Every time Darragh McCarthy stepped up to take a placed ball in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday night, the young Tipperary star was booed.
In a feisty contest which was a repeat of last July’s All-Ireland senior final, the Toomevara forward was introduced midway through the second half and subsequently he took over the free-taking duty.
His routine takes longer than most, and the booing was commented upon by his manager Liam Cahill following their 0-29 to 0-22 defeat to Cork.
“Yeah, yeah, that’s probably creeping into sport in general, isn’t it? But look, Darragh is well capable of putting that to the back of his mind. Look, it’s a bit of friendly banter I imagine, nothing major from our side to be honest, but it’s going to be something similar I suppose come April or May, come the Munster Championship when the stadium is full as well.
“Huge credit to the Cork supporters tonight to pack out the stadium, a brilliant experience again for a lot of our newer players, and always great to see that interest in the game of hurling.”
A few of the Premier All-Ireland winners are currently unavailable due to injury, in particular defenders Robert Doyle and Michael Breen, while Ronan Maher, who is continuing as captain for 2026, has yet to return.
After the Cork game, Cahill was very critical of the heavy workload that some of his players have to manage while simultaneously participating in both the Fitzgibbon Cup and the National League.
The final of the third level competition between UL and Mary Immaculate College takes place in Croke Park on Friday evening.
“Yeah, both (Joe Caesar and Robert Doyle) are coming back. Both should all be in contention, hopefully, for the Limerick game. All going to plan.
“Joe Caesar wants to play Fitzgibbon Cup Friday. I’m not sure whether that’s going to come a bit soon for him or not, but we’ll be determined by what the medics say. But again, that’s definitely a result of too many matches coming together at the one time, and he’s missed three weeks now of action.
“Michael Breen has a calf muscle injury, yeah. He’ll be a number of weeks sidelined. He won’t be back for Limerick, but we hope to have Mikey back by the end of the league. Hopefully by the Waterford game, hopefully.
“Brian McGrath’s on the way back. He’s another guy that should be back for Limerick and for contention to be selected.”
