John Horgan picks his winner from Midleton v Sars in top Cork county hurling final

A Cork Premier SHC final without one of the big three city clubs, the Rockies, Barrs and the Glen, in the now past would have been a major talking point back then.

Now it has become regular, the two teams contesting the final coming from rural-based clubs. Next Sunday's final is the third year in a row when two East Cork teams collide.

Of course, given how tight both semi-finals were we could, quite easily, have ended up with an all-city final, the Rockies against the Barrs.

Both ended up losing their semi-finals by just a point which has now given us a Sarsfields-Midleton decider.

There's no great surprise in that, both would have been leading contenders at the outset and in recent times have been there or thereabouts.

In the immediate aftermath of both their semi-final victories, the perception was that the final was going to be another game going right down to the wire.

And that may still be the case, Sars emerging with the victory in the final of 2023 by two points and it was a similar outcome in last season's semi-final, the Riverstown team first past the post by just a point.

So, those two outcomes suggest that the difference between them is wafer-thin and we should expect more of the same next Sunday.

BLOW

However, things have changed quite a bit since the semi-final, particularly with Midleton when it was revealed that two of their best players, full-back Eoin Moloney and star attacker Conor Lehane, would be marked absent for the big day because of injury.

Moloney has been hugely effective in Midleton's run to the final and Lehane is Lehane, still one of the best club hurlers in the county and a player who has been leading by example in his club's colours since he delivered 2-10 out of his team's 2-15 tally in the final of 2013 when the Magpies defeated Sunday's opponents.

In their semi-final win over the Rockies in extra-time, his outrageous long-range point from a free with almost the last act of the game decided the issue. It was a score for the ages.

But now Midleton have had to plan without him and Moloney too, in both instances, they're big boots to fill. More so without Lehane because of his leadership and prowess from the placed ball.

It's often said that the strength of any team is its squad depth and now Midleton hope that their replacements that can compensate for their loss.

Luke O'Farrell immediately enters the conversation in attack and the impact he has made in their last two wins off the bench over the Glen and the Rockies has been considerable.

Cormac Beausang, Cormac Walsh and O'Farrell himself are candidates for free taking duties in a side that has exhibited great resilience in the latter stages of their games thus far.

CHARACTER

Their final 20 minutes displays have been full of character and this is a squad of players bonded together all the more after the sad and premature losses of club legend Ger Fitzgerald and rising star Darragh McCarthy.

Pa White excelled with seven points from play against the Rockies while Beausang's brace of goals were crucial against the Glen. Killian McDermott has come into the club and fitted in very well with some big scores of his own.

Tommy O'Connell's status continues on an upward trajectory while Ciarmhac Smyth, Ross O'Regan and Mikey Finn have done little wrong all through the campaign while behind them all, Brion Saunderson provides a very stabilising influence.

Sarsfields are, however, the ultimate test for all teams in this championship. 

The current unit is a fine blend of vast experience, players of the calibre of Conor O'Sullivan, Danny Kearney, Jack O'Connor and Craig Leahy.

There's a more youthful dimension to the side too and others performing very well include Bryan Murphy, Luke Elliott and Cian Darcy.

Add in Danny Hogan and James Sweeney and this is a club continually producing quality players that keeps the establishment on its toes, their recent Premier Minor victory illustrating that depth of quality.

Charleville asked big questions of them in the quarter-final and that win probably stood to them when it went down to the wire against the Barrs.

Colm McCarthy has been nailing the frees and 65s and the importance of a player who is so efficient in that department cannot be emphasised enough and that's why Lehane's loss to Midleton is great.

Sars were probably slightly fancied before news of the Midleton injuries were known and are probably a bit more so now. But how often have we seen teams triumphing over adversity and Midleton teams have done that many times.

TOP TEAMS

Are the two best teams contesting the county final? An emphatic yes to that and whilst the older generation might dwell on the thunderous finals of another era, the championship in Cork is a lot more difficult to win now.

Firstly, there is a difficult group stage of three games to get through, a quarter-final, a semi-final and final...

That's six games to negotiate, five if you are the one team that avoids the quarter-finals.

Both Midleton and Sars have played five en route to Sunday's showdown, Sars winning all five, Midleton with a return of four wins and a draw. There's no arguing with that though the Midleton management are probably still hoping for a more consistent display over the hour.

Sars won out in Munster last season and defeating Ballygunner was a big positive for the players. The All-Ireland club didn't produce the final result that was desired but the journey must have been beneficial at the same time.

At this stage, there's very little that both sides don't know about each other and despite Midleton's injured absentees, the likelihood remains of an encounter that's very much in keeping with results from the past two seasons.

Midleton will use this final to drive them on to glory as a tribute to those they have sadly lost and for the injured players who were so influential in getting them into the final.

Sars will use it to erase the pain of losing to Imokilly in last season's final. Plus they will be eager to honour the memory of the late Ray Ryan.

Many will have their own views on the overall standard of the fare on offer in the championship in the lead up to Sunday and, to be fair, we got two absorbing semi-finals.

Both Sars and Midleton have the players to produce another game that will produce plenty of talking points on Monday morning and to further enhance the state of the game in East Cork.

We believe that Midleton will give everything and more to win this but the loss of such a big player that Conor Lehane is has to to tilt the odds in Sars' favour. From the outset, we kind of had a fancy for Sars to reign supreme again.

They have been a consistent presence since they broke through back in 2008, subsequently winning in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2023. The thinking is that they'll be good enough again in 2025 but Midleton will be hugely difficult opponents.

Verdict: Sars by a few points.