Ethan Twomey on why St Finbarr's and Glen Rovers always bring the best out of each other

Ethan Twomey of St Finbarr’s has seen the good and bad sides of games with Glen Rovers.

In SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh and Sunday, he and team-mates William Buckley, Ben Cunningham, Ciarán Doolan and Jack Cahalane will be reigniting an under-age rivalry with Eoin Downey, Eoin O’Leary, Luke Horgan and Lee Quilligan – the high progression rate underlining how the two clubs benefited from the competition.

“Growing up, we always had great games with them,” Twomey says.

“We always brought out the best in each other. We played them in a semi-final in 2020, Premier 1 minor, and then we beat Sars in the final.”

Rude awakening

That same year, Twomey had his first exposure to senior hurling and his championship debut was as a sub against the Glen at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

A 3-20 to 0-15 defeat set the tone for a short and disappointing campaign – county glory was only two years away for the Togher side but it must have felt like something that was far out of reach back then?

“It probably did alright, to be fair,” Twomey says.

“It was rude awakening to senior hurling alright. 

They were hopping that day and we were a fair bit off it.”

By the time the Seán Óg Murphy Cup was regained after what had become a 29-year wait, Twomey was an instrumental figure at midfield.

Given that the successful Barrs team in 2022 was relatively young, there was an expectation that more silverware would follow, but that would be to ignore the strength of the chasing pack.

“I think the Cork championship is so competitive, there's five or six teams every year that can win – the semi-finals are always different, the finals are always different,” Twomey says.

“This year is completely different to last year and the year before, it’s never the same two teams in the final. 

I think it’s just so competitive, it's so hard to even get to the semi-finals or to get out of the group.

“I wouldn't say it brings extra pressure, but there’s lots of pressure with every game with your club and it’s that the competition is massive, more than anything.”

Focused

While Twomey was part of the Barrs team that won the Premier SFC last year, this year he has kept the sole focus on the hurling, a decision largely influenced by professional commitments but no less difficult a call to make.

“Oh, yeah, definitely,” he says.

“The football last year was very good, but I packed it in this year. I had exams as well a few weeks ago and I had to get them done so that was another thought-process behind it.

“It’s kind of hard to weigh everything together and there was a bit of pressure with that, so one thing had to give.”

If anything, his influence for the hurlers has grown, as clearly seen by his strong second-half performance in the semi-final win over Kanturk.

Senior inter-county experience has helped to cast Twomey as a leader for the Barrs, but he sees it as as a fairly equitable set-up, though.

“There's plenty leaders around now,” he says, “we’re not short of fellas in the dressing-room who can speak their mind. There’s no fella who’s afraid to call you out.”

Such a strong culture has meant that a change of management – with Paudie Murray succeeding Ger Cunningham – has been largely seamless.

“A lot of the players would have worked with Kevin [Murray, Paudie’s brother, now the coach] and Paudie underage, so they knew what they were like,” Twomey says.

“They’re very similar, to be fair, there wasn’t much change – a few bits tactially here and there. The lads are around the club most nights, so everyone kind of knew each other anyway.”