Premier SFC final: Young guns aiding St Finbarr's revival with one more big step to glory

It has been a challenging road, but St Finbarr’s are back in the Cork Premier SFC final this weekend.

They take on southside rivals Nemo Rangers on Sunday at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh (3.30pm).

The Togher side won the Andy Scannell trophy in 2021 before being denied back-to-back titles in the following campaign by their rivals Nemo.

Since then, it has been a mixture of bad look, injuries and just not delivering on the big day when being defeated by Castlehaven at the semi-final juncture in the last two seasons.

Brian Roche is in his second season at the helm of St Finbarr’s, a management ticket that also includes Cork legend Jimmy Barry-Murphy.

“Our team has probably evolved since our last county success just four years ago,” Keeler said.

“We have had the likes of William Buckley and John Wigginton-Barrett join the panel. We had a lot of lads on the minor panel last year that came into the group this year. So that has definitely freshened things up.

“We had some great guys like Michael Shields and Denis O’Brien and other lads who were involved in 2021 and now aren’t part of the group.

“So look, it’s a natural evolution of the panel changing. But I think the core of the group, the likes of Ian Maguire, Jamie Burns, Steven Sherlock and the lads, they’re continuing to keep the standard at a very high level.

“I think we have a good mix now. A good mix of experience and young lads."

In terms of picking a key moment in St Finbarr’s trajectory, you would think the win over the reigning champions Castlehaven would be the standout. For Keeler, it was in Ballygarvan back in July.

“The league final against Clonakilty, we were down a lot of guys all the way through the league. That was hugely satisfying.

“That day, we had a good few of our young lads playing against a really good Clon team who had been flying all year and who had beaten us well down in Clon. We went right to the end of extra time and we won it. That was huge for our character and confidence.

“I think that victory was a real reward for all the effort that the younger lads especially put in when other players were injured and away with Cork.

“The Castlehaven game was a big one for us. When you score six goals in any championship match is brilliant but to do it against a team of the calibre of Castlehaven who have been brilliant champions the last two years and a super team. 

"Obviously coming away with a win that day, then you’re kind of thinking, look, we’re doing a lot of things well here and that's where you just need to really drive it on.” 

St Finbarr’s meet their neighbours Nemo Rangers in a final for the fifth time. The Barrs have yet to win against their rivals in the decider and haven’t beaten them in the championship since 2012.

“We all know what it’s about, but at the end of the day, you know, you can’t play the occasion, like, we’ve a lot of experience, same as Nemo.

“We’ve got to play what’s in front of us. You’ve got to not play the occasion and just play the game.

“Nemo, their records stand alone in terms of the amount of finals they’ve been in and their percentage of winning them, and they just perform on the day. We just haven’t played well enough on the day against them in the finals previously going back to 1993.

“I think this game will take on a life of its own. It has been three years since we played them in the championship. We hope we’re in a different place. I’m sure Nemo are in a different place, different players, you know, different people involved in the management.

“We expect there to be nothing in it, and look, hopefully we’ll come out on top.” Keeler ended.