Players left in daze as reality exceeds fantasy

THE notion of Carrigtwohill, a club that have flirted with relegation in the last couple of years, triumphing in the Cork SHC final was scarcely believable at the start of this season.

Those sentiments were shared by Carrigtwohill’s star man Niall McCarthy yesterday as the realisation of what they had achieved began to sink in.

“It’s hard to sum that up as words couldn’t do justice to what was an unbelievable day. In the first round this year we played Ballinhassig and only won by two points. They went down intermediate and we ended up in the final.

“There was only ever a puck of a ball in any of the matches, we won three of our games by two points and another one by three. We used to be up in the stand there at county final day over the last few years saying, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to be out there?’. Suddenly we were there and had to take the opportunity with both hands. We knew if we didn’t win today we might never ever get the opportunity again, you could find yourself down intermediate as quick as you’d be in a county final.”

At the helm of Carrigtwohill’s remarkable revival this season was James O’Connor and McCarthy lavished praise on the contribution that he made.

“Everybody pulled together this year. We got a manager in from Lismore, James O’Connor and he was very professional. Everybody works their socks off, he won’t tolerate anything less than 100% from anyone. He’s unreal and it’s only a matter of time before he becomes an inter-county senior manager. We just bonded this year and fellas would die for each other out there, I don’t think that was the case a few years ago. No matter what CIT scored today, there was no way we weren’t coming back.”

McCarthy’s attacking colleague Mickey ‘Da’ Fitzgerald has soldiered a long time for the club and yesterday realised a long-cherished dream.

“I don’t know when I’ll get the county senior medal but it’s something I can’t wait to have in my pocket. It’s something I always wanted but never thought I would get. It’s brilliant that it’s happened and this is a great day for the people of Carrigtwohill.

“When I get into the dressing room with the lads, it’ll start to sink in. I haven’t had a chance to really connect with them yet because there are such huge crowds here. It’s beyond our wildest dreams, we never thought this day would come. We had faith this year in ourselves and in James O’Connor, a great man. He brought us altogether and the crowd were great as well, they got us over the line.

“You couldn’t write the script there with Seanie Farrell at the end getting the match-winner. Niall Mac was amazing as well. If any fella has his heart, he’ll go a long way in hurling.”