Michael Breen hails teenage Tipperary GAA hero, 19, for ‘blocking out the jeers' and clinching unique All-Ireland treble

The Irish Sun

7 days ago

MICHAEL BREEN hailed teen sensation Darragh McCarthy for seizing the moment with a stunning All-Ireland final performance.
The Toomevara clubman tortured Cork with
2
Michael Breen hailed Darragh McCarthy after the All-Ireland final
Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
2
McCarthy scored 1-13 as Tipperary beat Cork
Credit: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
Breen revealed that he watched McCarthy play games on his phone before the match.
And the youngster took the same calm approach to the high-pressure job of nailing the frees in
Tipp defender Breen said: 'To win finals, you need big moments and big players and they stood up.
'You speak about Darragh there, he's on the field every day for hours on frees and that's no exaggeration.
Read More on GAA
'You could see there today, he was just taking his time.
'He was doing his thing and he was putting the ball over the bar and that was it.
'I know he was getting jeers from the crowd, but he didn't hear it, he just blocked it out.
'Sure he's 19. Like these lads, they're so resilient already in the journey they've come, they lost an under-20 All-Ireland final against Offaly last year and came back, won it this year.
Most read in Sport
'Like even coming up on the bus, he's playing games on his phone, and he's having a laugh. There's no seriousness or uptightness to it.
'And I think the whole camp was that way today, coming up. We just kept talking about enjoying the day, enjoying the moment and you could see that fully come out, I think.'
Liam Cahill speaks to RTE after Tipperary GAA win All-Ireland final
Breen, 31, never knew hurling could be so much fun as Tipp delivered a devastating second half display to outscore Cork by 3-13 to 0-2.
The Ballina man, now a three-time All-Ireland winner, beamed: 'That was a fun second half to play.
'Yeah, this is really sweet. 2016 and '19 were brilliant, but I'd never seen the colour and the excitement around the county.
'We're never too far from the summit, but if there's a few things off, if you're off a yard, you can be the bottom in Munster.
'The supporters again today were unbelievable.
'There was a lot of red, because the red does stand out, but our support has been unbelievable all year. And it will continue to be that way, I think, because the people are behind this team.'
And Breen admits it is the ultimate redemption for a Tipp team who failed to win a championship game last year.
He added: 'Well, I suppose it inspires you from last year's point of view.
'Twelve months ago, we were walking down the street and you're ducking and diving from people because you don't want to have the conversations.
'And all it took was, as Liam said earlier, we had to get into the trenches, we had to get the work done and that was simply it.'