Team-mates help Seámus Harnedy to stay feeling young

In terms of a resumption of normal service, there are few stronger examples in hurling than Cork’s Séamus Harnedy scoring four points on his return to action.

Saturday’s two-point win over Galway at Pearse Stadium was the St Ita’s man’s first start in red since June’s Munster SHC final, as a hamstring injury would rule him out of the All-Ireland semi-final and limit him to a substitute appearance in the final.

In Salthill, Harnedy and half-forward partners Darragh Fitzgibbon and Shane Barrett were to the fore as Cork overcame a slow start to get on top before securing a second league victory.

The trio combined for 13 points from play and, while Harnedy contributed a quartet, he was not too preoccupied with the figure next to his name.

“Do you know what, fellas were very selfless,” he said.

“We're all on the one road here as the Cork squad, and a bit of hurt after last year – it's not about who gets the scores or anything, it's about getting Cork in front at the end of the game, by means of good performance.

“If you're the fella to put it over the bar, so be it; if you're not, then so be it as well.

“It’s great, the lads off the bench made a huge impact – Tim [O’Mahony] and [Brian] Hayes did well and the boys that were there in the first half as well, putting in savage shifts,

“It was a very good workout for our squad and a few lads were playing Fitzgibbon during the week as well, so some had a lot of minutes on the clock, other fellas like myself needed a few minutes!

“Thrilled to be just up here and getting a few minutes on the clock.”

With Patrick Horgan retired, Harnedy – who will be 36 in July – is now the ‘father of the squad’.

While it might mean a slightly different strength-and-conditioning approach, otherwise he feel it’s not an issue and, if anything, tries to feed off the young players.

“All I can say is the management gave me a few more weeks off than the other lads, but it’s probably going to be a rougher for me at the start!” he laughed.

“I was thrilled at that, they gave me an opportunity to get the body right and get any nicks that I had ironed out, so, I'm delighted to compete with the boys,

“They're very enthusiastic and they keep you young to a certain extent. Thrilled to be back involved this year.

“We've a long way to go, every game in Division 1A is going to be tough but I’m thoroughly enjoying it and just taking it day by day.”

Saturday’s win was a different animal to the 14-point breeze in the opener against Waterford, but no less satisfying.

“Galway have a very experienced squad,” Harnedy said, “they’ve some All-Ireland winners there – you've got Daithí Burke at six and Pádraic Mannion at five and there's some very experienced campaigners around the whole squad.

“They’ve some very, very fine hurlers, and you know, we knew it was going to be a very tough place to go. They make Salthill here, Pearse Stadium, a very difficult place and you could see the first 15, 20 minutes, they dominated.

“They beat us in breaks, they were working the ball out a bit too easy and we were struggling so I was delighted the way we hung in there in the arm-wrestle.

“I think we got four or five points in a row there just before half-time and it kind of flattered us but, look, I think we were better in the second half, we worked a lot harder, we were more efficient with the ball and whatnot.

“We’re thrilled with the workout, and regardless of the outcome, it was a well-fought contest by both sides.”

And next up for Cork is a home clash with Tipperary on Saturday. The game will be a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland final, in which Cork succumbed to a second-half collapse, but Harnedy doesn’t feel that a league match with the Premier County will be targeted any more than usual.

“A hundred percent,” he said, “it’s only the beginning of February so there’s places up for grabs and we’re only focusing on ourselves now at the moment and how each one of us can get better.

“Whatever happens next week won't define our year, so we'll just go out, we'll have a cut, we'll enjoy it and whatever the outcome of it is, that’s the outcome.

“It’s just 36 of us training hard and just competing for the jerseys, that's the way it has to be and long may it last.”