Cork Hurling: Sars and Midleton are in final because they showed incredible composure under pressure

Johnny Crowley identified the theme of the hurling weekend within minutes of Sarsfields’ semi-final victory over St Finbarr’s.

“It’s just about finding a way,” he said. “We challenge them to a lot of that in training… if we bring a team to the last five or six minutes, that we see it out.

“It’s about finding a way, and certainly we do find a way more often than not over the last two or three years.” On the list of Cork’s clutch performers, none get the job done with the regularity of the Riverstown side.

They learned from painful one-score defeats to Erin’s Own, Glen Rovers, and Blackrock, which arrested their championship ambitions in 2020, ‘21, and ‘22, respectively.

Since then, Sars are unbeaten in their last nine one-score games. 

That’s not including hard-earned four-point wins over the Glen and Charleville this autumn, nor the famous Munster final victory over Ballygunner.

So how do they manage those closing stages when everything is on the line?

Take the final seven minutes plus stoppages on Sunday of both semi-finals. Sars’ lead had been trimmed to one point at that juncture. Midleton’s fightback had just been distanced back out to three. Crucially, both were backed by the wind.

Sars began their final push by producing a move of cool composure from the puck-out. Daniel Hogan won the break, took one glance, and snapped a precise pass 40 yards infield to James Sweeney. The full-forward engaged two defenders before Brick-flicking the sliotar to Colm McCarthy. The pocket of space created was just enough to get a shortened strike away as four Barrs defenders attempted to close in. The scorer pointed to Sweeney in acknowledgement of his graft.

Shane O’Regan pickpocketed the next puck-out, but was denied the killer score by Shane Hurley’s save. McCarthy missed a rare 65.

On his own 45, a hurley-less Jack O’Connor showed his commitment by blocking an Ethan Twomey shot with his hands, although he had already conceded the free.

They trusted Cillian Roche to go toe-to-toe with Brian Hayes. The Hurler of the Year nominee had his goal and a handful more moments. Roche grappled and gambled out front, mitigating the damage to acceptable levels.

Conor O’Sullivan came out with another long ball and released Cian Darcy for a 50-yard sprint to score.

On the hour, Ben Graham launched a puck-out down the middle. Sweeney’s flick dictated the break. O’Connor wasn’t the nearest player, but he was the fastest to read the situation. The county man guided the sliotar to the flank before rising and firing it between the posts.

Each point put Sars two ahead. Each time, a Ben Cunningham free brought it back to the minimum. Still, they held the Barrs scoreless from play in that stretch.

PRESSURE

In the final play, Sars' pressure ensured the sliotar kept spilling and hurried passes didn’t go cleanly to hand. Darcy read Cunningham’s intentions to dive in with a huge block.

More drama ensued as McCarthy hit the upright, allowing one last riposte. O’Sullivan twice secured possession, even if he granted the Barrs one more sideline. They forced that set play long, where Roche broke the sliotar from Hayes, Donal English swept it to safety, and that was that.

In the rush of split-second decisions, Sars made enough correct calls with the requisite skill to make them count.

As for Midleton? Trailing by three entering the home straight, they slotted four points on the spin to snatch their first lead. The electric Patrick White accounted for two of those and a later lead point. Each time, he read the break or broke the sliotar for himself.

Conor Lehane was instrumental to the other pair. He calmly held possession until the right option presented through Tadhg O’Leary Hayes to score. Soon after, the defender helped to ferry the sliotar to Lehane, who completed the momentum shift.

Once Blackrock levelled, the outstanding Eoin Moloney rose above his marker for a superb take and picked out Killian McDermott to finish.

Alan Connolly’s late 65 demanded an extra 20 minutes, and it looked set for penalties too, until Lehane’s nerve held over the deciding free.

For a team that suffered in close contests with Sars over the past two seasons, Midleton have finished strong through these knockout rounds.

Crowley’s compliments to Midleton echoed the sentiments directed at his own group.

“They are finding a way in every game they’ve played,” he said. “They were six points down against the Rockies, they were seven down against the Glen, and they’re finding their way out.”