Latest news with #EoghanConnolly
The 42
23-07-2025
- Sport
- The 42
Eoghan Connolly: 'Last year you were afraid to walk down the town to get a coffee'
TO CAPTURE THE revival in Tipperary's hurling fortunes, defender Eoghan Connolly paints a picture of the mood twelve months ago in the county. Last year they were unable to claim a victory in any of their four championship games in Munster and failed to emerge from the fiercely contested round-robin system in the province. Fast forward to 2025 and the team were toasted in Thurles on Monday night as hurling heroes having collected the Liam MacCarthy Cup off the back of Sunday's sensational display that blew Cork away. In his native Cashel last year Connolly had felt a sense of shame at how much they were struggling. 'Last year, you were afraid to walk down the town to get a coffee. Advertisement 'You were walking with your head down looking at your shoes. Going to that minor game (the All-Ireland final against Kilkenny), it was so hard to face. It was a hard year.' Proving critics wrong was not something that fuelled Connolly. He had soldiered during All-Ireland winning underage days with Tipperary and after joining the senior panel in 2021 before making his debut in the 2023 draw with Limerick, he remained convinced in the ability of their playing group. 'It wasn't something I done, trying to prove people wrong. It was just this group of lads was all I was worried about. You can't control the outside noise. You just have to block it out. 'We believed from the get-go when we met in late November or December that we were capable of fixing it. Belief is a massive word that we've used in our dressing room throughout the year.' Tipperary's Eoghan Connolly lifts the Liam MacCarthy Cup. Morgan Treacy / INPHO Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO Connolly's relationship with the Liam Cahill-Michael Bevans managerial double act stretches back to those All-Ireland winning underage successes of 2018 and 2019. They forged a bond then that carried them through Tipperary's recent lean seasons. 'We owe everything we have to them. What they've done for us is just amazing. 'We've had them since we were 17 years of age. You see them as much as you see your mother and father. They're amazing men.' The victory carried further weight for Connolly in flying the Cashel King Cormacs flag alongside his club-mate Oisin O'Donoghue, the goalscoring star off the bench this year against Waterford, Galway, and Kilkenny. 'Oisín's in dreamland. He's 19 years of age. He's a football game in Cashel (this week) but I'd say he'll skip it. He's just a great young lad and a great role model in our club.' Tipperary's Oisin O'Donoghue and Eoghan Connolly celebrate at the final whistle of their semi-final against Kilkenny. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO The pair will return to club action this weekend, with the West Tipperary senior hurling final on Saturday night pitting Cashel against Clonoulty-Rossmore, who will include Tipperary players Robert Doyle and Danny Slattery. 'I might watch Robert Doyle closely and see what he's doing for the week,' said O'Donoghue. Related Reads The pain for Cork and the joy for Tipperary, this All-Ireland impact will be long-lasting Noel McGrath: 'To have my son there was one of the greatest things I could have done' 'We had a terrible game in-house': Tipperary turned it around to claim famous All-Ireland win 'We'll go training on Thursday evening. It's only fair because of the work them boys are putting in and waiting for these games. It would be unfair of myself and Oisín to take away from them. 'Cashel haven't won a West senior title in 30 years I think, and it's a huge dream of mine to win.' *****
The Irish Sun
22-07-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Eoghan Connolly reveals Tipperary's B team gave them a hammering before All-Ireland final turnaround
TIPPERARY brought their A-game to the All- Ireland SHC final after taking an 'awful' beating from their own B team. The newly-minted champions curtailed Advertisement 2 Eoghan Connolly of Tipperary celebrates with the Liam MacCarthy cup after their win over Cork in the All-Ireland final 2 Eoghan Connolly revealed the Tipp second string team beat them in a practice game before the final The plan implemented by boss Liam Cahill and coach Mikey Bevans worked a treat on a day that saw But defender Eoghan Connolly revealed that they were given a reality check by their second string in a practice match the previous weekend. He said: 'Liam and Mikey put in massive work in the background. We just got told last week as to what you were going after. 'We actually trained last weekend and it didn't actually work out for us. We had a terrible game in-house — the A versus B. But we got our match-ups right on Sunday and thankfully got the result.' Advertisement READ MORE ON GAA Asked if the B team were victorious, Connolly said: 'Oh, absolutely. By an awful score as well. 'There was wicked heat inside in Thurles last weekend and it was probably our first time playing with a plus-one in a long time - since the Clare game. "I think — so it just took us a while to get to grips with it. But even by Friday evening we were training and we couldn't get enough of it.' Connolly was paired up with Joe Fogarty, who did not make the 26-man Tipperary panel for the All-Ireland final. Advertisement Most read in GAA Hurling It was a chastening experience for the Cashel King Cormacs man, though he managed to perform when it mattered. Connolly said: 'He's sick. He's actually a carbon copy of Séamus Harnedy. I got an awful licking off him last weekend. I was even half worried as to what my form was at, to be honest.' RTE GAA pundit embrace Tipperary captain Ronan Maher after his epic display toppled Cork in All-Ireland final Still, Connolly made a case to claim his first All-Star award as he helped Tipp to their first All-Ireland since 2019. He added: 'I've been involved since 2021 and I've been on the B team for a few years of that. Advertisement 'It's just the competition. Them boys are mad for a jersey as well. They're all so competitive so it just drives everybody's standards higher.'
