So much for Glen Rovers' 2023 obituaries, the northsiders are back at the top

Glen Rovers are the champions once again. Their first title since 2016. Their first county final win over southside rivals St Finbarr’s since 1964.

But how quickly things can change in sport. Such a scenario hardly looked likely to materialise when we think back to the group stages, for how close both parties were to being eliminated. Such a scenario looked utterly unthinkable in 2023, when Glen Rovers were relegated after 97 years in Cork’s top flight.

OBITUARIES? WHEN?

Three years ago, the talk of the club championship – and the country – centred around that relegation playoff defeat to Kanturk.

Glen Rovers were collapsing, northside hurling as a whole was on the ropes. The downfall of two storied Cork hurling clubs was only just beginning, so the narrative went.

Na Piarsaigh have firmly shown they’re more than capable of contending at Senior A. Twice now they’ve been cruelly beaten on penalties. Still, they can take solace.

The Glen, however, have managed to write a different story. They made an immediate return, cruising to Senior A success in 2024. They reached the quarter-final in their first year back in the top flight, and were eliminated by Midleton. This year, they not only got their vengeance to dump the Magpies out in the final four, they went and won it outright.

So much for this being the end of the Glen’s hurling story. And with a squad so rife with talent, this might just be the beginning of another new chapter in the long history of one of Cork’s most incredible hurling clubs.

THE FUTURE IS NOW 

Don’t be fooled by the tough battle Micheál Mullins had with Ciarán Doolan in the final, he’s had a superb campaign for the Glen. This has been his best year yet in green, black and yellow since his transfer from Whitechurch.

Robert and Eoin Downey have been immense in this championship season. Rhys Dunne has been a revelation this year, the 22-year-old has put up a storming campaign. Conor McCarthy too has been flying it in midfield, and is living up to the promise he showed at minor.

In six championship games this year, Eoin O’Leary has scored 5-13 from play. And he too, is only 22.

Then, take a looking at what is still to come from the pipeline of talent.

Diarmuid Wall and Jake Brosnan, key men from their minor crowns in 2023 and 2024, still have much more to offer. A couple more Brosnans will be eligible next year – as Michael Tadhg and Josh come of age. Gavin O’Callaghan too is another forward with plenty of promise, starring in the Harty Cup with Gaelcholáiste Mhuire.

CORK WATCH 

The Barrs can take solace in Ethan Twomey’s second-half display. It was another weekend where the Barrs midfielder gave Ben O’Connor something to think about for next season’s league campaign. That’s 1-8 in his previous two, 1-17 in eight games for St Finbarr’s this year.

Surely with what both Twomey and Mullins have brought in this year’s championship, the pair will be more than a combined three league starts and three league sub appearances.

DOUBLE DREAM FADES AWAY 

St Finbarr’s will have serious regrets. They had goal chances in the second half that didn’t materialise, John Wigginton Barrett and Brian Hayes both denied by Cathal Hickey. William Buckley almost broke through late on to find the net but couldn’t get the effort underway with the pressure Hickey put him under.

They finished with 13 wides, but that wasn’t their biggest problem. Far too often they struggled to find the right pass, to find any sort of rhythm. For too much of this game they were anonymous, and it cost them.

Granted, much of that is to do with the trojan effort from that Glen Rovers defence. Brian Hayes found a mere 10-minute patch of life in the lead up to half time. For the rest of the contest, his Cork teammate Robert Downey had the measure of him in their duel.

Eoghan Varian was immense against William Buckley. An unlikely hero for the Glen, perhaps, but he’s been consistent enough all season that it won’t have caught anyone in that Glen camp by surprise.

Eoin Downey kept Ben Cunningham to only a single point from play, and both John Wigginton-Barrett and Jack O’Kelly were held scoreless.

Now, the Togher side must go again next week, as they look to retain their Premier Senior football title against Nemo Rangers. No time to grieve, only time to look forward.

And that too, will be a challenging ask. Nemo Rangers look to be following quite the trend that Rovers managed. They look to be coming good when the time is right.