Christy O'Connor previews Sars v Imokilly: Champions don't have same firepower as division
Sarsfields' Gavin O'Loughlin gets the ball away against Imokilly during the SHC semi-final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in 2017. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
Everything is of its time.
The 1997 Imokilly-Sarsfields county final on YouTube showcases a match from a different era, where the body-shape and conditioning of players is unrecognisable from what it is now, where the tactical strategy and style of play was from a different world.
Trying to compare players and matches from different eras is a pointless exercise but the frantic tone and helter-skelter nature of the hurling on the pitch was matched by the boiling temperature and giddy excitement off it.
A crowd of close to 15,000 were packed into Páirc Uí Chaoimh that afternoon. Imokilly had a huge amount of supporters decked out in red and white.
“The atmosphere is electric here at Páirc Uí Chaoimh,” said Trevor Welch in his match commentary. “There is plenty of hype about this final. There’s a fabulous atmosphere.”
Welch’s co-commentator, Gerald McCarthy, spoke about having first come up against Imokilly with St Finbarr’s as far back as 1968, outlining how Imokilly always had excellent players but they hadn’t always put it together when it mattered most.
“It’s a historic day for them,” said McCarthy after the final whistle when Imokilly had won a first title. “They’ve tried so long and so hard for this one and it’s the fulfilment of a lot of people’s dreams in east Cork.”
It was even more special again because Imokilly had lost the previous year’s county final to Avondhu after a replay.
They’d also come up short, by just one point, to Ballyhea in the 1995 semi-final.
With Carbery having won a first title in 1994, and Avondhu bridging a 30-year gap in 1996, the East Cork barony knew they had players good enough to win a first title. They just had to go and do it.
Finally getting over the line was sweeter again when it was Sarsfields in the other corner, a club from their division.
“All these players know each other well from playing each other in East Cork,” said Gerald McCarthy in that co-commentary. “This is certainly a huge occasion for both teams.”
Now that Imokilly and Sarsfields are meeting again in a county final three decades on, it is a different world again from just playing style and physical and tactical advancements.
For a start, if Sunday’s match was a standalone fixture, how many people would turn up? It certainly wouldn’t be anything close to the 15,000 in 1997.
County finals rarely attract those numbers anymore, but it could also be argued that the Senior A final curtain-raiser between Glen Rovers and Blarney is an even more attractive match, considering there will be six Cork seniors in action – Eoin and Robert Downey, Patrick Horgan, Mark Coleman, Shane Barrett and Paudie Power.
That 1997 final was the first time a divisional side played a side from within their own division in a final but Sars’ strategic location so close to the city was never going to create the kind of local intensity and passion that made the 2018 Imokilly-Midleton decider the most unique final face-off in the history of the Cork championship.
That was a battle between the heartland within the heartland, but this is not that kind of a rivalry. Imokilly’s players don’t go to school in Glanmire like they do in Midleton. They no longer play with East Cork/Imokilly in the underage divisional tournaments like they did in the past either, especially at U16 level – because that underage competition no longer exists.
Sars have more of a modern rivalry with Midleton than Imokilly, while Midleton haven’t been able to crack the divisional side when it matters most. And yet, despite Imokilly’s strength and dominance over the last decade, some of their biggest struggles have still come against teams from within their own division.
Imokilly will strongly feel they could have added another title to their list last year, especially when they appeared to have the semi-final won before Sars came up with a late goal in normal time before edging past Imokilly in extra time.
That will have stoked their motivational fires even more but there’s no doubting that Imokilly are a better team this year. Daire O’Leary is fit again, while Bill Cooper is also back from injury.
Plus, Imokilly have had a much smoother run into this final than they had in the latter stages of previous championships; 19 hours before Imokilly played Sars in last year’s semi-final, five of their players were still duelling it out with Castlemartyr against Castlelyons in the Premier Intermediate semi-final.
Imokilly have had little or none of those distractions this year. Lisgoold, who beat Ballygiblin in last week’s Intermediate semi-final, don’t play their final until the first weekend in November. It's been rare for Imokilly players to have that luxury in recent years, especially around big games.
Sars will go into this game full of confidence. They are the reigning county champions, having shown all that guile and experience in the semi-final win against Midleton. They have firepower but do they have enough of it to gun down Imokilly?
Blackrock have quality forwards and they were still beaten by nine points. In their last two matches, Imokilly have averaged a shade above 0-29.
Twenty-seven years on from beating Sars to win their first county title, Imokilly should beat Sars again on Sunday to secure their sixth title.
App?
