Brendan Maher

Brendan Maher

Personal information
Irish name	Breandán Ó Meachair
Sport	Hurling
Position	Left Half Back
Born	(1989-01-05) 5 January 1989 Borrisoleigh, County Tipperary, Ireland
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Nickname	Benny
Occupation	Primary school teacher [1]
Club(s)
Years	Club
2005–present	Borris-Ileigh
Club titles
Tipperary titles	0
Inter-county(ies)*
Years	County	Apps (scores)
2009–present	Tipperary	26 (0-10)
Inter-county titles
Munster titles	4
All-Irelands	1
NHL	0
All Stars	2
*Inter County team apps and scores correct as of 22:30, 9 December 2013.

Brendan Maher (born 5 January 1989) is an Irish hurler who currently plays as a midfielder for the Tipperary senior team.^[2][3][4]

Born in Borrisoleigh, County Tipperary, Maher first excelled at hurling whilst at school in St Josephs College, Borrisoleigh. He arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of sixteen when he first linked up with the Tipperary minor team, before later lining out for the under-21 side. He joined the senior team for the 2009 National Hurling League. Maher has gone on to play a key part for Tipperary since then, and has won one All-Ireland medal and three Munster medals. He has been an All-Ireland runner-up on two occasions.

As a member of the Munster inter-provincial team, Maher has won one Railway Cup medal. At club level he is a two-time North Tipperary medalist with Borris-Ileigh.

Playing career

Club

Maher plays his club hurling with the Borris-Ileigh club and has enjoyed some success. After enjoying little success at underage levels, he graduated onto the senior team where he won North Tipperary county titles in 2005 and 2007. Maher, however, is still waiting to line out in a senior county championship decider.^[5]

Minor and under-21

Maher first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Tipperary minor hurling team in 2005. He enjoyed little success in his first year, however, Tipperary reached the All-Ireland decider via the "back-door" in 2006. Three-in-a-row hopefuls Galway provided the opposition, however, Tipp powered to 2–18 to 2–7 victory.^[6] It was Maher's first All-Ireland medal in that grade.

In 2007 Maher was appointed captain of the Tipperary minor team. He won a Munster medal in that grade that year following an 0-18 to 1-11 defeat of Cork. Both sides met again in the All-Ireland decider, however, Cork also failed on that occasion. A 3-14 to 2-11 victory gave Maher a second successive All-Ireland medal.^[7]

Maher joined the Tipperary under-21 team in 2008. He won a Munster medal in this grade in his debut season following a controversial one-point defeat of Clare. Tipp later reached the All-Ireland, however, Maher's side were defeated by Kilkenny.^[8]

After surrendering their provincial crown in 2009, Tipperary bounced back the following year. A 1-22 to 1-17 defeat of Clare gave Maher a second Munster medal.^[9] Tipp later played Galway in the All-Ireland final and went on to trounce the westerners by 5-22 to 0-12.^[10] It was Maher's first All-Ireland medal in that grade.

Senior

Maher made his senior competitive debut for Tipperary in a National League game against Cork in 2009.^[11]

Later that year Maher made his championship debut when he came on as a substitute in Tipperary's defeat of Cork. He subsequently won his first Munster medal as Tipp defeated Waterford by 4-14 to 2-16.^[12] After a six-week lay-off and a facile semi-final win over Limerick, a game which saw Maher start his first championship game,^[13] Tipp qualified for an All-Ireland final meeting with Kilkenny. For much of the match it looked as if Tipp would pull off a shock and deny 'the Cats' a record-equaling four-in-a-row. Two quick goals in the space of a minute, one from a penalty by Henry Shefflin, sealed a 2-22 to 0-23 victory and defeat for Tipperary.^[14]

Maher remained as one of Tipperary's two first-choice midfielders once again in 2010. After surrendering their Munster title to Cork, Tipperray regrouped in the qualifiers and reached a second successive All-Ireland decider. Kilkenny, a team chasing a fifth successive championship, provided the opposition and a great game was expected. Tipperary got off to a great start which was bolstered by an early Lar Corbett goal. He subsequently completed a hat-trick of goals and Tipperary had a fourth by Noel McGrath to deny Kilkenny's drive-for-five and secure a remarkable and convincing 4-17 to 1-18 victory.^[15] It was Maher's first All-Ireland winners' medal. Following the completion of the championship he picked up his first All-Star award. Maher was also named Young Hurler of the Year.^[16]

Tipperary returned as provincial kingpins once again in 2011. A 7-19 to 0-19 trouncing of Waterford in the southern decider gave Maher a second Munster medal.^[17] For the third successive year, Tipperary faced off against Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final, however, on this occasion Kilkenny were slight underdogs going up against the new champions. Kilkenny started quickly and never surrendered the lead in the 2-17 to 1-16 victory.^[18]

In spite of an indifferent National League campaign, Tipperary were regarded as potential All-Ireland champions once again. A 2-17 to 0-16 defeat of Waterford in the provincial decider gave Maher a third Munster medal in four seasons.^[19] Tipperary later faced a humiliating 4-24 to 1-15 defeat by eventual champions Kilkenny in the All-Ireland semi-final.^[20]

In October 2014, Maher won his second All Stars Award after a successful 2014 campaign where Tipperary reached the All-Ireland Final.^[21]

Maher is the current team captain since October 2013.^[22]

Inter-provincial

Maher has also lined out with Munster in the Inter-provincial Championship.

International

In 2011 Maher was included on the Ireland team for the composite rules shinty–hurling series of games. Two defeats of Scotland gave victory to Ireland and gave Maher a winners' medal in this competition.^[23]

Honours

Team

Borris-Ileigh

• North Tipperary Senior Club Hurling Championship (2): 2005, 2007

Tipperary

• All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (1): 2010
• Munster Senior Hurling Championship (4): 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015
• All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship (1): 2010
• Munster Under-21 Hurling Championship (2): 2008, 2010
• All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship (1): 2006, 2007 (c)
• Munster Minor Hurling Championship (1): 2007 (c)

Ireland

• Composite Rules Shinty–Hurling Series (1): 2011

References