Premier SFC: Clonakilty proving an enjoyable venue for St Finbarr's

It might be an idea for St Finbarr’s to put in a special request for all future McCarthy Insurance Group Premier SFC quarter-finals to be played in Clonakilty.

A year ago, a six-goal salvo saw them dethrone Castlehaven en route to reclaiming the Andy Scannell Cup. This time, form in the group stage was patchy as they qualified with one win and two losses but on Sunday four goals in the opening eight minutes of the second half helped them to power past Carbery and into the last four.

Next up is a tasty encounter with Clonakilty, who have been one of the best teams in the championship this year, and for Barrs selector Ian Keeler it was about resetting for the knockout stage and focusing on what lay ahead.

“I think one of the things we spoke about, we had a very mixed year in the league, and a lot of players were away with Cork and there were a lot of injuries.

“Even going into the Mallow game, the third game, like Brian [Hayes] and Ian [Maguire] and a lot of guys that were still out and I suppose we probably knew, going into the last game that day, that things would probably have to go very badly.

“That was probably a bit of a safety net, but we still weren't happy with the display.

“I think the one thing we have is experience enough to know that it all started with today and knockout football.

“Coming down here last year against the Haven, we put a big display and it kicked us on for the year, so we spoke about that all week – ‘Remember what happened last year and it set us up,’ and I think the lads took that on board and it was a great display.”

Playing against the wind in the first half, the Barrs benefited from a six-point showing by captain Steven Sherlock to send them in leading by 0-12 to 0-8 at the break.

With the elements behind them, the message was to make sure that they didn’t rely on the wind to put the ball over the bar. Such an approach yielded goal chances and the Barrs took them with relish.

“Yeah, look, I think first half was a big one,” Keeler said, “going in four points up after playing against that wind, it set us up well.

“We spoke at half-time – just because we had the wind behind us, not to be shooting onside, working the scores.

“Obviously, the first ten minutes of the second half – you don't plan for that, but when it happened, in fairness to the boys, when they saw the opportunities, they took them.

“Ten minutes into the second half, we probably had the world done, really.”

Following on from the hurling win over Imokilly last weekend, it means that the Barrs continue to fight on two fronts.

Given the demands on those fulfilling the dual mandate, it was a luxury to be able to withdraw key players in the second half, ensuring that they are at their best for the Premier SHC semi-final against Kanturk on Sunday.

Keeler knows that the success of one code feeds off the other.

“The dual players obviously have a big input into both teams and when you're winning, the mentality keeps high.

“Guys like the training and coming out and look, we're in a good place now on both sides of it.

“Especially for the dual players, they've got a lot on their plate.

“When you can do it, you can do it and just today it worked out that we were able to do it.”