John Horgan on hurling: Bride Rovers v Castlelyons could be the game of the year

THE curtain should have come down last weekend on the Cork County Hurling Championship stage, but the weather gods had other ideas and the postponements of the senior A final and the lower intermediate final have extended the season.

Bride Rovers and close neighbours Castlelyons had been all geared up for the senior A final last Saturday night and their backroom teams would have had work to do this week to get them back in the groove again.

This had the potential to be the best of the five county finals and that hasn’t changed.

In fact, the extra week might have been beneficial if there had been injury concerns in either camp.

Without doubt, this is a novel final pairing, neighbouring parishes, players who attended the same schools and who, maybe, even socialise together in the off season.

There’s not much that they don’t know about each other as they seek to gain the bragging rights that will carry them through the long winter nights ahead.

The prize is immense, as it is in all county finals, but maybe more so this time: The opportunity to dine again at the top table of Cork senior hurling.

When new Premier senior champions Sarsfields came in from the cold in 2008, it was Bride Rovers that they edged out in the final.

Their subsequent success story is well documented and the Rathcormac team back then were very close to stopping them in their tracks, a point the margin at the final whistle.

Now, they are 60 minutes away from becoming a top-table club again and are probably the slightest of fancies to do so tomorrow night.

But the task awaiting them is formidable, all the more so because it’s a local derby and the importance of coming out on the right side of those type of games cannot be emphasised enough.

IMMENSE

Similar to all the other grades in Cork hurling, the Senior A championship is desperately difficult to win. Firstly, having to be in the first two in your group is an immense task in itself.

Bride Rovers have already been involved in a local derby encounter, losing to Watergrasshill at the group stage, while Castlelyons won their three group assignments and defeated a fancied Blarney in the semi-final.

Bride Rovers had another East Cork team, Carrigtwohill, to deal with in a much-anticipated semi-final and both teams are deserving of this tilt at the ultimate prize.

There’s a fine blend of youth and experience in both camps, Castlelyons are backboned by the Barry brothers, with Jack fronted by brother Colm in the number three shirt.

There’s the experience of another set of brothers, Colm and Anthony Spillane, alongside Alan Fenton and three-goal semi-final hero David Morrisson and, of course, arguably Cork’s best defender this year, Niall O’Leary.

The Roche brothers, Eoin and Brian, have been outstanding for Bride Rovers throughout the campaign, while Cillian Tobin, Conleith Ryan, and Adam Walsh have been at the forefront in all their games.

Bride Rovers teams have always been known for their resilience.

It’s in their DNA to be that way, teak-tough opponents who will battle to the death.

Castlelyons teams possess similar traits and that is why this final, tomorrow night, carries so much appeal.

Losing to the Hill has probably galvanised Bride Rovers all that bit more and if they emerge victorious they may well view that loss as a turning point.

Both teams were losing semi-finalists last season and the Rovers lost out at the same stage the previous season.

When two very rural clubs collide in a county final, there is never a shortage of sheer endeavour and honesty and the great likelihood is that very little will separate them at the last whistle and this is the type of game that might well require another day out.

Whatever transpires, one thing is certain: East Cork will have another club playing Premier SHC hurling next season.

The Imokilly division lost Erin’s Own for a season, at least, after their relegation playoff to Newtownshandrum.

But such is the strength of the game in East Cork that when one is forced to step out there is another ready to take their place.

SPECIAL

Last weekend, it was all about Sarsfields regaining the PSHC title, but the victories of Ballinhassig in the Premier IHC final and Kilbrittain in the Premier Junior final deserve special mention, too. Both are clubs with a massive hurling tradition, producing quality players and both were deserving winners.

Ballinhassig have emerged victorious from arguably the toughest grade, because the entire playing field is level. 

Ballincollig, to be fair, produced a fine effort, but, as a unit, the Carrigdhoun team had that bit more.

Ger Collins was the standout player in last Sunday’s curtain-raiser, while the authority and distribution of brother Patrick were key, too.

Conor Desmond was very influential, as well, for a club that, year in, year out, are never too far away.

Evan Cullinane arrived off the bench to rifle over some huge points and that great warrior, Fintan O’Leary, led by example in winning his third county medal in the grade. That’s some going by any standards.

The first final of last weekend featured Kilbrittain and the Glen in the Premier Junior decider and it turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable contest that went right to the wire.

The West Cork team prevailed by a point and just about deserved to shade it.

The Glen outfit contained a good few players who had played senior with the club, who had won medals at that high level, but Kilbrittain dug just that bit deeper.

Mark Hickey, Philip Wall, and Ronan Crowley contributed 16 points of their 22-point winning tally, while, similarly, Gearoid Mulcahy, Evan Murphy, and Conor Dorris put up the grand tally of 2-10 for the city club.

With Kilbrittain securing the victory, it all meant that rural clubs have won the three hurling finals played thus far and they will win the remaining two as well. 

For now anyway, rural clubs dominate the Cork club hurling landscape.

While all those games under the jurisdiction of the County Board are going on, back in the various divisions the Junior A clubs have been getting on with their business. Last Sunday, we had Ballinora winning out in Mid Cork for the fifth time on the trot, which was a superb achievement.

Ballinascarthy did the business in the Carbery division, while Castlemagner made it three in a row in Duhallow, another very fine achievement.

Na Piarsaigh and Whitechurch must do it all again in the city, while the superb Clonmult Memorial Park in Midleton might well be worth a visit next Sunday for the collision of Bride Rovers’s second team and Cobh in the East Cork final.