RedFM Hurling League: Ballinhassig building on county glory as they chase more success
Ballinhassig captain Ger Collins raises the Séamus Long Cup after defeating Ballincollig in last year's Co-op SuperStores Premier IHC final at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
Ballinhassig have taken the momentum from last year and really run with it – now they have a chance of a second piece of silverware within nine months.
Last year’s Co-op SuperStores Premier IHC winners have earned a second straight promotion, finishing in the top two of Division 3 of the RedFM Hurling League – and giving them a place in tonight’s final against Blarney in Ballincollig (7.30pm).
Manager John O’Sullivan has been heartened by how the team have built on the confidence gained from their 2025 odyssey.
“Last year was obviously great,” he said, “but you could have plateaued and been happy with where you were.
“You don’t know what way fellas are going to come back but they were eager to go again and we’ve had a good league.
“Division 3 was ultra-competitive – even going down to the last day, I think there were still about five teams in contention, depending on what way the results were going to go.
“I think it squeezed the best out of every team – we maybe lost one or two games that we thought we might have been targeting and we won some games where we possibly maybe thought we would be struggling.
“Last year, we finished third but we had a great game against Bride Rovers in our last match and it kind of set the foundation for the rest of the championship for us.
“The fact that this league has gone well for us as well, hopefully it's a good step in terms of prepping for championship.”
The springtime also offered the chance to give up-and-coming players the chance to taste competitive adult hurling.
“We have brought in a couple of younger guys, just to give them exposure to this level of hurling,” O’Sullivan said.
“I don’t know exactly how many players we’ve used but we have played a few 19-, 20-year-olds.
“They’re kind of at a funny time because a lot of them are sitting the Leaving Cert or away at college and then often on holidays too at this time of year!
“You only have them from March until the end of April or early May, so your time is limited but you do like to get some game-time into them – not necessarily for this year but to give them a feel for it for the future.”
Ballinhassig finished with seven wins and two defeats from their nine games, the same record as Blarney – strictly speaking, the mid-Cork side side finished top, having won the head-to-head meeting by four points – but Courcey Rovers and Inniscarra also challenged.
A 3-15 to 0-19 win away to Lisgoold in the final round of fixtures rubber-stamped Ballinhassig’s progression.
They are now in the nice position of knowing that promotion has been secured while also being able to use the decider as the ideal lead-in to the senior A championship, which commences for them with a local-derby clash against Courceys in Kilbrittain on Saturday, August 1.
“The hard work is done,” O’Sullivan said.
“It’s good that we have promotion back to Division 2 – I think we won a Division 4 league three or four years and we’ve had a couple of years in Division 3, which is good but we’re glad to be going back up.
“The final will be good preparation. Around a month ago, we did have a challenge match organised for this weekend but the change in competitiveness will be great.
“Blarney are one of the favourites every year for the senior A and it will be a tough and competitive hour.”
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