Irish Independent
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Eoghan Connolly reveals Tipperary's teething difficulties with ‘plus one' system in A v B game before All-Ireland final
All's well that ends well, as the old saying goes. Speaking at the Grand Hotel in Malahide on Monday morning as an All-Ireland champion, Tipperary defender Eoghan Connolly revealed the teething difficulties the team experienced with their new plus-one/sweeper system in the build-up to the decider against Cork. Related topics Tipperary GAA
Irish Daily Mirror
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Tipp hero opens up on pre-final in-house game where he got 'an awful licking'
Tipperary hero Eoghan Connolly has revealed how Liam Cahill's first 15 shipped a beating 'by an awful score' ahead of Sunday's All-Ireland final. Tipp fine-tuned their preparations in the build-up to their stunning win over Cork with an in-house game in Thurles seven days earlier, where they trialled the sweeper system which they implemented in the final. 'Liam and Mikey [Bevans] put in massive work in the background, we just got told last week as to what you were going after,' said Connolly, who ended up playing at right half-back in the final despite wearing the No 3. 'We actually trained last weekend and it didn't actually work out for us, we had a terrible game in-house, the A versus B. 'There was wicked heat inside in Thurles last weekend and it was probably our first time playing with a plus one in a long time, since the Clare game I think, so it just took us a while to get to grips with it. But even by Friday evening we were training and we couldn't get enough of it.' Connolly was marking Moneygall's Joe Fogarty in that training game and explained: 'He's sick, he's actually a carbon copy of Seamus Harnedy. I got an awful licking off him last weekend, I was even half worried as to what my form was at, to be honest.' Not to the extent that he was worried about holding his place, however. 'No, not at all. I have been involved since 2021 and I've been on the B team for a few years of that, it's just the competition, them boys are mad for a jersey as well, they are all so competitive so it just drives everybody's standards that bit higher.' Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts.
Irish Times
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
‘We had a terrible game in-house': Tipperary bounced back from sobering loss to win All-Ireland in style
The Tipperary B team beat the A team during an in-house game just one week before the All-Ireland senior hurling final. Tipp gambled on playing Bryan O'Mara as a sweeper against Cork at Croke Park in Sunday's decider. The tactic proved to be a cornerstone to their stunning victory . However, their initial trials of playing an extra defender in training weren't exactly successful 'We trained last weekend and it didn't actually work out for us; we had a terrible game in-house, the A versus B,' said Tipperary player Eoghan Connolly. READ MORE '[The B team won] and by an awful score as well. There was wicked heat inside in Thurles last weekend and it was probably our first time playing with a plus one in a long time, since the Clare game I think. So it just took us a while to get to grips with it. But even by Friday evening, we were training and we couldn't get enough of it. 'Liam [Cahill] and Mikey [Bevans] put in massive work in the background. We got our match-ups right on Sunday and thankfully got the result. 'I have been involved since 2021 and I've been on the B team for a few years of that. It's just the competition; them boys are mad for a jersey as well. They are all so competitive, so it just drives everybody's standards that bit higher.' [ The hurling year in review: Ronan Maher leads the way for Tipperary's stunning triumph Opens in new window ] Connolly was marking Moneygall's Joe Fogarty for much of that in-house game. 'He's actually a carbon-copy of Séamus Harnedy. I got an awful licking off him last weekend – I was even half-worried as to what my form was at, to be honest,' he said. But Connolly need not have worried as he delivered a strong performance on Sunday to help Tipperary win a first All-Ireland SHC title since 2019. And he intends to be back out on the pitch next Saturday when his club Cashel King Cormacs play Clonoulty-Rossmore in a West Tipperary SHC final at Golden.
