Kilbrittain's man of the match Ronan Crowley hits the right notes

Ronan Crowley is usually in charge of the music in the Kilbrittain dressing-room.

As he spoke to the media under the Cusack Stand, the speaker that his mother Selina had got him for his birthday could be heard blaring, though he was lamenting that it was the wrong playlist.

Rein Me In by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean was one of the tunes he name-checked as a squad favourite but on Saturday there was no reining in the wing-forward, with four points from play yielding the man of the match award.

He knew just how much of a battle it had been against an Easkey side that continued to put it up to Kilbrittain even after a contentious red card for Andrew Kilcullen.

“It was so physically tough,” Crowley said.

“They hit us with everything in the first half and the second half, and we weren't blowing in the first half, but Joe [Ryan, manager] said there's a lot more in us and there was. I think you saw that in the second half.

“It felt like we did none of the hurling in the first half and we were still only a point down, so that's kind of a good sign, too, if you're coming in at half-time and you're down a point and don't feel like you're playing well.

“Joe just kind of pepped us up, he said, ‘We're not hurling near what we can do’ so we kind of took that on board.

“We were better in the second half, but we were definitely not our best. We just dogged it out in the end.”

It could be said that they made their own luck, having been knocked out of the championship in 2024 after two draws in three group games.

“Exactly, yeah, last year we felt like the ball wasn't dropping for us at all,” Crowley said, “especially in the Barryroe game with a draw and that Nemo game, but just this year, in fairness, we seem to have every bit of luck.

“I don't know is that Oisín looking down from above and giving us the bit of motivation but, in fairness, it’s unreal.

“It's unbelievable. Every single person in the village has been buying into it and it shows how strong Kilbrittain is as a community.”

And the bond was as strong, if not stronger, within the panel.

“Philip was saying before the game, it's like having 30 brothers on the team,” Crowley said.

“We're all so close, especially this year, having a younger captain as well in Philip. It just kind of brings everyone together between the older guys and the younger guys.

“You’d be looking up to the likes of Dec and Tom Harrington and Nick [O’Donovan] and seeing them on the bench, ready to come on, gives you a lift.

“Tom, in fairness, comes up to me before every match and tells me it’ll be my day and half of them aren’t my day!”

Thankfully for Crowley and Kilbrittain, Saturday was his and their day.