Tipperary have been crowned All Ireland senior hurling champions following a stunning final success over Cork in Croke Park this afternoon.
Coming in as 3/1 outsiders, Tipp came back from a six-point deficit at half time, ultimately running out 15-point winners on a scoreline of 3-27 to 1-18.
Tipp trailed 1-16 to 0-13 at the break but outscored Cork by 3-14 to 0-2 in the second half.
Captaining Tipp was centre-back Ronan Maher, a Portlaoise-based member of an Garda Síochána.
Maher put in an inspirational performance at the heart of the Tipperary defence to pick up his third All Ireland medal having previously tasted success in 2016 and 2019.
The Thurles Sarsfields club man is also a hurley maker and has been based in Portlaoise for the past couple of years.
Another Laois link was Tipperary coach/selector Declan Laffan from Loughmore-Castleiney who was Clough-Ballacolla manager for their Laois SHC three-in-a-row success in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
Laffan left the Clough-Ballacolla job to link up with Tipp manager Liam Cahill who had guided the county to minor and U-20 All Ireland success.
This senior triumph is a massive turnaround for Tipp who were knocked out of the Munster championship in the group stages last year and were well beaten by Cork in both this year’s league final and Munster championship.
For Cork, it’s a hugely disappointing second All Ireland final loss in a row and a third in five years. They were beaten by Clare after extra time last year and by Limerick in 2021.
SEE ALSO – Check out all our latest local sports coverage here
