Traolach Martin: Páirc Uí Chaoimh final ‘brilliant for the lads’ as CBC chase O'Callaghan Cup glory

On Friday evening at 8pm, Christian Brothers College meet Gaelcholáiste Mhuire AG in the O’Callaghan Cup decider at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh. For both schools, it’s a big one – a chance to end the year on a high after missing out on Harty Cup knockout places to St Joseph’s Tulla and Our Lady’s Templemore.

CBC, managed by Traolach Martin, Tony Wall and Darragh O’Callaghan, carry an extra edge into this final after Monday’s Dean Ryan Cup defeat to Ardscoil Rís.

“The O’Callaghan Cup's always a funny one in that the Harty is obviously priority,” says Traolach Martin. “The O’Callaghan Cup, it's a great competition to be in, and we've been in I think 5 of the last 7 finals.” 

This year marks a first for the competition, the final is being held at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, after the football equivalent, the Simcox Cup.

“Even more important in fairness, since Daniel Lane took over the colleges stuff as part of the county board this year, playing it off before Christmas just adds so much,” Martin says. “We got to the last two finals, I think we played them three months after we were knocked out of Harty.

“The lads would have gone back to their clubs, you can't keep them, it's very hard to keep momentum and interest going.

“But if, going forward, if this is played before Christmas, it's brilliant, particularly if you do qualify for a Harty quarter-final, it's a brilliant game to go through. Even then, Páirc Uí Chaoimh just adds to it, so hopefully this is something that works.

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“For the lads at that age group, unless you’re on a Cork minor team, you’re not going to get much of a chance of playing on the main pitch there, so it's brilliant for the lads.” 

For Christians, the Harty campaign didn’t go as planned. Defeats in the opening two rounds left them eliminated before their final outing against Tulla, making this final a welcome shot at redemption.

“The first day against Templemore we were quite poor in the first half, and that probably came back to haunt us,” he said. “We were a good bit down, we came back, played well.

“We played pretty well against the AG in the next game, but we were out after two games, so I think that's the first time since we went up playing Harty, that we didn't make the quarter final stage.

“We had a really good record there, and that was bound to go at some stage. It was probably the first half of the first day, where we probably didn't play that well, and I think as a team we've improved a huge amount since.” 

It would be a shame for the effort Christians put into the Harty to count for nothing, but their O’Callaghan Cup run gives them a chance to end the season with some silverware.

“I think it’s four years since we won it, and it's not something you set out at the start of the year to win,” he admits. “But we've had wins over Midleton CBS and St Coleman’s, whenever you beat Midleton and St Coleman’s in any competition, you've done something right.

“For the lads, it would be nice if we could get a win there, to beat probably the three big Cork schools in a row would be a big achievement at any grade, so it would be nice to come away with a cup after that.”