Strong showing in league the perfect response for Erin's Own

A year ago, Erin’s Own were firmly in the mix for promotion from Division 2 of the RedFM Hurling League.

Unfortunately for the Caherlag side, they finished level on points with Midleton and Killeagh but lost out to their fellow east Cork sides on scoring difference.

While it’s impossible to say how the club’s championship campaign might have transpired with league success, they endured the disappointment of relegation and will be involved in the Co-op SuperStores SAHC when it commences next month.

They have given themselves a good preparation for life in the second tier, topping the table in the league and earning a spot in tomorrow night’s final against Bride Rovers in Lisgoold.

Brendan O’Riordan, who is in his first year in charge, has been pleased with the progress made and the return to Division 1, even if the end goal was never formally vocalised.

“I suppose it's kind of not something we really spoke about in terms of it being a target,” he says.

“It was very much just one game at a time. We tried to be consistent and try to be a little bit better every day, learn from our mistakes and things like that – we began to build up a bit of momentum then, I suppose.

“I remember we lost to Fr O’Neill’s down there a couple of years ago and we were relegated from Division 1. It was a lot of young players and then in the second year we struggled again, though a lot of young players were being given a chance.

“Last year, in fairness, they came very close – they had 14 points and they only narrowly missed out.

“So there was an element that we were kind of building towards it anyway over the last couple of years, but it wasn't something that we openly spoke about.”
It means that the hard work is already done, in a sense, before doing battle with the Rathcormac/Bartlemy side – who are themselves aiming to add to last year’s double victory in Division 3 and the senior A championship.

Equally, though, O’Riordan is keen for the team to take the opportunity to perform in a final, leaving them well-set for the start of the championship.

“I know we won the Division 1 league in 2014, James O'Flynn was the captain,” he says, “so for a lot of these guys, they haven’t experienced – haven’t had the opportunity – to win a title or to win a medal.

“This is an opportunity for them to do that; it’s not every day that you get the chance to get to a league final and win something.

“I know that, from a management perspective, the big thing is that it will give us a really good competitive match two weeks out from the championship.

“Every club is looking for that – they want to keep the standard up in training, get good competitive matches.

“It's hard to get competitive matches for over 60 minutes, so it will be good for both clubs – I’m sure that Bride Rovers would feel the same way about it.”