Mallow manager Andrew Cashman: Character and injection of youth will stand to us going forward

Andrew Cashman hailed the character of his Mallow players after they finished their Cork Premier SFC season on a high in Kilworth on Sunday. 

Although it was their conquerors St Finbarr’s, who progressed to the quarter-finals, the north Cork club can take the epic 1-15 to 2-11 win as a good sign of things to come.

Achieved too without injured county star Matty Taylor.

“It was 2-1 to nothing after about six minutes against ominous opposition like the Barrs and that is not a place you want to find yourself,” the manager said.

“But it is credit to our lads in terms of their resilience and grit, they battled and battled.

“We know we have plenty of quality ourselves and we can get a few scores and get at them so that was the name of the game, keep fighting. Every ball mattered today and we knew that from the start.

“There was jeopardy in every direction. Mathematically we could have qualified if we beat them by 10 points and obviously if the result went in the other direction we were in a relegation battle.

In a way, that made things very simple for us, every single ball mattered. So it was all about attitude and intensity and the lads brought that in spades.

“You have to, against a team like the Barrs, they are top class. I know they were down a few today. But they’ll come good again for the rest of the championship.

“So, delighted for the lads because it has been a tough year. A lot of things have gone against us in terms of injuries, high-profile injuries, and guys getting caught abroad. It didn’t work out for us, it was one of those seasons, so to finish on a massive positive note when you’re fighting for your life is hugely encouraging.

“A lot of pride in it.” 

The match-winning point came from the boot of Kevin Sheehan.

“Kevin got fouled, I think we were on advantage. Seán McDonnell had the original foul that gave us the advantage and in fairness to Kevin, being a smart old fox that he is, he knew he could throw caution to the wind and take his man on.

“There is no other guy I would rather have standing over that free than Kevin, he’s been around the block. I think last weekend when he came on for the hurlers, it was his 100th championship performance across both codes. That’s the guy you want standing over a ball like that, when everything is on the line.” 

New energy

Thankful to the injection of youth as well.

“Absolutely.

“Pádraig Britton at wing-back today, wearing the Mallow number seven jersey, carries a lot of history (Matty Taylor’s number). What Podge has done for us this year. 

"I hope the Cork set-ups are looking at Podge, he has been our best performer consistently for the year. He kicked two points from play and must have had four turnovers, he consistently bursts his GPS with effort levels. 

He needs to be looked at in terms of development squads because his application and his quality is there.

“Gearóid (Daly), Trevor (Kiely) and these guys of the same ilk, and Cathal Mullins up top are embedded in our group a couple of years now, so yes they might look inexperienced but they certainly don’t shirk a challenge. They’ve been brilliant for our club to give us new energy going forward.”