John Fintan Daly's verdict: Patrick Doyle is the best goalkeeper in Cork

John Fintan Daly’s side were knocking two-pointers over with ease in their Tom Creedon Cup final win over Naomh Abán, but the promising signs from their win weren’t limited to what came up front.

With four players on inter-county duty, opportunities have popped up for players outside the championship XV, one of those being goalkeeper Damien Browne, who was excellent against the Ballyvourney side.

Having not just two, but three strong goalkeeping options is something that John Fintan Daly has enjoyed, and he feels their number one is also Cork’s number one.

“Our goalkeeper, Patrick Doyle for me, is the best goalie in Cork, has been the best goalie in Cork for the last few years,” Daly said. “He's not just a goalkeeper. He's a lot more than that.

“He organises all the kickout strategies, it was he who organised the strategies for tonight.

“And the two sub keepers, we intended actually to play them for a half each,” he explained. “But Damien Browne played so well in the first half, it was very hard to take him off. And we didn't want to risk putting in a sub keeper cold. So we left Damien on. But Daniel Murphy, the sub keeper, is equally good.” Doyle wasn’t the only absentee in the win over Naomh Abán, though.

“Not having Patrick Doyle, Patrick Doyle is a huge part of our success,” Daly said. “And then you look at Daniel O’Mahony, at centre back, you look at Timmy O'Connor, he’s injured.

“You go up the field, you look at Michael McSweeney around the middle of the field, you look at Eoghan McSweeney, you look at our high-flying, full-forward, Niall O'Connor.

“You look at Michael Mahoney, cornerback, Paul O'Connor, like, there're a lot of good players and it was great to have a performance there without any of them for this.”