Harty Cup final: Christians young guns can rise to the St Flannan's challenge

CBC team boss Tony Wall is hoping the young players who will face competition specialists St Flannan’s from Ennis in Saturday’s Dr Harty Cup final will benefit from a campaign that has seen them defeat two previous winners and draw with another.

The Harty Cup decider takes place this Saturday at 1pm in Mallow, with Christians hoping to make history with a team that includes Cork minor graduates Jack Cahalane, Eoin Downey and Shane Kingston, from Ballinora, along with Waterford's Carthach Daly, Douglas dual ace and captain Niall Hartnett, and James Dwyer and Eoin O'Leary, Cork U16s this year.

St Colman’s Fermoy and Midleton CBS were defeated in the quarter-final and semi-final respectively while during the group campaign they shared the spoils with Ard Scoil Rís.

CBC are back in the final again 12 months after losing to Midleton CBS and with a team that’s much changed from that final in Páirc Uí Rinn, a game that attracted over 7,000 spectators.

“Yes, we have just four of the starting team from last year and another who came on as a sub lining out next Saturday.

“So you could say it’s nearly a new team, but the players have done very well, answered a lot of questions and we are absolutely delighted to be in the final again.

“I suppose at the start of the campaign we certainly were not thinking about getting back into the final, just being competitive in the group and seeing where that took us.’’

Topping the group stage with teams like Rochestown College, Templemore and Ard Scoil in it was, obviously very pleasing according to the former Glen Rovers star.

“It was because those three teams would probably have been rated above us and we had a very young team.

“Beating Rochestown who had won the B competition last season and had a lot of that team gave us a good bit of belief and made us realise that maybe we shouldn’t underestimate ourselves.

“It was a tough group so to top it gave the lads that extra bit of confidence."

One-point victories over St Colman’s and Midleton CBS followed and now it’s Flannan’s in the final.

“Look, they are the team with all the success and the tradition in the Harty but it’s so far, so good for us and it’s great being back in the final again.

“And you’d be hoping that the saying, lose one to win one applies, but that does not always happen.

“The lads have been brilliant up to now and I cannot speak highly enough of them."