Cork Premier IHC: Blarney's youngsters looking to propel club back to senior hurling

Blarney contested relegation play-offs in 2016 and ‘18

Thu, 01 Oct, 2020 - 14:25

Eoghan Cormican

The impact of Blarney’s injection of youth is there for all to see.

Having been involved in a premier intermediate relegation play-off in 2016 and ‘18, Blarney’s leap to county semi-finalists last year and finalists this weekend might seem out of kilter when compared to the poor campaigns of seasons previous, but in no way is it a surprise to those who have been keeping an eye on an underage section that has been churning out some of the most promising young talents in the county.

During the first of those relegation-threatened seasons back in 2016, Blarney’s minors swept to Premier 2 championship success.

Two years later, the club weaved a path to the Premier 1 minor final. The decider arrived one week before the premier intermediate’s tackled their latest relegation play-off and although the minors came off second best to Midleton, it was a team rich with potential.

Declan Hanlon was part of Cork’s All-Ireland winning U17 team the year before, as well as coming off the bench in the All-Ireland minor (U18) final a month later; Shane Barrett was Cork minor captain in 2018; beside Barrett in the Cork half-forward line was his clubmate Pádraig Power, while Ben Ahern played Cork U16 in 2017 along with Barrett and Power.

Fast forward to September of 2020 and you have Hanlon, Barrett, and Power contributing 3-11 between them - all from play - as Blarney book their place in the Cork PIHC final.

Just last week you had Power and Barrett hitting nine points from play for UCC in their narrowly failed bid to reach the county senior decider.

And all of this without even mentioning the hardly evergreen Mark Coleman, 22.

“The young players in our panel have shouldered massive responsibility, they have come in and taken everything thrown at them in their stride. That has been a huge help,” says joint-captain Peter Philpott ahead of Saturday’s decider against Castlelyons.

“Blend that in then with the older players who have so much experience, the likes of Paul O’Leary, Joe Jordan, and Darragh McSweeney. In terms of guidance, they have been very good for those young guys coming through.

“Obviously every year you go out, your focus is on that year, you are never waiting for next year to come around.

But we did know there was talent coming up along the line and I think 2020 was a good year in terms of keeping people around, keeping the panel together, and getting some players back that otherwise could have been off doing other things.

The club are looking to return to the senior ranks after a 10-year absence away from the top flight. Their last spell at senior level was short-lived, premier intermediate glory in 2008 followed by relegation in 2010.

Philpott, 24, remembers with great fondness the 2008 season, culminating as it did the following spring with All-Ireland intermediate club glory in Croke Park.

“When the lads did it in 2008/09, I was 12. What those players did was they created a want amongst a generation of kids in Blarney who just wanted to emulate the same thing. We wanted to play senior straightaway, we wanted to be playing with these guys.

“If you actually watch the DVD of the All-Ireland final, I'm there hugging my dad every time Blarney score. I was sitting next to the woman who recorded the video of the game and so every time Blarney scored, I’m in shot!”