of that decade and sixth in all. The team that got the better of Cork's North Mon on a 2-5 to 2-3 scoreline included one Jimmy Doyle. Doyle, even at that tender age demonstrated that he was a hurler to be reckoned with as he racked up 1-3 before going on to win six All-Ireland titles with Tipperary, nine Munster titles, seven National Hurling League titles and eight Railway Cup titles with Munster.

However, while Doyle prospered, Thurles CBS languished. The famous hurling nursery was remarkably, to fail to win the elusive cup for another 53 years. No matter how hard they tried. And they tried. Take my word for it! Some of the greatest hurlers ever to play for Tipperary sauntered through the school gates on the Templemore road, hurley in hand, desperate to be part of the team responsible for ending the agonising quest for Harty Cup glory.

In recent times Thurles CBS lost semi-finals in 2000, 2001, 2006 and 2007. The last two defeats were to Waterford school, De La Salle, who were winning the Harty Cup for the first and second time. All in all, the school, nestled snuggly in the 'home of hurling' have lost six finals since the 1953 win, most recently in 2005 and 2008.

But all that changed on a wet, windy, wild but ultimately glorious Sunday in McDonagh Park, Nenagh. Thurles went into the final as favourites, a tag that they would not have been familiar with. The opposition were Harty Cup final virgins, the Clare comprehensive school, St Caimin's.

They say if you keep knocking on the door, it will eventually open. And this proved to be the case on Sunday as Thurles stormed to victory. A very balanced team throughout, the Tipperary side blew their inexperienced and nervous opponents from the Banner county out of the water.

Players such as Denis Maher, a colossus at centre-back, sprightly forwards like John O'Neill and David Butler, and the versatile Kieran Morris carved their names, like Doyle, into Harty folklore.

One hopes, but is not at liberty to say definitively, that it will not be another 53 years before the cup is in the hands of a Thurles CBS captain but for the time being the school, the town and the county can rest assured that the wait is over and their thirst has been quenched in no uncertain terms.