Cork Masters hope to use success as springboard
The Cork Masters hurling squad before the All-Ireland Challenge Cup final against Limerick.
All-Ireland Masters Hurling Challenge Cup glory was just reward for Cork, celebrating success in just the third year of participation at the over-40 grade.
A five-point victory over Limerick in the final at Athenry recently gave the Rebels victory in the second-tier competition, with Belgooly’s Barry Dwyer catching the eye as he landed eight points while captain Brian Tobin got four.
Manager Ross Cashman was naturally delighted with the outcome, not least because of the obstacles they had to overcome.
“We had had a bad injury midweek, Tadhg Healy broke his finger,” he said, “we lost another lad in the warm-up, Mark White tore his calf, but to be fair to them they kind of regrouped and we got on with it.
“We went two points down to start with but we went in half-time leading by 0-14 to 0-6 and we never let the lead slip there.
“They clawed back a few scores in the second half but we ended up winning by 0-20 to 1-12. There was a big support there as well, it was great to see it.”
It was a victory to be celebrated, while the hope is that it can be built upon.
“One of the lads, Rory O’Doherty, owns The Merchant bar in the city and we headed off in there Saturday night, so we had a good old craic,” Cashman said.
“They had never won anything before so it should be a really good springboard for them for next year.
“A lot of them are very competitive, so it's nice for them to get a win out of it too.”
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