Eoghan Cronin: 'Sometimes Glen need to be backed into a corner' as Blackpool team target title

The buzz around Glen Rovers has been building and coach Eoghan Cronin believes Sunday's Co-Op SuperStores Premier SHC final against city rivals St Finbarr's is exactly where the club belongs after battling their way through a series of knockout tests.

The Glen face the Barrs in a mouthwatering city derby at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday (4pm), with the famous northside club hoping to complete a remarkable journey that began with a crucial win over Kanturk in the second group game.

"There's an unbelievable buzz around the place," Cronin said.

"I suppose it started with the Kanturk game where we had a fantastic win and there's been a buzz ever since. 

"This is what we pride ourselves on, having a great build-up, and we're looking forward to the final now."

Having had no margin for error, the Glen have effectively been playing knockout hurling for much of the championship and Cronin feels those high-pressure encounters helped shape the side's run to the decider.

"It has been do-or-die since losing to Blackrock in the first game and the lads have reacted to it. We thought going into the Midleton semi-final game that the knockout games would stand to us because we'd already come through three of them.

"I think the Glen in general, sometimes we need to be backed into a corner to fight our way out of it. It's a great place to be now and we've had some brilliant performances over the last six weeks or so."

The club's resurgence is all the more impressive given the lows experienced in 2023 when relegation brought an end to a difficult period following three consecutive county final defeats in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Cronin admits it was an especially painful chapter in the club's history but feels it ultimately sparked the rebuild that has brought Glen Rovers back to the county final stage.

"It was an unbelievably dark day," he states.

"It was a combination of a lot of things. We'd lost three finals and there was maybe a bit of burnout and fatigue that people can forget about. Things just went against us and then you come up against an unbelievable Kanturk team on the day.

"But we regrouped. Liam Martin, the chairman, led a lot of the work behind the scenes. There was a lot of soul-searching."

Sunday's clash carries added historical significance, with Glen Rovers and St Finbarr's meeting in a county senior hurling final for the first time since 1988.

"I was only born that year, so it's mad to think that I was only a few months old when the last final was played," Cronin says.

"But it's all about the present day. It's a great occasion for everybody. For both teams it will just be about playing the game and hoping to come out on the right side of it.

"The two best prepared teams usually rise to the top. The Barrs are very well prepared and we feel we're in a good place ourselves. Hopefully that can continue."