Sars captain Kennedy back to the place he loves best

SO many pre-match player interviews these days are all about the banal, the predictable, the oh-so-stale. Oh so refreshing then to speak to Sars’ captain Alan Kennedy in advance of tomorrow’s Cork county senior hurling final against Glen Rovers.

“This is our third final in-a-row now,” says the 24-year-old keeper, “And it’s a place I love, county finals – when we won it two years ago it was the best feeling in the world, the best week, I’ve ever had. You can go away to your Ibiza’s, go away to Spain or Portugal, to Australia or wherever, but that week we had down here (in the villages of Glanmire and Riverstown) after winning that final was incredible altogether. We missed out on that last year, beaten fair and square by Newtownshandrum, but we’re back there again now, delighted to be in another final. We had a bumpy oul’ road along the way this time – the year we won it we won all our games and the final then went to the wire. This year we were beaten in the first round by a very good Midleton team but we bounced back and had a good win against Blackrock, a lucky win against Killeagh – a very lucky win – then a good win again against Bride Rovers, and in the semi-final, a win over the neighbours. When Erin’s Own and Sarsfields play there’s never going to be much in it at the end, never a lot of fancy hurling either, no great spectacle, and that’s the way it was, just a great rivalry. As soon as the game is over then it’s just a case of shake hands, move on.”

Ah now hold on there Alan – great rivalry? That game was as tame an affair as could ever be imagined in a county semi-final! “Well maybe, yes; five or six years ago you’d have had blood spilt, two or three fellas getting the line (sent off) – the old cliché, ‘I don’t want ye coming back to this dressing-room with dirty jerseys, I want ye coming back with blood-stained jerseys!’ The problem now is that we’re all very good friends – I’d be friendly with 90 percent of those lads, and they’d be friendly with us. Eoin Murphy, the Hero (Kieran Murphy), Alan Bowen – we’re all best friends, all socialising together for years. I work in Daly Industrial Supplies, Tool-Hire, and I have fellas coming in there for the chat from Erin’s Own – ‘We’re going to get ye this weekend’ and so on, but come Monday morning they’re back in again, ‘Fair dues to ye!’ A few years ago you wouldn’t have got that.”