Joe Boyle stars but Tooreen lose out in exra-time in All-Ireland final

Joe Boyle and his Tooreen side battled hard but came up just short in extra-time in the All-Ireland Intermediate Hurling final against Upperchurch-Drombane on Saturday.

The Burt native hit three points from wing back playing for his adopted Tooreen club at Croke Park, but they lost out by 4-20 to 2-24 after extra-time.

The Mayo men didn’t have the best of starts in the game and trailed by seven deep into the first half, but a strong finish to the half saw them just one behind at 0-10 to 0-9, with former Donegal captain Boyle getting the final point of the half and his third of the match.

The Connacht champions, who defeated Éire Óg Carrickmore in the semi-final, did go into a three point lead before Conor Fahey’s goal for the Tipperary side made it a point-for-point ending to the game as extra-time approached, ending 0-20 to 1-17 after the hour.

And the Munster champions powered into another big lead in extra-time, goals from Paddy Phelan, a second for Fahey and one from Paul Shanahan had them ten ahead with 78 minutes gone.

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And while Tooreen never gave up, hitting 2-2 in the dying minutes thanks to goals from Liam Lavin and David Harrison, they ran out of time to lose by two points.

It was heartbreak once again for Boyle and Tooreen, who lost the final to Limerick side Monaleen also by two points in 2023.