St Finbarr's up and running under Paudie Murray: 'One of the key messages was we want to bring new players through'

St Finbarr’s manager Paudie Murray couldn’t help but smile as he marked his first game in charge of the club with a 0-22 1-18 victory over Blackrock in RedFM Hurling League Division 1 at Neenan Park on Sunday morning.

The former Cork camogie manager has recently taken over from Ger Cunningham, and he saw his side edge out their city rivals in an entertaining encounter that came down to the final few seconds.

The Rockies were chasing the game when Robbie Cotter converted a penalty and PJ Lenihan split the posts from play to cut the gap to the bare minimum. The Barrs held out to take their first win of the campaign.

“Obviously you'd have to be quite happy with that, we've little done but I thought our attitude was really, really good,” Murray said.

“With what we're trying to ask them to do and we were conscious of the fact that, you know, this is the first game. I think we've only done two sessions. So, you know, I'm obviously happy.” 

This was St Finbarr’s first game since their defeat to Sarsfields in last year’s Premier Senior Hurling Championship semi-final but there were no signs of rust after a prolonged winter as they hit the ground running inside 10 minutes.

Ben Cunningham tallied 0-14 including seven frees and two 65s. That was his first game since featuring for Cork in a victory over Clare in the Munster Senior Hurling League as injury sidelined him from Fitzgibbon Cup duty with UCC.

Murray was full of praise for the former U20 All-Ireland winner, especially after a second half that saw the classy forward hit 10 points.

“I thought he looked really good, particularly in the second half with the way he just started,” he said.

The guy hasn't played that many games. So it's important that he does. But he looked really, really fresh. 

"And, you know, we couldn’t have done without him.” 

Cunningham finished off a number of slick Barrs moves from a side that blended youth with experience, including the likes of Jamie Burns, Billy Hennessy, John Wiggington Barrett and Aidan Barry.

Everyone worked in tandem, at both ends of the pitch, as the forwards came back to help the midfield when Blackrock went long from their puck-outs, while those in the middle of the park took a step back to stop the visitors from getting into goal-scoring positions.

POTENTIAL

Murray will be hoping to tap into more newcomers in the coming weeks. They won the Premier 2 Minor Hurling Championship last season with a side that included his nephew James Murray and Conor O'Donoghue, a Cork minor two years ago.

“Well, I suppose, when we met back three or four weeks ago I think one of the key messages was that we wanted to bring new players through.

“I feel we have them with the couple of minor teams that have done well over the last couple of years. So, you know, we are looking for that. And, you know, they have to step up at the same time.”