Aghabullogue hurlers eager to build on league win and rebound after relegation 

After experiencing the trauma of relegation from the Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship last season, Aghabullogue bounced back in recent weeks to win the Red FM Division 4 Hurling League with a comprehensive win over their Senior A opponents Ballyhea.

It has been a period of planning for Mid Cork club as manager Michael McGrath and his management team are getting prepared to get their team ready for championship battle in a bid to restore their status.

“The league for everyone is always a difficult one as you are not sure what players will be available to you from game to game,” said McGrath.

Not putting too much pressure on players is crucial.

“You certainly take it with a pinch of salt but in some of the games the serious side comes into play and generally in this campaign we had some ups and downs with some good wins along the way."

Despite defeating Ballyhea 5-14 to 1-9 in the league final they got a rude awakening earlier in the season.

“When we played them in the league, they showed they are a quality side and looking back it was an aggressive game with both teams losing a couple players with red cards but look Ballyhea were full value for their win.” 

Over the league campaign Aghabullogue lost to Kilbrittain and Ballyhea with a draw against Ballygarvan that gave them a six wins, 2 defeats and a draw that was good enough to seal a place in the final.

Going into the final Aghabullogue were raging underdogs as Ballyhea are two grades above them but McGrath believes belief helped them seal a famous win.

TERRIFIC

“It was a terrific display from the lads but look we are not get carried away as it’s the championship that all clubs are setting their sights on.” 

Last season was heartbreaking for Aghabullogue when they suffered relegation and McGrath believes it was hard to take.

“We had a decent group losing to Éire Óg by a couple of points before defeating Mallow but we lost to Ballincollig in our last game and although three teams were level on points our scoring average wasn’t good enough.” 

The first game against Kilworth in the relegation final was played in Blarney that ended level after extra time but sadly for Aghabullogue they lost the replay.

“The game was pushed right out to the start of December and despite leading at half time a tremendous individual display from Eoin Carey got Kilworth over the line.” 

In the words of McGrath, the attitude of the players at Aghabullogue deserve all the credit.

“Sometimes managers take too much credit as our players asked to meet up shortly after the relegation disappointment as they wanted a strategy how they would approach the new campaign hence the league success.

The lads are incredible and in reality, it's bad enough when you are a manager but it's far worse for the players and we are lucky to have some special players driving it for the coming championship.” 

Looking ahead to the intermediate hurling championship Aghabullogue have been drawn against Blackrock, Youghal and Sarsfields that will surely test their credentials.

“Look the difficulty about facing senior clubs is that you are never sure who they have available to them on the day but all their players are training with senior players and that’s a huge advantage when it comes to playing in this grade.” 

INTENSITY

McGrath comes from Glen Rovers and is well aware of the intensity that senior clubs train at. 

“We know the challenge ahead of us but all we can do is be prepared for our trip to Ballincollig for the Blackrock game and hope we have enough to match their intensity.” 

Dual clubs can sometimes find it hard to mix and match and Aghabullogue are no different in that department.

“Our footballers will be out on Saturday against Bantry for their championship game and then we are out eight days later and that’s the way it is as 80% of the hurlers also play football.

“We are one of the few that can really be called a dual club with a massive crossover, but we don’t think about it too much it as that’s the way it is in a small country club.” 

After experiencing Glen Rovers for many years, McGrath is now deeply rooted at Aghabullogue and enjoying every minute of it.

“We moved out there about eight years ago and thankfully we were lucky to find a fantastic group of people at the Aghabullogue club who just live for the GAA.”