Kieran Kingston: Tracton had very little success lately but they deserved a county title

There was a lot of emotion in the aftermath of Tracton’s 1-15 to 1-10 victory in the Cork JAHC final in Páirc Uí Rinn on Saturday night. 

Understandably. They craved success.

Former Cork manager Kieran Kingston felt the need to go back and help out.

“I’m delighted of course, but it is not about me. I’m delighted for the group. The club is 136 years in existence, it has only won four counties. 

A small club struggling to field teams in minor and U21 so the club needed a win, a win of some sort after being relegated last year.

“We were in a county final in 2010, that was to go up senior. We lost to Ballymartle who went on and won the All-Ireland. Now we are back playing in the junior grade. 

"We lost the Premier Junior two years ago to Ballygiblin, they went on and won the All-Ireland. So, some of this group have had a tough time.

“You have fellas like Seán O’Sullivan, Kieran Corrigan, Joe Kingston, Ronan Walsh and Michael O’Sullivan - that is their third county final. So, I’m delighted for that group, and the people of Tracton, because we were starved.

“We finished the game tonight with three guys in their 40s. they have a lot of service done, I’m delighted for them in particular. They deserve it, and the club deserves something because we’ve had very little success. That is the only reason I went back to see if I could give them some hand.” 

EXHIBITION

It was important that Tracton took the opportunity. Ronan Walsh gave an exhibition of dead ball accuracy nailing 10 and Michael O’Sullivan grabbed a sensational goal.

“There was no guarantee we’d get back to the final again. And Killavullen are a serious team on the way up and a lot younger than us. 

They work extremely hard and we saw that tonight. We knew if we didn’t at least match that we were going nowhere.

“Ronan Walsh has been doing that for donkey's years. He did it again in the south-east final against Valley Rovers when we needed it, seven out of seven, again on a wet day and swirling wind. 

"That’s what Ronan does. We expect that from him and we’re disappointed when he misses one no matter what the circumstances are.

“Michael O’Sullivan has been around a long time. It’s trying to replace them now. Trying to get them to stay on number one, and to see if we can get guys to step into the breach when they step away.

“That’s the challenge when you’re a very small club.” 

The success was particularly sweet for Cathal Murphy. 

"I’m delighted for Cathal Murphy, one of our management team, he coached Midleton CBS to win a Dean Ryan here again in Páirc Ui Rinn on Friday. He’s had a great couple of days."

It's been a busy time at the Boreenmanna Road venue.

“Ours was the fifth game in three days, it was tough, but to be fair the pitch was presented as best it possibly could in the circumstances. 

"It was the same for both teams. The ball was going to be dead, it was going to be slow, there were going to be a lot of rucks and physical exchanges. We spoke about that the last two weeks and said we had to match it.”