David Barry and Bride Rovers ready for step up to Division 2

When Bride Rovers capped a marvellous comeback to beat Castlelyons in last year’s Co-op SuperStores SAHC final, David Barry was the player landing the winning score.

It was a brilliant end to a season where he had shone at midfield and in attack for the Rathcormac/Bartlemy club, but even he admitted to being a bit surprised with such an outcome, having plied his trade in defence for so long.

“I would have always been corner-back in school,” he says.

“And even under-age playing with the Rovers, I would have always been a defender.

“Whatever it was Brian Murphy saw in me, he probably just knew a good corner-back and I wasn’t one!

“When I was in Colman’s, I did play midfield a bit, but being in the forwards was totally new.

“To be fair, a lot of it was just Brian putting the faith in me and then I was like, ‘Jeez, I can play in the forwards.’ 

“Then, it was a case of going down to the pitch and doing work in my own time. It was great and it was definitely a big learning curve for me to be playing kind of in the forwards and midfield because I got a bit of both.

“Sometimes, I kind of find myself wondering if I do pass the ball too often, but it's something we do try to work on in training, like get the ball to the right man in the right position.

“I was lucky enough to be the man in the right position in the country final.” 

The championship victory was built on the foundation of a RedFM Hurling League Division 3 win, beating premier senior side Newcestown after extra time in the final.

Valley Rovers provide the opposition as the East Cork club begin their Division 2 campaign on Sunday (12 noon). Barry, an agricultural science student in UCC, feels that the make-up of the second tier should stand to Bride Rovers ahead of the premier senior championship.

“You can get a nice mix,” he says.

“The premier senior teams, they'll be your tester teams – they'll be the teams that, if you get a couple of results against them, you'll be full of confidence.

“Then, the senior A teams and the premier intermediate teams, there's not much of a difference, the step up isn't big anymore.

“I can remember going to games when I was younger, in the old senior format, it was like 24-5 teams and there wasn't much competition, really, until about the quarter-final stage, whereas now there's competition from the start.”