Seandún keen to get back in championship action after long gap

Seandún already have a win under their belt in the 2026 Co-op SuperStores Divisons/Colleges Hurling Championship, but manager John O’Callaghan would have preferred if it was achieved on the pitch.

The city division’s participation in this year’s competition is just the second time they have entered since 2010 and it bridges a five-year gap back to 2021, when they lost to Imokilly in the final.

That they are involved certainly bucks the wider trend, though: Duhallow had been due to face Muskerry in the unseeded phase but had to withdraw and then Avondhu suffered a similar fate shortly before the scheduled fixture with Seandún a fortnight ago.

The winners of that game were due to progress to a meeting with Carbery, with Ovens the venue at 7.30pm – a semi-final spot against Muskerry is up for grabs.

O’Callaghan was involved in 2021, when Paul McCarthy managed the side, and he is delighted to be part of the renewal effort this time around.

“How it came about was that, last year, we put together a Seandún U15 team and it was a great success,” he said.

“They did well and then Mick Buckley and Eddie Murphy from the city division board got on to me to know would I get involved in trying to revive a senior team.

“We were hoping to get under-age teams in place and then bring them on to senior level, so we said that we’d start off a senior team again this year and see how it works out. That’s where it came from.”

Putting together a squad was not hugely difficult – the challenge has been in being able to convene too often.

“In fairness to the players, they’ve been outstanding,” he said, “but there’s so much going on with hurling and football at club level, and then injuries too, it’s nearly impossible to meet up regularly.

“The lads have been really committed – we had 29 that would have been togged out for the match against Avondhu if it had gone ahead, though obviously we got the walkover.”

And, while it meant progression, Seandún were disappointed at missing out on the chance to get out on the pitch representing the city.

“We were ready to go but then obviously the call came the night before that the game wouldn’t be going ahead,” O’Callaghan said.

“It was hard on the lads but in fairness everyone knuckled down and we went and trained in Ballinlough on the Wednesday night – in fairness to the city division, they’ve been very good in terms of providing facilities.”

The backing from the division has been mirrored by the level of investment in the project from those comprising O’Callaghan’s backroom team.

“In fairness, there’s good fellas behind me,” he said.

“We have Jason Daly from St Vincent’s, James Galvin from Passage, Tomás Kelleher of Brian Dillon’s and Ger Maher from Delanys, who was with that Seandún U15 team.

“It’s a good group and we’re going to do the best we can.”

A win tonight would afford more opportunities to develop and improve, which is why O’Callaghan is so keen to ensure a positive result, albeit against a Carbery side targeting the same thing.

“That’s the thing,” he said.

“I played for Seandún in my day and that’s why I agreed to get involved. I played junior hurling for Whitechurch and this was an opportunity to play senior hurling and that’s what we want to provide for lads.

“If we win on Tuesday night, we’ll get another month of it and that can only help the players further.”