Darren Gleeson (born 19 March 1981) is an Irish hurler and manager who plays for Tipperary Senior Championship club Portroe and is currently managing the Laois senior hurling team. He played for the Tipperary senior hurling team for 10 seasons, during which time he usually lined out as a goalkeeper.[1]
.jpg) Gleeson playing for Tipperary in 2014 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Irish name | Darrin Ó Gliasáin | ||
| Sport | Hurling | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Born |
19 March 1981 Portroe, County Tipperary, Ireland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||
| Occupation | Self Employed | ||
| 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) | |
2008-2017 | Tipperary | 20 (0-00) | |
| Inter-county titles | |||
| Munster titles | 6 | ||
| All-Irelands | 2 | ||
| NHL | 1 | ||
| All Stars | 1 | ||
| *Inter County team apps and scores correct as of 17:39, 24 July 2015. | |||
Playing career
editPortroe
editGleeson 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]
Tipperary
editUnder-21
editGleeson first played for Tipperary as a member of the under-21 team during the 2002 Munster Championship when he served as sub-goalkeeper to team captain Damien Young. On 8 August 2002, he was listed amongst the substitutes when Tipperary drew 3-09 to 2-12 with Limerick in the Munster final. Gleeson was again amongst the substitutes when Tipperary suffered a 1-20 to 2-14 defeat in the replay on 21 August 2002.[citation needed]
Senior
editIn 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]
On 4 September 2016, Gleeson won his second All-Ireland Senior hurling title when Tipperary defeated Kilkenny in the final by 2-29 to 2-20.[12][13]
In October 2017, Gleeson announced his retirement from inter-county hurling, citing work and family commitments as the reasons.[14][15]
Managerial career
editAntrim
editOn 9 September 2019, Gleeson was ratified as manager of the Antrim senior hurling team.[16] He led the side to the 2020 National Hurling League Division 2A title when they overcame Kerry in the final by 2-23 to 2-20 on 18 October 2020.[17] Antrim went on to win the 2020 Joe McDonagh Cup after a 0-22 to 1-17 win over Kerry at Croke Park.[18][19][20]
On 9 May 2021, Antrim defeated Clare by 1-21 to 0-22 in the opening round of the 2021 National Hurling League.[21][22][23]
Personal life
editOn 4 May 2016, it was reported that he was banned from being a financial adviser by the Central Bank.[24] In court in January 2017, Gleeson denied the charges of stealing €32,000 from a financial services client, pleading not guilty to two counts of stealing a total of €32,000 in 2013.[25] On 27 June 2017, Gleeson was given a three-and-a-half-year suspended prison sentence after admitting an offence of obtaining €10,000 by deception from an elderly man in 2013.[26][27]
Career statistics
editAs a player
edit| Team | Year | National League | Munster | All-Ireland | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Score | Apps | Score | Apps | Score | Apps | Score | ||
| Tipperary | 2008 | Division 1B | 0 | 0-00 | 0 | 0-00 | 0 | 0-00 | 0 | 0-00 |
| 2009 | Division 1 | 1 | 0-00 | 1 | 0-00 | 0 | 0-00 | 2 | 0-00 | |
| 2010 | 3 | 0-00 | 0 | 0-00 | 0 | 0-00 | 3 | 0-00 | ||
| 2011 | 2 | 0-00 | 1 | 0-00 | 0 | 0-00 | 3 | 0-00 | ||
| 2012 | Division 1A | 2 | 0-00 | 0 | 0-00 | 0 | 0-00 | 2 | 0-00 | |
| 2013 | 4 | 0-01 | 0 | 0-00 | 0 | 0-00 | 4 | 0-01 | ||
| 2014 | 6 | 1-00 | 1 | 0-00 | 6 | 0-00 | 13 | 1-00 | ||
| 2015 | 5 | 0-01 | 2 | 0-00 | 1 | 0-00 | 8 | 0-01 | ||
| 2016 | 5 | 0-00 | 3 | 0-00 | 2 | 0-00 | 10 | 0-00 | ||
| 2017 | 4 | 0-00 | 1 | 0-00 | 2 | 0-00 | 7 | 0-00 | ||
| Total | 32 | 1-02 | 9 | 0-00 | 11 | 0-00 | 52 | 1-02 | ||
As a manager
edit- As of match played 28 November 2020.
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Antrim | 9 September 2019 | Present | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 80.0 |
Honours
editPlayer
edit- Portroe
- Tipperary
- All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (2): 2010, 2016
- Munster Senior Hurling Championship (6): 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016
- National Hurling League (1): 2008
- Awards
- All-Star (1): 2014
Manager
edit- Antrim
- National League Division 2A (1): 2020
- Joe McDonagh Cup (2): 2020, 2022
References
edit- ^ "Senior Hurling Panel". Tipperary GAA website. Archived from the original on 17 August 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
- ^ Hayden, James (23 July 2012). "Portroe tame Toome to capture first title". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
- ^ O'Sullivan, Jim (21 April 2008). "Corbett's cracker tips balance". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
- ^ Breheny, Martin (14 July 2008). "Tipperary lay down marker for Kilkenny". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
- ^ "Cummins absent for Tipp". Hogan Stand website. 3 April 2009. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
- ^ "RTÉ Sport: Tipperary 4-17 Kilkenny 1-18". RTÉ Sport. 5 September 2010. Archived from the original on 6 September 2010. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
- ^ "Tipp show appetite for destruction". Irish Times. 10 July 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
- ^ "Treaty's late surge finally sees off Tipp". Irish Examiner. 2 June 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ^ "Donal Óg: Men against boys as Tipp put Cork to the sword". Irish Examiner. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
- ^ "Gleeson Tipp-toeing in the footsteps of legend Cummins". Irish Independent. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Tipperary 2-29 Kilkenny 2-20". Munster GAA. 5 September 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- ^ "Analysis: How Tipperary finally overcame Kilkenny to claim All-Ireland senior hurling glory". The 42. 5 September 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
- ^ "Tipp keeper Darren Gleeson announces retirement". RTE Sport. 21 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Two-time All-Ireland winner Gleeson calls time on Tipperary adventure". Irish Independent. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
- ^ "Gleeson handed Antrim hurling job". Hogan Stand. 9 September 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
- ^ "McNaughton hits late winner for Antrim". Irish Independent. 19 October 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ Cormican, Eoghan (13 December 2020). "Antrim see off Kerry to secure McDonagh Cup success at Croke Park". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
- ^ "Clarke points the way as Antrim celebrate Joe McDonagh Cup glory with win over Kerry". The 42. 13 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
- ^ "ANTRIM 0-22 KERRY 1-17". GAA.ie. 13 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
- ^ "Clarke goal propels Antrim to shock win over Clare". The 42. 9 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ "Antrim celebrate return to top flight with shock win over Clare". Irish Times. 9 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ "Cusack's Antrim hurling verdict: 'Delighted to see it - but I still think they are going to struggle'". The 42. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
- ^ "Tipperary hurler Darren Gleeson banned from being financial adviser by Central Bank". 4 May 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
- ^ "Tipperary hurler Gleeson denies theft of €32,000 from his client". Irish Independent. 27 January 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
- ^ "Tipperary hurler gets suspended sentence for deceiving elderly man". RTE News. 27 June 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
- ^ "Tipperary hurler gets suspended sentence after obtaining €10,000 from elderly man by deception". Journal. 27 June 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2017.