Sarsfields v Na Fianna: Johnny Crowley delighted to be casting a second spell

While there might seem to be a sense of destiny around Johnny Crowley’s successful return as Sarsfields manager, the man himself didn’t necessarily have another stint with his home club as part of a grand plan.

Crowley was previously in charge of the Riverstown side in 2010 and 2011, winning the county SHC in the first of those seasons. His second coming in 2023 brought the Seán Óg Murphy Cup back to the club for the first time in nine years and now they are just one game away from All-Ireland glory.

The manager is glad to be back, not least given how the late, great Teddy McCarthy played a part in it.

“I never really thought about it, to be honest with you,” Crowley said.

“I was obviously doing outside coaching with teams. I had three very enjoyable years with Castlelyons, I had been with Ballymartle for a while and I won a county with Ballinhassig in 2012 – Teddy was on the line with Bandon and I was on the line with Ballinhassig, so we had a great day on the Wednesday, the two of us!

“It was probably Teddy, really, to be honest, he was the instigator of all of that, really.

“He was coming in as vice-chairman here and I was involved with Castlelyons, we had got to another county final – he was actually ringing me the week of the county final and I was saying, ‘Give us two weeks!’

“I met him then, that would have been November 2022. To make a long story short, I met Ted and we sat down and I said, ‘Sure, why not have a go off it?’

“Getting the right management team in place was the first step, without even looking at panels or players or stuff like that. I have a fantastic management team, with Sully, Joe, Eoin and Darren and Neil Fitzpatrick is the S&C.

“It’s all worked out really well, it’s been amazing – I could never have dreamed that we’d do what we’ve done in two short years.”

After winning the RedFM Hurling League the last two years as well as the 2023 county title, Sars’ run of success came to an end with defeat to Imokilly in last year’s county final.

In the wake of that, Crowley and his management team made some big calls as they reworked the team, but the changes have worked, with Munster glory following and now a place in the All-Ireland final.

“It’s never easy picking a 15 here,” he said, “it’s horrible, actually.

“Realistically, there’s probably 18 or 20 that can start, so every time you pick a team, there’s going to be disappointment.

“The second part, in relation to Feakle – after losing the county final, we felt we had to refresh the thing and change things.

“We probably brought four in and changed the team around quite dramatically – we had a new midfield, new half-forwards. I think there were only five guys in the same position as they had been for the county final.

“It was certainly a brave call from the management, there’s no question or doubt about that. If we had lost that game – even though we had had huge success and had brought the team of – that could have been it. In a local environment, that could happen – when you’ve four lads that don’t play and four that come in, you could have a hostile environment.

“The fact that we won it probably bought us a bit of credit and it’s just mushroomed from there, really.”