Duhallow hard work reaping rewards

It’s been nine years since Duhallow advanced from the divisions and colleges section of the Cork SHC to the last 16 of the championship proper.

Victories over Carbery and Carrigdhoun have brought the north-western side to a clash with Douglas in Round 4 of the Cork Senior Hurling Championship tomorrow evening (6.30pm in Coachford), as they seek to build on recent underage progress.

Deciding to compete as a single entity in the county minor and U21 championships from the mid-2000s onwards reaped rich rewards, with five U21 finals reached from 2008-12, inclusive.

In 2009, they achieved success with a comprehensive win over Ballinhassig. On that team were current Cork senior stars Aidan Walsh, Lorcán McLoughlin and Mark Ellis, while William Egan, a former member of the county panel, put in a man-of-the-match display. That side provides the backbone for the current senior set-up, with Cork captain Anthony Nash an integral part of the team, too.

Manager Denis Withers acknowledges the huge developmental benefits which accrued from players playing under the Duhallow banner from a young age.

“Around the mid-2000s, a lot of work went in at underage,” he says. “A lot of people put in a huge amount of work, especially at minor and U21 level. Obviously, the talent was there and it was a matter of doing what we could to maximise it.

“It’s a great time for Duhallow. The division were in five U21 finals in a row and our team now is full of guys who would have played in those finals.

“It was great for them to get that kind of experience and to bring it to senior level and now for so many of them to be getting recognition at a higher level.”

Any divisional manager must accept he is unlikely to have first call on players, or at least he won’t until their clubs are eliminated from their respective intermediate or junior championships. It’s an occupational hazard which Withers is well aware of — not to mention having access to the Cork players limited when they were in the championship — but he is realistic about the situation and pays tribute to the way Duhallow are accommodated by club teams.

“You’re depending on the goodwill of the clubs to help out as well and, in fairness to them, they do their best,” he says. “You’d understand and recognise the clubs’ position as well and obviously you’ve fellas involved at intercounty too. We’ve probably only met three or four times since the Carrigdhoun game. You’d only have half your team available at times, but you can only carry on and try to prepare as best you can, that’s all you can do. Donal Burke from Midleton is with us too, he’s a great hurling man and he has had a very positive impact.”

The opportunity to make a serious impact is there and, while Withers would obviously love to lead Duhallow deep into the championship, he knows the opponents tomorrow night are among the dark horses for the Seán Óg Murphy Cup, having reached the semi-finals last year.

“It’s great for the young kids in Duhallow to see a divisional team doing well. Hopefully, we’ll give a good account of ourselves on Saturday night but it’s going to be a serious challenge for us. Douglas are a serious squad with some very big names. They’re obviously very firm favourites, they had a great win against Midleton last year, but we’re hopeful of giving them a good game.”