'It could be a fantastic championship' – Sars' Johnny Crowley predicts tight knockouts

It was an easy win for Johnny Crowley’s Sarsfields. Far too easy. By the time Erin’s Own finally started to apply any pressure, they were well behind and with no chance of coming back.

But while Erin’s Own were far off the pace in the opening half, a lot of what Sars did right directly led to Erin’s Own’s struggle. The Riverstown side were unstoppable, seizing control in all areas and making it count on the scoreboard.

“I think the first quarter was 1-3 to four points, and we kicked on then,” manager Johnny Crowley said after the game. “We kind of totally dominated the second quarter, which was something we targeted.

“I suppose like there was no real defining moment of the game I thought, the one thing that was pleasing from our aspect was like, they got three goals, but the three goals they got, we went down and we made them two-pointers straight away.

“So that's something that's really good, and we've a lot of work to do, there’s no question out about it. 

It's early days. I suppose getting out of the group is paramount.

“I don't know, are teams nervous trying to get out of the group?” he said. “I think it could be a fantastic championship in the quarter-finals because you're going to have six or eight really, really good teams. [It’s] genuinely going to be very equal.” 

It becomes far easier for underdogs to cause an upset when their opposition let their foot slip off the accelerator.

But a big part of Sars performance, and the reputation they’ve built as the strongest club in Cork right now, comes down to the total absence of any complacency.

Their drive to continue improving has remained unimpeded. Maybe that ruthlessness in their game has remained from the slips they’ve had – namely last year’s county final and the All-Ireland club final, the latter being something they haven’t spoken about.

“It's not something we ever spoke about, to be honest,” Crowley admitted. We haven't spoken about winning the Munster. We haven’t spoken about losing that All-Ireland final.

PROFESSIONAL

“We have done analysis of the game and stuff like that. But they're a high achieving a bunch of lads.

“They're professional in their private lives and personal lives. They expect the best from everything they do and everything we set up is for them.” That comes from those on the bench too, and the fact they’ve got such incredible strength in depth. The drive to keep winning comes from what they get right on the training pitch.

Funny enough, I just complimented the extended panel there tonight in what they do and what they bring to the whole thing.

“I suppose this year it's just been slightly different, normally you use a few subs, but we’ve kind of just gone a different route this year. It's worked out so far.

“We've some really good guys and there's probably two or three lads not starting presently that, you could argue should be starting, but that creates a massive in house competition in itself.

“It’s really early days, and we're not going to go challenging or be competitive without the likes of Danny Kearney, Barry O’Flynn, Eoghan Murphy and Donie English, they' going to have to get game time at some stage.”