Robert Downey: The Glen ready to relish Kanturk test

Glen Rovers defender Robert Downey says the city side will relish the pressure of Sunday’s mouthwatering tie against Kanturk.

The sides meet in the Co-Op SuperStores Premier SHC Group 1 Round 2 clash in Castletownroche, with throw-in at 4pm.

The Glen lost out on the opening day to 14-man Blackrock, while Kanturk proved too strong for Fr O’Neill’s.

For the Blackpool outfit, the two-point defeat to Blackrock was a tough pill to swallow. 

“Naturally enough, we were very disappointed after Blackrock,” Downey says.

“Like every team, you want to win all three of your group games. Unfortunately, that’s not going to be the way it pans out now. We were disappointed with our work rate, our tackling and just our hunger.

“We have a massive test now at the weekend against Kanturk and one we are really looking forward to. If you go through their team, it’s hard to pick out any weakness, to be honest. They are great footballers too, so they are well able to run the ball.

“We will be up against it, but we are excited to play them at the same time.” 

It will be the sides’ first meeting in the championship since the 2023 relegation play-off, when Kanturk sent Glen Rovers down from the top tier for the first time in 97 years.

The Cork defender says that previous tie is water under the bridge.

“That was a few years ago, it’s in the past,” he said.

“Internally, they might be thinking that way, trying to get one over on us again. We have lots of new players who weren’t even eligible to play senior in 2023.

“Those boys don’t know anything about that. They will just go out and play. That’s the way we are looking at it. We have plenty of work done over the year. We trust in that and hopefully we can get over the line on Sunday.

“It’s a knockout game for us. There’s no ifs or buts — if we lose, we are looking at a relegation battle. No club wants to be in that situation. Castletownroche is a great venue, haven’t played there in a while. One of the best around, to be honest with you.” 

Former Cork coach Donal O’Rourke is on board with Glen Rovers this year, working under manager Tomás Mulcahy.

“The Glen have a way of playing that hasn’t changed over the years — a high tempo, really aggressive, and being in your face as much as we can.

“Donal has embraced that and tweaked things. Every coach is going to try and improve your hurling. The gameplan hasn’t changed too much.

“He’s trying to blend that attitude with organisation. We are very happy with him.” 

Glen Rovers are in their second season back in the top tier and are eager to push on after losing at the quarter-final stage to Midleton in 2025.

“We feel we have a good enough team to push on. You might look at a team and say, yeah, we should win that, and then when the game is played, there’s not a puck of a ball between the teams.

“You saw that in our game against Blackrock and Charleville beating Sarsfields. We are disappointed with how last year ended up and we are fed up of the disappointments. We want to drive on and see where it takes us.” 

- Robert Downey of Glen Rovers and Cork was at the launch of the 2026 Club Championship with Clubber. Clubber is covering live championship matches for 15 county boards this season, with over 2,000 live matches set to be streamed this year. To find out more, and to get your Clubber subscription, visit clubber.ie.