Darren Gleeson

Darren Gleeson
Personal information
Irish name Darrin Ó Gliasáin
Sport Hurling
Position Goalkeeper
Born (1981-03-19) 19 March 1981
Portroe, County Tipperary, Ireland
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Occupation Financial consultant
Club(s)
Years Club
1997-present Portroe
Club titles
Tipperary titles 0
Colleges(s)
Years College
Carlow Institute of Technology
Inter-county(ies)*
Years County Apps (scores)
2008-present Tipperary 11 (0-00)
Inter-county titles
Munster titles 5
All-Irelands 1
NHL 1
All Stars 1
*Inter County team apps and scores correct as of 17:39, 24 July 2015.

Darren Gleeson (born 19 March 1981) is an Irish hurler who plays as a goalkeeper for the Tipperary senior team.[1]

Born in Portroe, County Tipperary, Gleeson first excelled at hurling during his schooling at Nenagh CBS. He arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of twenty-one when he first linked up with the Tipperary under-21 team. He joined the senior panel during the 2008 league. Gleeson subsequently became a regular member of the starting fifteen and has won Five Munster medals. He has been an All-Ireland winner on one occasion,

At club level Gleeson is a one-time North Tipperary championship medallist with Portroe.

Playing career

Club

Gleeson plays his club hurling with Portroe and has enjoyed some success.

In 2012 he won a North Tipperary championship medal following a 3-16 to 1-19 defeat of Toomevara.[2]

Inter-county

Gleeson first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Tipperary under-21 hurling team. He was substitute goalkeeper on the team in 2002, however, Limerick dominated the championship at this time.

In 2008 Gleeson joined the Tipperary senior hurling team as understudy to regular 'keeper Brendan Cummins. He was an unused substitute as Tipperary claimed that year's National Hurling League following a 3-18 to 3-16 victory.[3] Gleeson was later included on Tipperary's championship panel and collected a Munster medal as a non-playing substitute following a 2-21 to 0-19 defeat of Clare.[4]

Gleeson made his competitive debut the following season in a league game against Galway.[5] Later that year he made his championship debut as a ten-minute blood sub for Brendan Cummins in a 1-19 to 0-19 Munster quarter-final defeat of Cork.

Gleeson was still a member of the Tipperary senior hurling panel in 2010. That year he collected an All-Ireland medal as a non-playing substitute following Tipp's 4-17 to 1-18 defeat of Kilkenny.[6]

The following year Gleeson came on as substitute for Cummins after 64 minutes of the provincial decider. He won a Munster medal as a result of Tipp's 7-19 to 0-19 trouncing of Waterford.[7]

Gleeson started the 2014 season as first choice goalkeeper for Tipperary due to the retirement of Brendan Cummins at the end of the 2013 season. He made his first start in the championship for Tipperary on 1 June 2014 in the Munster Championship against Limerick in a 2-18 to 2-16 defeat.[8]

On 17 August 2014, Tipperary defeated Cork by 2-18 to 1-11 in the All-Ireland semi-final to reach the 2014 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final. Former Cork goalkeeper Donal Óg Cusack speaking on the Sunday Game highlights programme on the night of the semi-final match said that in his opinion Gleeson had given the greatest ever display of tactical puckouts in the game saying "Darren Gleeson gave the greatest display of tactical puckouts ever seen... I want to put it on record: it was the greatest display of puckouts ever but the Cork defending was poor".[9]

Gleeson started his first All Ireland final on 7 September 2014 against Kilkenny in a match that finished in a draw. Kilkenny went on to defeat Tipperary in the replay three weeks later.[10]

In October 2014, Gleeson won his first All Stars Award after a successful 2014 campaign where Tipperary reached the All-Ireland Final.[11]

Honours

Player

Tipperary

Individual

Honours

References

  1. "Senior Hurling Panel". Tipperary GAA website. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  2. Hayden, James (23 July 2012). "Portroe tame Toome to capture first title". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  3. O'Sullivan, Jim (21 April 2008). "Corbett’s cracker tips balance". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  4. Breheny, Martin (14 July 2008). "Tipperary lay down marker for Kilkenny". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  5. "Cummins absent for Tipp". Hogan Stand website. 3 April 2009. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
  6. "RTÉ Sport: Tipperary 4-17 Kilkenny 1-18". RTÉ Sport. 5 September 2010. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
  7. "Tipp show appetite for destruction". Irish Times. 10 July 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  8. "Treaty’s late surge finally sees off Tipp". Irish Examiner. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  9. "Donal Óg: Men against boys as Tipp put Cork to the sword". Irish Examiner. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  10. "Gleeson Tipp-toeing in the footsteps of legend Cummins". Irish Independent. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  11. "Tipperary earn more hurling All Stars than the Cats as Richie Hogan and James O'Donoghue land top awards". Irish Independent. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
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