Sars reaping rewards 10 years on from epic Rebel Óg minor hurling victory

It's 10 years this month since Sarsfields defeated Killeagh/Ita’s in the Premier 1 Minor Hurling final following two thrilling games.

In the first game, Killeagh/Ita’s sprinted out of the blocks taking a 2-5 to 0-1 lead after 12 minutes. Following an unfortunate injury to Ciaran O’Brien who was lording it at centre-back for Killeagh/Ita’s, Sarsfields slowly edged back into the game and only trailed by three points at half-time.

The second-half ebbed and flowed with both teams having purple patches enthralling the huge crowd in attendance. In injury time Sarsfields trailed by two points but late scores from James Sweeney and from Man of the Match Donal English sent the game to a replay.

The replay was delayed by 15 minutes to allow an even bigger crowd into Páirc Ui Rinn the following Monday, September 22, 2014.

This game was close all the way through but the crucial score was a bullet of a goal from Sarsfields corner-forward Liam Healy. It was tied for the eight time in the 52nd minute and the title was up for grabs. The winning score came from Sars wing forward Luke Hackett.

The last few minutes were frantic with Killeagh/Ita’s having two chances from place balls to send the game to extra time but both chances just went wide. The final score was 3-12 to 2-14.

The final whistle saw huge celebrations for Sarsfields who had already won the U16 county a fortnight before and went on to win the senior County title three weeks later.

Since that great minor triumph, Sars have reaped the rewards as both teams met again in the U21 final in 2017 with Sarsfields coming out on top by 0-20  to 1-9. Seven of the starting minor team five of them forwards played in the senior county final-winning team of 2023.

ANCHORS

The spine of that minor team was anchored by Eoghan Murphy and minor captain Paul Leopold who anchor the Sars senior team today.

Forwards like Jack O’Connor, Aaron Myers, Liam Healy, Luke Hackett, James Sweeney have all made winning contributions to the 2023 senior success.

Sarsfields minor manager at that time Barry Myers said: “It’s hard to believe it’s 10 years already since those unbelievable games between two outstanding teams.

We were extremely lucky to escape with a draw on the first day and the second game was even more exciting which rarely happens.

“My abiding memory is in the dying seconds was four Sars players chasing Killeagh’s best player, Eoin Keniry, down the sideline praying they wouldn’t give away a free but the ball was cleared and referee Diarmuid Kirwan blew the final whistle.

“It was great to win that title as many of those players had lost three underage finals to the Rockies. We are all very proud at Sars of that minor group of players, many of whom now possess minor, U21 and senior county medals. Hopefully there is more to come from these exceptional lads.”