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GAA

31st Aug 2018

No timber spared during Tipp and Offaly clash in Boston as hurleys and sparks fly

Niall McIntyre

They weren’t sparing the timber Stateside, that’s for sure.

Tipperary Hurling Club Boston claimed the Boston Hurling Championship for 2018 on Sunday, when they defeated the Fr Tom Burke’s outfit in the final and now they’re preparing for the USGAA All-American Championship finals in Philadelphia this weekend.

The sun was scorching over the Massachusetts turf on Sunday as the men in blue and gold blitzed their way to a 3-20 to 0-16 victory over their rivals with a Russell Quirke hat-trick of goals doing the damage.

That man Quirke hails from Cappawhite in county Tipperary and the whole Tipperary team is composed of players from hurling counties all over Ireland.  Both Shane and Kieran Bennett were huge losses for the Waterford senior hurlers this year and they were starring for Tipp Boston all summer. You’ve Wexford men in Harry O’Connor and Joe Coleman while Jimmy Maher is one of the Tipperary contingent involved.

We can only imagine how desperate their clubs are for these lads to return for the county championships that are kicking into gear all over Ireland this weekend, but managers can rest easy in the knowledge that the going was tough on the other side of the world and that the boys weren’t getting anything handy in their matches.

Tipperary’s journey to Boston glory began a few months ago now when they defeated Offaly in the first round of the competition. A marker was laid down early that day with neither Tipp or Offaly men taking a backward step with timber flying all around them.

The video was captured by an American spectator at the game, and they weren’t sure what to make of it all.

Tipp would emerge victorious from that first round battle and they’re still going now.

A number of Limerick’s All-Ireland winners in the likes of Seamus Hickey, Tom Morrissey, Pat Ryan, Barry Nash, Mike Casey and Cian Lynch have represented the Tipp Boston club in recent years, showing just what a fine hurling nursery it is for lads living the American dream.