Tralee CBS hope to break Hogan Cup duck
Eoghan Costello, left, and Cillian Hurley, joint captains of CBS, The Green, Tralee, Kerry, with the cup ahead of the upcoming Masita All Ireland PPS Paddy Buggy Hurling Final against St Patrick's College, Maghera, Derry, during the Masita All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Finals 2026 launch at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile.
By John Harrington
Tralee CBS go hunting for the first leg of what would be a unique double when they play Coláiste Mhuire in the Masita All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Hogan Cup (Senior A Football) Final in Croke Park tomorrow.
The Kerry school will also contest the Masita All-Ireland Post Primary Schools Paddy Buggy (Senior B Hurling) Final on Saturday with a number of players set to be involved in both matches.
The school’s experience has been that the two codes complement each other nicely rather than prove a distraction.
“It's a very unique year for the school and the two codes have been very complimentary in terms of the physical stuff, the S&C stuff, it’s worked out really well,” says Tralee CBS teacher, Tim McMahon, who has coached football teams in the school for over 20 years.
“There are a good few lads from North Kerry on the football team this year and the hurling has definitely contributed to that.
“A few of the teachers in the school would be big into hurling and they saw it as something that could be driven in the school.
“We got kids in from North Kerry coming to play hurling for the school but obviously they’d be all round good sportspeople and a lot of them would play football to a high level as well, so we’ve certainly benefited from the influx of fellas from North Kerry into the school in a football sense as well.
“From our point of view anyway, both sets of managements have managed it well. They're not over-exerting them. They're playing their hurling, they're playing their football, they were very conscious of their workload.”
Tralee CBS, better known as ‘The Green’ have a great tradition of footballing excellence.
The Tralee CBS team that will contest the Hogan Cup Final.
But even though they’ve won the Corn Uí Mhuirí (Munster Schools Senior A) Cup on 17 occasions, they’ve never once lifted the Hogan Cup.
“The last time we were in the Hogan Cup final was 2007, so it would be huge for the town of Tralee if we could win it,” says McMahon.
“It's a representative team of the town of Tralee and its environments so we're very conscious of our affiliations with the clubs in the town and the need for clubs to have fellas coming through the school system.
“It would be a massive fillip for the town of Tralee if we could win it. We've never won the Hogan Cup before and we're at it a long time now.”
This Tralee CBS team certainly looks like one capable of making some history by winning it for the first time.
They were very impressive throughout their Munster campaign and when it was put up to them by Connacht champions St. Gerald’s Castlebar in the All-Ireland semi-final, they showed they have character to go with their class.
Gearóid White of Kerry in action against Darren McAnespie of Tyrone during the Electric Ireland GAA Football All-Ireland Minor Championship final match between Kerry and Tyrone at Cedral St Conleth's Park in Newbridge, Kildare. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile.
No player sums up those two qualities better than Kerry underage star, Gearoid White, who kicked 1-4 from play in that game to underline why he’s regarded as one of the top young talents in the country.
“Yeah, he's flying,” says McMahon. “He's been mooted for a long time as being a great prospect and of course had a great year last year with the Kerry Under-17s.
“He’s a very mature lad, very grounded, very humble. He comes from a very strong footballing family, he's the youngest of three and his two brothers played with the school as well in the last number of years.
“He's really excelling and the big stage doesn’t seem to faze him. He's very comfortable in his own skin to perform when he has to. When the chips are down, he simply has the ability to step up to the plate and excel.
“That’s been the defining characteristic of the team all year. In clutch moments they have been able to produce which is a good sign of the boys.”
Tuesday, March 17
Masita All-Ireland PPS Hogan Cup (Senior A Football) Final
Coláiste Mhuire, Mullingar v Tralee CBS, Croke Park, 3pm
