Ronan Maher lands All-Ireland hurling final man of the match award
Maher led the Premier county to Liam MacCarthy glory after a sensational second-half surge against Cork. Tipp won 3-27 to 1-18 after outscoring the Rebels 3-14 to 0-2 in the latter period.
The Thurles Sarsfields defender beat team-mates John McGrath and Darragh McCarthy to the coveted award, which as announced on The Sunday Game on RTÉ, and presented by GAA President Jarlath Burns at the team banquet at the Grand Hotel, Malahide.
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'Ah sure listen, it's absolutely unbelievable,' Maher told RTÉ's Joanne Cantwell. 'It's what we all dream about, coming up to Croke Park and putting in a performance.
'Someone asked me earlier on what we done at half time, but I think the group, as a collective, were really, really calm. We knew what we had to do in the second half.
'Listen, it's an honour for me to captain this group of people, the players, the management, the backroom team, I'm the lucky one standing up here.
'Everyone put in a savage shift today, even the lads that didn't get onto the field today, everybody was just tremendous throughout the year. It's just a good, honest group of people here, and I couldn't be happier or prouder standing in front of them.'
Maher went on to reveal a source of personal motivation for his third All-Ireland success: he will now join an illustrious list of Thurles Sarsfields' All-Ireland winning Tipperary captains etched onto a wall of fame at the club.
'It's a dream come true really. Liam Cahill spoke to me at the start of the year and I was absolutely privileged to get the job again, I didn't think I would. I have him to thank for that.
'I had a picture of that wall set as my screensaver for the last two or three years. It's something that I've been looking forward to, getting up there.
'It's unbelievable. I couldn't be prouder as a Thurles Sarsfields man and a Tipperary man to be going up on the wall, but I couldn't do it without these lads down here.'
Hailed a 'colossus' by The Sunday Game pundit and former Tipp star Brendan Cummins, Maher's nullification of Cork star forward Brian Hayes has been widely lauded.
The 29-year-old played it down. 'There was a lot of them to block out, I suppose. Everybody was tremendous today. Like I said, we came out after half time and put in a big shift. Credit to every man that got onto the field there today, it was unbelievable.
'I'd like to think that we put so much pride back into the Tipperary jersey, for the supporters, and for everybody in this room, it means so much to everybody. We're just absolutely thrilled to have Liam MacCarthy here tonight.'
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