The parallels to 2024 as Killeagh gear up for another East Cork JAHC final

Look back to 2024. Killeagh’s Senior A hurlers had picked up one win from the three group stage games, emerged from the group, and then were beaten by Blarney in the quarter-final.

However, that same year, their Junior A hurlers – bolstered by the inclusion of four former Cork minors – went on to claim the divisional title and reached the county semi-final.

Two years on, the seniors again finished on one win – though this time they didn’t get out of the group – while four more promising minors have been integrated to the Junior A team, and are now 60 minutes from another East Cork title, as they take on Bride Rovers this Sunday in Cloyne at 2.30pm.

“If you go back to that [2024 season], you had Ben and Barry [Walsh], but you also had Seán Meade, and you had Fionn Murphy,” says manager Ger Scully. “So all of them actually played minor for Cork, and then obviously that made a huge difference.

“And it just gives that infusion of youth, and it brings a bit of energy to the dressing room, and it gives the older lads a lift as well. That mix has worked very well for us, and obviously this year now we’ve four lads, you've Andrew Brenner, Cormac Deane, Ben Geary, and Cathal Brennan.” Youth is only half of the equation, though. Plenty of men with senior experience have been available to the second team this year, and it has helped massively.

“There're a lot of lads that have played with the senior team, and for various reasons this year they weren’t available,” Scully explains. “Some fellas had injuries, and now they're available for the Junior A.

“Like Gary Leahy – who was joint-captain with Ben Walsh for the seniors – was injured a lot this year, so didn't get to play, he wasn't available. So he's on the Junior team.

“Keane Kelly-Budds, who was flying in the league for us, got injured and didn’t make it back until a couple of weeks ago. So he's available for the Junior A team. Richie Long, he was centre-forward on the senior team last year,” he says. “Because of commitments this year with work and college, he wasn't able to put in the same commitment at the start of the year, so he’s on the Junior A team.

“Seán Meade, who’s had two years of injury, was a Cork minor, is 20 now this year making a comeback. He’s a huge addition.

“You have Philip O'Neill, who's captain, he played senior all his life really and he’s in goals with us. So we've got a good mix of young and old, but no more than Bride Rovers.

“Bride Rovers are a great club, they have a great tradition. Any time we play them, it's nip and tuck, there's very little in it.” Captain Philip O’Neill is the best example of the experience that Scully points to. With almost two decades of senior hurling behind him, this is the first time O’Neill has played junior championship for Killeagh.

“[I would have played] league game or two, but Championship, no,” O’Neill begins. “And it's a lot closer to the standard of Senior A hurling than you'd think. The likes of Cobh, they’re as good as any intermediate team.

“For example, I never played against St Ita’s in my life. That was as big a game as I've played. I actually went to school in Gortroe as well, so I've never played against any of those lads before.” Novelty aside, O’Neill makes a good case for the Junior A grade and this competition, given how valuable it has proven to be for Killeagh.

“The Junior A in 2024 was great for keeping guys around and it's a realistic cup to aim for too,” says O’Neill. “We've a huge adult membership really with the four, Senior A, Junior A, Junior B and Junior C, and our Junior C's are very unlucky not to still be involved.

“The Junior A's and Senior's train kind of as one, and then the Junior B's and C's train together. The Junior A's would have played the Senior's every Thursday night for four or five weeks over May and June, and there was very little between the two teams,” he explains. “We're probably diluted at a certain standard and it's hard to pick your first 15, but the Junior A team are very, very competitive.

“We would have actually benefited from us playing the Senior's probably more than vice versa!”