'We're never beaten': Kanturk's comeback kings strike again to set up final with Éire Óg

There was relief, pride and a touch of defiance in the voice of Kanturk manager Eoghain O'Connor after his side produced a remarkable comeback to defeat Carbery Rangers 1-18 to 1-14 after extra time in a gripping McCarthy Insurance Group SAFC semi-final at a wet and windy Macroom on Sunday evening.

Twice Kanturk looked beaten. Twice they found a way back.

Trailing by two points in the closing stages of normal time, they dug deep to force extra time before eventually taking control when it mattered most, outscoring Carbery Rangers in the second period of extra time to book a county final meeting with Éire Óg at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh in three weeks.

For O'Connor, the dramatic victory was another example of the resilience that has become a hallmark of this Kanturk group.

"When I took the team over last year, I knew the players involved," he said.

"The majority are dual players but any fella that's not a dual player is putting in a full effort as well. We're never beaten. That's our motto. We’re never beaten.

"Even today, we used over 20 players and there are still two or three fellas disappointed. That's the winning of our game, to be honest. It's a panel game and I probably harp on about it all the time, but you can't win games at most levels now with just 15 players."

Having fallen short in big knockout games in recent seasons, O'Connor felt those experiences helped his side remain composed when the pressure intensified late on.

There was a bit of experience there. We've been there before. 

"We haven't got over the line in the last few years.

"Without being negative on it, we've won nothing yet, so it won't be a successful year if we don't get the job done. Our objective at the start of the year was to get up to Premier Senior. I think it's over 100 years since Kanturk were Premier Senior in football and that's our goal."

Kanturk appeared to have more energy in reserve as the contest wore on and O'Connor credited the work done behind the scenes, particularly by strength and conditioning coach Seán Murphy and the club's wider management setup.

"In fairness, we've a new S&C coach this year, Seán Murphy, and he's been excellent for us," O'Connor states.

"Tommie Carroll is involved as well with the stats and GPS side of things. The two lads have been brilliant."

While Grantas Bucinskas was influential on the scoreboard, O'Connor was eager to highlight the collective effort that got Kanturk over the line.

"It was a real team performance," he said.

"Every one of them left everything out there. Our motto every game is that if we give everything we've got and it's not good enough, then it's not good enough.

"But thankfully it's been good enough so far this year.

"We have a panel of around 29 players and every one of them has contributed. A lot of those lads have played league football and that's made a huge difference for us this season."

Dual diamonds

O'Connor also pointed to the example of fellow dual clubs, including St Finbarr's, whose Premier Senior footballers secured a semi-final victory on Saturday night.

"Watching the Barrs win against Clonakilty after playing hurling six days earlier against us gave us a lift," he admits. 

It shows these dual clubs can make it work. 

"Again, though, it's the panel that wins it."

Attention now turns to a novel county final pairing against Éire Óg.

"We know Éire Óg are a very good outfit.

"We played them last year and there was very little between us. We lost narrowly. We've watched a lot of them and they've probably watched a lot of us.

"Our supporters will give us massive backing and all we can do is prepare as best we can and give everything we've got. If that's good enough, it's good enough."