'He made us better people': Ben Hegarty on Keith Ricken's impact on Cork minors

A couple of weeks on from Cork’s All-Ireland minor football triumph, Ben Hegarty is still trying to process what he and his teammates achieved.

The Ballinora forward was central to a campaign that delivered Munster glory after extra time against Kerry and an All-Ireland title secured in the most dramatic fashion, recovering from nine points down to beat Tyrone. Even now, he admits the scale of it all feels unreal.

“It still hasn’t sunk in,” he says. 

“It’s unbelievable. It’s probably the best achievement of my life so far, and it probably will be.

“It was an unbelievable game right until the end. We knew coming into it that Tyrone would be very good. We weren’t under any illusions. They knew what we’d be like too. Once we got that momentum, we just went with it and drove on.” 

Cork endured plenty of setbacks during the final, and the dressing room message at half-time was simple rather than tactical.

“There wasn’t much information,” Hegarty recalls. 

“It was just: hang in there. And if we get a sniff, we’ll go at them. We won’t be holding back. There was nothing to lose. As long as we put our best foot forward, we could go home with our heads held high.” 

Those experiences of tight games earlier in the season proved invaluable. Cork had already survived extra time in the Munster final against Kerry and held off Derry in a tense All-Ireland semi-final.

“Those games really stood to us,” he said. 

“Kerry pushed us all the way in the Munster final. Derry had a very good purple patch and it was nip and tuck into the last ten minutes in that game. 

"We got used to that pressure. And the crowd helped us too – we had great support in every game.” 

When the final whistle blew in the All-Ireland decider, Hegarty didn’t have to think about what came next.

“I ran straight to Kieran O’Shea,” he says with a smile. 

“It was relief, yeah, but just overall joy. Happy with everything. Happy to get over the line.” 

Cork’s season had begun quietly, with little external expectation. But inside the group, the ambition was clear from the start.

“At the beginning of the year, win the All-Ireland — that was the aim. We didn’t really know what other teams were like, and they didn’t know what we were like.

“It wasn’t until the Leinster Development League that we started getting games under our belt. Even the game down in Tralee, where we beat Kerry, that was when we felt: we actually have a chance here.

“We played very well that day. Everyone made an impact. We were over the moon afterwards. It was a big win for us down in Kerry and we gained momentum from it. We always knew Kerry would come back at us, and they did in the Munster final, but we were delighted to get over the line.” 

Throughout the campaign, Cork’s resilience was a defining trait. Much of that, Hegarty says, came from manager Keith Ricken.

“He’s given so much to us. He’s instilled a mentality in everyone that’s unbelievable. He’s given so much to us as people, not just players.

“At the start of the year, it was never about how we were going to play football. It was about what men we were going to be. We weren’t 17-year-olds – we were supposed to be 19-year-olds. From there we grew, and grew together.

“Everyone would stop talking when he came into the room. He used to tell us to enjoy ourselves, not just be there for the seriousness of it. He’s a top man.” 

Back home in Ballinora, pride in Hegarty’s achievement has been immense.

“They were very proud. I had great support. I couldn’t have asked any more of them. Loads of best of luck messages. They supported me in every way possible.

“Every coach I had in Ballinora coming up through underage used a different method. I was well looked after and well taught all the way up.

“Good structure the whole way up. There’s a lot coming through for the adult teams in the coming years.”