Darragh McCarthy with shades of Ring and Rackard after legendary performance

Irish Daily Mirror

2 days ago

Ever regret you didn't see Christy Ring play? That you weren't around to witness Nicky Rackard in his pomp?
Jealous you couldn't live in an era when Jimmy Barry Murphy became so good they felt honour-bound to shorten his name to JBM?
Before we had Cian Lynch we had Mick Mackey as well as this persistent feeling we had missed on out so many greats that nobody in today's game could equal the giants of yesterday.
And then a 19-year-old from Toomevara entered our lives.
Darragh McCarthy: 1-13.
His tally sounds like a biblical reference. John 3 16.
In truth, it is the fourth highest score by an individual in All-Ireland final history, our generation's chance to say 'I was there' on a day when a hurling bad boy transitioned into the delivery man.
He was that good, not just in terms of his accumulation of scores but the timing of them, the six first-half points scored when Cork kept threatening to put the game to bed; his early second-half points which reduced the gap from four points to two; the long-range free that stretched Tipp's lead to three; the goal which put them up by six.
So, by 5.10pm, when the final whistle went and a daring dream had turned into a staggering reality, Darragh McCarthy was answering absolutely every question that was ever asked about his temperament.
'An unreal talent,' said his team mate, Jason Forde. 'But a worker, too. He is out practicing for hours every day.'
The biggest thing he had to work on after the red cards he picked up against Cork in the Munster championship, and then Kilkenny in the All-Ireland semi-final, was his mindset.
'I wasn't going to stay at home, curled up in bed,' the man of the match told RTE after the final whistle. 'I went in for a few chats to try and sort the head out. I had to put steel into my mind and just forget about the reds.'
Especially when there was a new set of reds - the 15 wearing Cork jerseys - to consider.
For the last seven years, Tipp have had to settle for hurling's hand-me-down prizes, underage titles. At senior, they were second-hand, second-class, second-best.
And they'd had enough.
The build-up had been all about Cork. The first half was too. Six clear at the break, the Rebels looked set to end a 20-year gap of their own.
But right throughout 2025, Liam Cahill has been like the fighter that gets up off the canvas, throwing punches when a weaker man would have waved a white flag.
He was on the floor again yesterday when he addressed his players at half-time.
Of all history's great comebacks - Lazarus in Bethany, Elvis in Vegas, Ali in Zaire, Liverpool in Istanbul - this was the hurling equivalent.
Yes, Offaly climbed off their sickbed in 1994.
But Tipp hurling was pronounced dead and buried a year ago.
And, at half-time yesterday, they were still in a bad place. Trailing by six, they rallied, they won 50/50s, they rediscovered their poise in front of the posts.
From trailing by six, they ended up winning by 15. The second-half score was Tipperary 3-14, Cork 0-2.
That's a Leeside meltdown married to a Premier awakening, the opening ten minutes of the second half proving the most pivotal.
Cork would hit the woodwork four times in the game, and have two scores wiped out by Hawkeye reviews, two of these incidents happening between the 35th and 45th minutes.
By this stage Conor Stakelum and Andrew Ormond were scoring Tipperary points; Diarmuid Healy was landing his shot short and McCarthy was firing over the bar to make it four scores in a row.
Surely this was just a blip?
No, it was the beginning of a trend.
After the McCarthy score, Morris won the puck-out from Patrick Collins, got bundled over by Eoin Downey, who collected a yellow card for his sins. Suddenly there was one in it when McCarthy pointed again. Tipperary's Craig Morgan, Jake Morris and Darragh McCarthy celebrate after the game
Then the big swing, Fitzgibbon hitting the post at one end, the first of John McGrath's two goals coming when Morris won the ball ahead of Ciaran Joyce.
In ten minutes they had hit 1-5 without reply and while Shane Barrett got the next point, it was one of only two Cork would score in the second half.
From here on in, the game's terms and conditions were written in blue and gold ink.
There were interceptions by Breen, aerial brilliance by Maher, McGrath's sorcery, McCarthy's magic. And Cork's disintegration.
Last year they were beaten by Clare, this year by themselves.
'Last year we came away with pride,' said their manager, Pat Ryan. 'That second half, it petered out for us.'
Yet Tipp had a huge say in that - not least the kid who pronounced himself as the game's new star: Darragh McCarthy.
He's not at all arrogant about his talent, just grateful for it. Neither Cahill nor Tipp could believe their good luck in finding a player this good, this young. If there's one attribute that sticks out all over him, it's confidence.
He eliminates the negative. So what, that he picked up red cards earlier this summer.
Today he picked up the pieces, picked up an All-Ireland and reminded us that hurling is a game that must have its dreams if it is to live. And here in Croke Park, after the end of a six year-wait, it's healthier than ever.