Christy O'Connor previews Sars v Midleton: Cork hurling finalists have knack of winning tight games 

When Johnny Crowley spoke to the media in the aftermath of the Sarsfields-St Finbarr’s semi-final two weeks ago, Crowley’s face lit up when asked about his team grinding out another win at the death.

“You can’t question our lads for these tight battles,” said Crowley. “It is becoming a bit of a coincidence that every tight game we are coming out of the right side.” 

That fact is now indisputable. Their win against the Barrs was the third year in succession that Sarsfields shaded the semi-final by a single point.

That ability not to flinch in the clutch moments is even more satisfying because of how Sars struggled to edge those tight games for the guts of the previous decade.

Prior to when Crowley, Diarmuid O’Sullivan and the rest of the management took over in 2023, Sars always blinked first when other teams stared them down in the closing moments. It was such a common occurrence that it had effectively become a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Sars exited the 2022 championship after a 12-point drubbing from the Barrs. 

They had beaten Charleville in their second game, but the real damage was first inflicted in their opening match against Blackrock when Sars led by four points in additional time before Alan Connolly turned the game on its head with 1-2.

That had been a consistent pattern, especially in the knockout stages. In 2021, Sars railroaded Midleton, Carrigtwohill and Na Piarsaigh by a combined margin of 44 points in the group to coast straight into the semi-final as the top-ranked team.

Yet having averaged 3-24 in their three group games, Sars only managed 0-18 in the semi-final when Glen Rovers edged them out by two points. The sides were level down the home straight before Patrick Horgan whipped over two points. Including additional time, Sars failed to score for the last seven minutes.

After winning all three group games too in 2020, Sars were surprisingly beaten by Erin’s Own in the quarter-final by one point, with Eoghan Murphy’s pointed free in the second minute of additional time knocking the favourites out of the championship.

BAD HABIT

Sars found it so hard to break that habit. 

After winning the 2014 county title, there was just a handful of occasions over the following five seasons between 2015-'19 when they won tight matches; the 2019 quarter-final against Douglas (when Sars outscored their opponents by 0-6 to 0-1 in the closing stages), the 2017 quarter-final replay against UCC (which they won by one point), the opening round against Carrigtwohill in 2016.

Sars drew with Erin's Own in the 2015 semi-final before convincingly winning the replay, but they still lost more tight games than they felt they should. Two which hurt Sars the most were the 2018 quarter-final against UCC and the 2017 semi-final to Imokilly, both of which were one-point defeats.

This is a different team in a different time now but the turnaround has still been admirable. 

Crowley, O’Sullivan and the management have clearly added a more serrated edge to the group but there’s also been a huge mental shift amongst the players, especially in how they now relish that challenge compared to how much it used to spook them in the past.

Still clearly surfing that wave of confidence from winning Munster last year and reaching the All-Ireland final, Sars first jumped on that wave in the Munster semi-final against Feakle when scoring the last eight points of the match.

Sars also blitzed Ballygunner in the Munster final with a late scoring burst. They may have narrowly escaped in the All-Ireland semi-final against Slaughtneil when a late goal-scoring opportunity for Mark McGuigan right in front of the goal went over the bar, but Sars still put themselves in a winning position when the sides were level with five minutes remaining with late points from Aaron Myers, Liam Healy and Cathal McCarthy.

Sars almost enjoy those tight battles now because they have so much strong and positive muscle memory of how to negotiate their way through them, especially late on.

ADVANTAGE

That is a huge advantage now against a Midleton side without their talisman, Conor Lehane, and defender Eoin Moloney.

And yet, Midleton have also developed a neat track record of shading tight games. They beat Glen Rovers and Blackrock by margins of two and one points in the quarter and semi-final.

They lost to Sars in last year’s semi-final and in the 2023 final, by margins of one and two points, but Midleton still edged a handful of tight games in both of those seasons, especially the 2023 semi-final against the Barrs.

Trying to beat Sars looks more difficult than ever now for Midleton but Sars have lost some key players too, for various reasons, from the side that featured in the All-Ireland final in January; Paul Leopold, Aaron Myers, Liam Healy and Cathal McCarthy.

That does level the playing field slightly in the context of Lehane and Moloney’s absence, but Midleton will have no psychological hang-ups anyway with Sars, even if they have failed to get over the line against them in the last two years.

Sarsfields are deservedly strong favourites. 

They are expected to win on Sunday but if Midleton can harness the hurt and pain of the last two years, this final may be a lot tighter than some people think.

And if it is, Midleton then have to prove that they can stare down a team who have become experts at not blinking first.