Inniscarra boss Daire Holland: I knew Seán O'Donoghue was going to convert the free, this success means everything

If you're going to win a county, you would probably pick the way Inniscarra won theirs on Sunday evening.

The Muskerry side were down three points after 63 minutes against Ballygarvan in the McCarthy Insurance Group County JAFC final at Páirc Uí Rinn. There was just a minute of added time remaining until they got a goal through their captain John O’Callaghan in a crowded penalty area before a free from the sideline from Seán O’Donoghue went over the bar. The final whistle blew seconds later as Scarra won 1-7 to 1-6.

Inniscarra are the third team on the trot from Mid-Cork to win this grade, following in the footsteps of Kilmurry and Canovee. The victorious manager Daire Holland was cool and calm when speaking to The Echo post-match despite brilliant celebrations around him and in the stands.

“It’s a fantastic feeling to be county champions,” he said.

“We were three points down and Ballygarvan had chances to extend their lead, which they will regret. They would have put the game out of sight. We are all around long enough to know that it’s not over until it’s over but it did seem unlikely. We hung in there, a bit like the hurlers two years ago against Castlemartyr. The lads kept plugging away and we got our rewards there at the end.

“How fitting that our captain John O’Callaghan got the goal to bring us level. It was his first ever goal for the club, in football anyway. An incredible achievement. And then for Seán O’Donoghue to kick the winner from a free. When you have the quality of a player like Seán in the team, you have a chance of winning every day. I actually watched the free from behind the goal. I knew he was going to convert it. If Rian O’Neill scored one of them in Croke Park, people would be talking about it for years.

“You can see what it means to everyone in the club by the celebrations. It’s becoming a bigger club with a big base of followers and this success gives everyone a lift. We won a hurling county two years ago, football now this year, we have broken down some barriers.” 

Holland and his management team came on board before the 2022 campaign as Inniscarra can look forward to playing in the Premier Junior football grade next year. They are out of the bear pit that is Junior A.

“The very reason myself and the rest of the selectors got involved was to get lads to play both codes. We are Inniscarra GAA. We are all wearing the blue and white jersey so our aim was to bring that all together. Did we think we would win a football county? Absolutely not, but we will take this one for sure. Both codes can live side by side and with the right management and right communication that days like this are possible.

“As I said last week, I had hoped we wouldn’t be in the draw for the Mid-Cork championship next year and now we are not. We will enjoy this and regroup in January and see where it takes us. Next year will be a new adventure playing new teams.” Holland concluded.