St Finbarr's hurlers off to a strong start in league as Sars beaten for second time at home

An impressive win for St Finbarr’s at Riverstown on Thursday night.

The Barrs, led by Ben Cunningham and Jack Cahalane but short a host of top players through duty, were 2-17 to 0-19 victors over the reigning Red FM Division 1 league champions Sarsfields.

The Togher outfit have only tasted defeat on one occasion in their league campaign to date and look in good shape under new manager Paudie Murray.

For coach Kevin Murray, who is also involved with the Cork footballers, this was another true test for his side against a quality Sars side.

“It was a very decent display with the group of lads we had as they applied themselves very well and I think the main thing for us is trying to play a good brand of hurling,” said Murray.

The quality of Sars made this result that bit sweeter.

Obviously we came up against the county champions who are a very good hurling side, but I am sure when we assess the game it was our effort over the hour that will stand out."

Attitude and application are two traits that the Barrs coaching staff want to see in every game.

“We want to see our players express themselves and at the moment there is freshness in our squad but look tonight will count for nothing come championship time as we were down players and likewise for Sars.” 

Having key players missing can sometimes be difficult come championship time.

“Sometimes getting your key players back into groove of the way we want to play can be tricky and remember we have up to eight or 10 players to come into the squad and we also have two players out with ACLs so you could say we have a decent squad to choose from.” 

Murray knew coming to Riverstown was a good test for the team.

“We knew we were going to be stretched and going to get tested to show us where we really are and that’s the great thing about this league it shows many things you need to know about your players.

“Having players mentally and physically stretched is a great thing for players to experience and naturally mistakes are going to be made and even despite this win we made a few errors that we hope can be erased for our next game.” 

The next league game for St Finbarr’s will see them host Killeagh and Murray believes that will be another good test.

“Our lads will go back to football after this before we are back on action against Killeagh in a fortnight but that’s the way it is at the Barrs.” 

The role of dual players can be demanding.

“There is little doubt there is pressure on those players but we do our best to manage this with player load and in our club we have a great relationship with the football manager Brian Roche.” 

SLOW START

The mood in the Sars camp was one of disappointment as selector Cian McCarthy reflected on his sides second home defeat.

“I thought we started slow but once we got into to it some of our hurling was okay but we allowed the Barrs get two goals that could have been avoided and with us missing two goal opportunities we paid the price."

Both sides were missing key players, but McCarthy is adamant his squad will have to move up a few gears in the coming weeks for their championship games.

“The league is always a good test for players to stamp their place to get in the championship squad and tonight was a true test against a Barrs side who moved the ball with pace.

“No excuses we haven’t trained on the Sars pitch yet and have very little hurling done so you will see improvement in the coming months."