'Foundations laid' as Derek Barrett's Cobh side start the new year with U21 glory

The final score wasn’t remotely reflective of the closeness that Cobh and Donoughmore’s U21 C Hurling Championship final held on Sunday for three quarters of the hour, but neither would anyone argue with the outcome.

Cobh were rampant in the final quarter as they outscored their opponents 4-7 to 0-0 in a 16-minute spell, to eventually win by 20 points.

But within it all, there’s promise, for the coming season. Cobh’s county title win came with plenty of crossover between the side that defeated Bride Rovers in the East Cork Junior A Hurling Championship final earlier in the season.

Cian McSweeney, Seán O’Connell, Jack Barrett, Stevie Dennis, Adam Lynch – and of course Timmy Wilk – were all starters in both final victories.

Derek Barrett ran the managerial role for both the junior and U21 teams, and it was a fitting finish to the 2025 season, and one that gives them plenty to look towards in 2026.

“It gives us great foundation,” Barrett said. “Don't get me wrong, we'll enjoy the next five or six weeks off, but there's no off-season, so these fellas will go back to the gym and keep themselves fit anyway.”

Eight goals is high-scoring in any context, even with the astroturf surface and the U21 C’s 13-a-side factor, but it is something that Barrett’s side have continued to exploit game after game, and they saved the very best until last.

SPACE

“We were conscious of all the space that’s there, and we have a team that predominantly, all year, we've got goals. We've got two or three goals in every game that we've played.

“We’ve fellas that are hungry and we're actually condoning them to go for scores and if they make their space and get a goal,” he explained. “But we actually got our goals, and the second half then when we came out in the first ten minutes, in fairness and we drove over a couple of points.

“We just kept our system and we kept our shape a bit better in the second half,” he said. “I think the scoreboard probably didn't reflect the fairness of the game it was. Donoughmore, to be fair, were very good.”

And Barrett is right, too. Donoughmore had just two wides at the interval and were well in the contest, David O’Connell and Paddy Murphy in particular had caused havoc in the opening quarter when the mid Cork men powered in front. Even when Cobh fought back to take the lead heading in at the break, nothing could be taken for granted.

“What I said at half-time, I know we were ahead, but we weren't happy with the way we were playing, and our shape and everything else,” Barrett outlined. “And that was down to Donoughmore.

“To be fair to them, they were attacking us in waves, but in the first ten minutes of the second half, we came to grips with that and fellas started believing in themselves again.

“We're hurling since February and these young fellas, in fairness to them, are a great bunch of young fellas.

“They're very close on and off the pitch and I said to them at half-time, ‘lads, you might not get to another country final, ever’. So I said, ‘now's the time, while we're here’, and to be fair to them, it was outstanding.”