John Horgan: New generation of Barrs hurling heroes has emerged

THE Barrs are back and the long and impatient wait in the wilderness of Cork club hurling is over.

Yes, a famine that has lasted 29 years is at an end and the mighty men from Togher have regained the status of Cork’s finest senior hurling team.

Last Sunday’s County final triumph over Blackrock was played out in the worst conditions that this observer has ever witnessed and that’s going back well over a half-century.

And that made the Barrs' triumph all the more meritorious, dealing with the torrential rain that made any pure and proper hurling simply near impossible.

But deal with it they did, some of those on duty still very much in the infancy of their senior careers and playing a game of this magnitude for the very first time.

Blackrock had the experience of participating and winning two years ago and that had to be an advantage but for this wonderful bunch of Barrs hurlers any bit of a negative that might have been was quickly turned into a positive. On a day that will stand the test of time, players that were only boys in a hurling sense became men, each and every one of them standing up and being counted.

A final tally of 2-14 was a damn good return on a day that you would offer your worst enemy refuge from the conditions. There might have been a fear that those conditions would be totally unsuitable for a team containing so many young players but, in fact, the opposite was the case.

As the game aged, they grew more and more into it.

HEROIC

Defensively, they were heroic, limiting any opposition, no matter how bad the elements are to just 1-7 over 60 minutes of hurling is a marvellous achievement, just two points conceded in the second half. Damien Cahalane, in the number six jersey was a real leader, lifting those around him to trojan heights, sometimes defending as if their lives depended on it and his experience and drive was crucial in a pivotal position.

All six backs were major contributors, Cian Walsh superb, Eoin Keane, Jamie Burns equally so. They blocked, they hooked, they closed down some of the best club forwards in Cork and their composure all through was simply superb.

Any side appearing in their first final and being so long without need a good start and the brace of points that Padraig Buggy executed were big scores and settled things from the off.

Ben Cunningham was terrific all through in the number 10 jersey and he was just one who came of age on this day of days for one of Cork’s most decorated clubs. His final tally of 0-9 was some return in such desperate conditions although it must be said that the sod of the Pairc held up very well until the final minutes as the heavens continued to spill their load.

Brian Hayes and Conor Cahalane took their goals with great aplomb and those were the defining moments of a final that still drew in 15,000-plus on the foulest of Sundays.

Ethan Twomey and Ben O’Connor put in a fierce shift all through in the blue jersey and another young substitute, Willie Buckley entered the proceedings and claimed two sublime points, every score worth its weight in gold as it became increasingly clear that the wilderness years were coming to an end.

At the break, few would have envisaged that so much would separate the teams at the end because at that juncture it might have been looked at as a game that would go down to the wire. The bottom line in all of this was, the Barrs just wanted this one the more, they were sick and tired of being onlookers as others claimed a prize that is cherished by all so fortunate to have won it.

It wasn’t that long ago that this great club was scrapping in a relegation issue but the transformation has been a story of great positivity.

RICH DIVIDEND

Winning the Premier 1 Minor title just over two years ago was, you could say, the springboard to what was achieved last Sunday. Graduating from minor to senior has proved to be a bridge too far for a lot of players in a lot of clubs but that victory has certainly yielded a rich dividend for the new and proud champions.

The side too has been superbly managed by Ger Cunningham and another former Barrs icon, John Cremin alongside Billy O’Shea, Sean McCarthy and Adrian O’Brien, all of them making their own contribution along the journey.

There were so many Barrs men, women and children who had never experienced the involvement of a county senior final hurling day until last Sunday.

In many ways this was a first title all over again, experiencing that joy that a final victory brings and those who have been in that winning dressing room will tell you it’s the best feeling ever.

What of the Rockies, they had their day in 2020 and they’ll have more in the years to come but they’ll be the first to admit that this was the Barrs time again. The three big city clubs have experienced those wilderness years, but the cause always endured and for the Barrs now the waiting game is well and truly over.

The ferocity of the rain did not dampen the spirits afterwards. In fact, that rain was accompanied by tears of joy from young and old alike.

Another chapter, one that has taken far too long to pen, has been written by a bunch of hurlers who will now rightfully take their place alongside so many of their illustrious predecessors.

All’s well again in those great hurling homes in Togher.