Premier JHC: Cloughduv's work-rate, bench press and backing of the supporters pleases Tim Barry-Murphy

As performances go in a pressurised environment, Cloughduv couldn't have done much more.

The team in green and gold swatted Barryroe aside in the Co-Op SuperStores Premier JHC Group 2 Round 3 encounter at Páirc Uí Rinn on Friday evening. The outcome of the match was known well before Jimmy Smiddy blew the full-time whistle.

The Muskerry outfit won on a scoreline of 1-25 to 1-9. They knew regardless of anything else, as long as they won, they would be pretty much guaranteed a knockout spot given their scoring difference.

Nemo Rangers lost, so the scoring difference didn’t need to come into play. Cloughduv looked after their own corner impressively as they will now face Argideen Rangers in the quarter-finals.

Cloughduv manager Tim Barry-Murphy, a cousin of Cork GAA legend Jimmy Barry-Murphy, commended his team as they bounced back from their 2-17 to 1-17 defeat to Kilbrittain three weeks ago.

“It was a comfortable win in the end,” he said post-match to The Echo after the 16-point triumph over Barryroe.

“The foundation was set in the first half, we really went at it from the word go and that was our intention as well to get stuck in from the start. We started putting the ball over the bar and that gave the lads a bit of confidence and then obviously the goal came and we just drove on from there.

“In fairness to the lads, they kept working very hard and I think the discipline was very good out there as well.

“There was a lot of work done after the Kilbrittain defeat last time out and I suppose when you look at it, Kilbrittain were definitely the better team on the day. We needed to perform and win this game this evening because it could have been the last hurrah for us if things didn’t go right.” 

Cloughduv led by nine points at half-time and in truth, they had the game effectively won at that stage. They were coasting and it would have been very easy for their performance levels to dip.

“Our work-rate and our running off the ball was excellent throughout,” Barry-Murphy says.

“Every fella was asked to do a job out there and they did it and they kept it up as well for the first 30 minutes.

“It’s very hard to get out there again in the second half and maintain it but they did. We got maybe the first two or three points in the second half and that kind of steadied the ship and the lads drove on from that again. That obviously made a bit of a difference.

“Also, you need to finish with a strong team. You want your subs coming on, making an impact like that and we’re delighted for Colm O’Leary, who got two lovely points after coming on. All the subs made an impact.” 

Cloughduv suffered demotion from the Intermediate A grade last year. It can go a couple of ways after relegation, but the Muskerry side have gone back to basics and pressed the reset button with Barry-Murphy a steady hand at the tiller. 

He was coach of Cloughduv when they won the Mid-Cork JAHC and also county and Munster titles in 2018.

“The players all dug in from the start and there has been a fantastic effort put in by the lads off the field and on the field. At the start of this year, we were building to this time of the year. We were always aiming to maintain our Division 4 status which we did and then aiming to peak for September, October time.

“I must say, the supporters have really gotten behind us this year. Since I was knee-high, we’ve had great support at all our matches and it’s there again this year. I think we’ve probably had a few younger groups come along this year as well and that brings along another cohort of supporters.

“The community in Cloughduv are really getting behind this team.”