John Horgan: Sarsfields to attack the Munster club hurling championship with a renewed enthusiasm

It will be different this time, Sarsfields will be representing Cork in the Munster Club SHC as county champions, unlike 12 months ago when they did so as runners-up because the winners, Imokilly were a divisional outfit.

The Riverstown based club are the undisputed champions this time after landing the big prize on Leeside again for the eight time in their distinguished history.

Midleton fought the good fight in last Sunday's final at SuperValu Pairc Ui Chaoimh but ultimately it was a bridge too far for them in a contest that, for the most part, was very low key.

In fact, it could be said that it never really ignited at all and there was a sense of inevitability about the whole thing from a long way out.

It had been well documented in the aftermath of Midleton's thrilling semi-final victory over Blackrock that two of their key players would be marked absent for the final.

Yes, Conor Lehane and Eoin Moloney were huge losses and for any club side there would be a struggle to compensate for those type of losses.

Would the outcome have been any different if they had been available, who knows but it must be stated too that Sarsfields fielded without a number of players for various reasons who had played key roles in their provincial club victory over Ballygunner last season.

It all comes down to squad depth when you lose key players and Sarsfields had the advantage in that regard.

And it would be fair to suggest that their squad is deeper than any other club in Cork.

Last Sunday's attendance at headquarters was over 11, 000, it would probably not have reached that figure if the final had been a stand alone fixture.

The attendance level was embellished by the presence of Ballinhassig and Ballincollig in the Premier intermediate decider but, at the same time, the Cork final attracts a far bigger return than in most other counties.

That's the way it is now, if the attendance is beyond 10,000 for a county final anywhere you are doing well.

But, whilst last Sunday's final was far from being a classic, the achievement of Sarsfields has to be applauded loudly.

The Cork County SHC might not be what it used to be in bygone times but it is still a damn difficult championship to win and Sars have now done it twice in the past three seasons and being runners-up on the other occasion.

That is a remarkable level of consistency by any standards and for three players, in particular, Sunday's victory was a quite a staggering achievement.

Conor O'Sulivan, Craig Leahy and Danny Kearney were on the winner's podium for the sixth time in their extraordinary successful careers.

They were there as youngsters in 2008 when Sars returned to the top table of Cork hurling after an absence of 51 years and in their subsequent years of success in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2023 and the latest addition to the list, they have been key figures.

That longevity deserves the highest praise.

Was last Sunday Sars best performance over the past number of years, maybe not but they had the situation well under control for almost throughout.

They curtailed Midleton to just 1-3 in the opening half an hour and when the Magpies threatened at stages in the second-half they had that inner belief to reinvent thamselves.

Midleton got to within four points after a sublime pointed effort from Pa White in the second-half but they could not get closer than that.

James Sweeney's brace of goals were key scores for Johnny Crowley's team and in the overall scheme of things were very big scores.

When a player delivers five points from general play it must be recognised as a very significant contribution and Jack O'Connor did just that, showing once more that he is one of the best club forwards in the county.

Much attention was focused on who would be tasked with the conversion of scores from placed balls in Lehane's absence and, to be fair, Mikey Finn was not found wanting for Midleton.

Tommy O'Connell fought tigerishly for every ball and Evan McGrath was the right man in the right place to raise his side's goal after a mistake in the Sars defence.

Brion Saunderson could not be faulted for the two Sars goals and made one or two fine stops as well as converting a long-range free.

But, as a unit, there could be little argument, Sars were the masters in most areas and should have went to the dressing room at half-time further to the good after hitting nine first-half wides.

But county finals are not about pleasing the crowd, they are about winning, getting the job done with the minimum of fuss and Sars did just that.

When you come into a county final after losing out the previous year there is a certain amount of pressure but in the interim they had won out in the province and that gave them something that they might not have expected after losing to Imokilly in 2024.

They were mostly solid in defence last Sunday, restricting Midleton to just 1-7 from open play and in Cillian Roche they had a number three who gave little away.

Their aforementioned squad depth has been shown to a very positive effect over the past few years and they have been league champions for the past three seasons.

League titles, of course, don't define a season but Sars deserve great credit for achieving that feat too.

Before they embark on the Munster club trail again there will be an awareness among the management that there is probably far more in them.

But that's for another day and for this week anyway it's all about celebrating another very well deserved Premier Cork SHC.

And this time there will be no regrets about not being tops in their own championship.

They have played six games and won all six en-route to the title, that tells its own story of a very successful domestic campaign.

They have had their trials and tribulations to deal with in recent times too with the catastrophic flooding of their superb complex in Riverstown, they have lost, as Midleton have, fantastic people but through it all their resilience has shone through.

They are worthy Premier Cork County SHC winners and they are now going forth in Munster with plenty of confidence.

Midleton, as Midleton teams always do, will get back on the horse again when the time comes and they too can reflect on a season that they exhibited plenty of resilience..

Yes, we would have hoped for a more absorbing decider but the winner takes it all.