'The lads exceeded my expectations' - Brian Harte after Kilmurry's crowning glory

Brian Harte believes Kilmurry are exactly where they deserve to be after sealing promotion to Premier Intermediate football with an emphatic county final victory over Buttevant on Friday night.

The Muskerry club's remarkable rise through the grades continued as they captured the McCarthy Insurance Group IAFC title with a commanding 2-18 to 0-10 success at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, adding to county titles won at Junior A level in 2022 and Premier Junior level in 2024.

For Harte, the manner of the victory was particularly pleasing as Kilmurry produced one of their finest performances of the campaign on the biggest stage.

"I was confident coming here tonight, I won't lie to you," Harte said afterwards.

"I knew it would be a serious test for the lads, but the way they were going over the last two weeks, I was very confident they were in a very good place and that they were going to perform here tonight for us.

"But I didn't see us producing that level of performance. The lads exceeded my expectations. It's brilliant, happy days."

Kilmurry could hardly have asked for a better start, racing into the contest with an early point from Ruadhrán Ó Curraoín before Liam Wall found the net. 

The perfect opening helped settle the Muskerry side and Harte revealed it was exactly the type of approach they had targeted beforehand.

"We got the dream start. To get the point and the goal inside the first 100 seconds, we couldn't have asked for any better.

"It's something we've been working on. We have three serious men inside in Denis O'Mullane, Liam Wall and Ruadhrán Ó Curraoín.

"We said beforehand to give them the ball and let them go to work. There was a great ball played in, Denis won it and it ended up in the back of the net."

While Kilmurry's attacking play caught the eye, Harte was particularly satisfied with the work done at the other end of the field.

Many observers had highlighted Buttevant's attacking threats in the build-up to the final, but the Kilmurry manager felt his defence had been somewhat overlooked.

"Our performances all year have been built on our defensive effort," he says.

"There was a lot of emphasis on Buttevant's attack and the good attacking players they have, which they do have.

"But I thought our defence was discounted a little bit in that conversation. I was supremely confident in them tonight that they would contain that Buttevant forward line. I had absolutely no concerns about it and they delivered again."

The victory secures Premier Intermediate football for Kilmurry in 2027 and Harte insists the squad has earned its place at that level.

"Those boys inside that dressing room are where they deserve to be. 

"They deserve to be playing Premier Intermediate football next year because they are of that quality.

"We've had a fantastic few years and huge credit has to go to the management teams that came before us. They set the foundations and got the ball rolling.

"We took up the baton and ran with it, but a lot of people contributed to getting Kilmurry to this point.

"This group has worked incredibly hard and tonight they got the reward they deserved."