Junior A triumph sees Killeagh's continued progression rewarded with a trophy

In dramatic fashion Killeagh came from behind once more, this time to finally put Carraig na bhFear to the sword at the second time of asking and secure the Jamesy Kelleher Cup.

It was a thrilling contest and a fitting conclusion to what has been an exciting East Cork Junior A Hurling Championship, with Killeagh ended their 29-year wait for the title.

This one in particular is special though.

It was their sixth time winning the competition, but the first time that feat has been achieved by their second team.

For Ger Fitzgibbon, who was on the previous winning team in 1995 and part of the management this year, it’s a huge achievement – and one that will stand to the club as they continue to move forward.

“It feels wonderful,” Fitzgibbon began. “It’s a strange feeling now, but it’s been a long time coming.

“Obviously the 1995 team went on and won a county after and that became the base side of our senior team, but it’s brilliant to have our second team at that level, so we’re delighted.” 

Their victory was never comfortable though, with Carraig putting up a huge fight throughout to ensure the contest went right down to the wire for the second week running.

“We were concerned, you never like to be behind. We always had the belief that we can finish strong, we finished strong last week when we came from behind, and we’ve finished strong all year.

“We’d love to have been in front, but we weren’t overly worried. You don’t want to fall further behind coming down the stretch, but we have good defenders.

“We had a game plan, they stuck to the game plan, they knew what they had to do and what they’re about and it worked out for us in the end.

“Carraig na bhFear are very good, they really put it up to us – they could have pulled further ahead,” he admitted. "A missed free there would have sent it to extra time I’ve no doubt.

Anything can happen then.

“We got a few breaks as well as defending well, so thank god for that.” 

On the topic of breaks – a rule that drew a fair amount of criticism from the county board last year in that minor players could not compete in the top five grades seemed like a curse to Killeagh.

The club were deprived of the obvious names in Ben and Barry Walsh, both of whom featured extensively for the Cork U20s, as well as former Cork minors Fionn Murphy and Sean Meade.

Given all four players not only featured but excelled for their Junior A team, that curse is looking far more like a blessing.

RISING TO THE OCCASION

“Barry was outstanding, man of the match. He oozes talent.

“I’d say we’ll see him in different colour jerseys in years to come hopefully,” Ger explained. “He is outstanding and he’s getting better with every game.

“All these championship matches he’s played, he’s getting better as he goes on. When the chips are down and you need a man to stand up, he stands up.

“Sean [Meade], another good minor as well. It wasn’t his best day ever in his possessions, he’d love to win every ball that comes his way but he kept at it, and got the breaks.

“He’s a dinger for digging out breaks, he’s been doing it at U14, U16, U18 up through the years.

When he gets the chances, he’s great to stick them away.

While no doubt their minor stars have been integral to their success this year – Killeagh have a plethora of talent among their ranks. The list of names only seems to grow each year, and their junior hurling teams have played a significant role in nurturing that talent.

“It’s a path to the future, there is a lot of talent coming through. We have some exceptionally good minors obviously with the new ruling that’s come in, they probably would have been on our senior team earlier on.

“They did help us in this junior setup, and there’s a great team coming through. We’d four teams last year, we had four teams at the start of this year.

“We’ve great numbers and we need those numbers to keep those players progressing onto our senior team in time. We’re delighted with the numbers, we’re delighted with the whole club in general. It makes a good path for our lads at underage level.”

Their success in Castlemartyr last weekend will be cherished – but the focus now switches to Whitechurch this weekend for the County Junior A HC.

“I was playing myself that time [in 1995], so I can say that to them and give them something to aim for!” Ger laughed. “County, yeah – it’s another prospect. We haven’t even thought about it really.

“We’ve Whitechurch next week, we’ll see. We’re playing two weeks in a row, and if we win the two of them we’re in a county final, so that’s another ask for us – but this team is getting better as we go on, so fingers crossed.”