Cork Premier IHC: Castlelyons yet to decide on final role for star Colm Spillane

Liam Ryan, Inniscarra, looks for a way past Colm Spillane, Castlelyons. Spillane has been in fine form. Picture: Larry Cummins

Ciarán McGann has hinted defender-turned-attacker Colm Spillane may not be named alongside his two brothers in the Castlelyons forward line for Saturday’s Co-Op Superstores Cork Premier IHC final.

Inter-county player Spillane has been in scintillating form for the east Cork men since his move into the forwards. 

According to McGann, who is enjoying his first season as manager, Spillane could be used in another role.

“Colm, unfortunately for him, missed the championship season last year with a cruciate knee injury. So he was coming back as a refreshed, re-energised, and essentially a new player. We looked around and said, ‘Who would be the best to deploy further out the field?’ and we had a chat with Colm. He was very much open to the idea.

“That is fine in the safety net of the group stage. If it didn’t work out, we had a second game and a third game. Colm has lined out in the forwards for us and so far so good. But it is not to say he might line out there this Saturday evening.

"Yes, it is going well for him, but he has two brothers up there as well, so that is three out of six forwards coming from the one household. They mind each other very well. They work very well as a group. That was part of the dynamic of moving him up front.”

The final, against Blarney, is a repeat of one of their group games. Castlelyons came out on top. “It is unique for us, when you are meeting a team for the second time in the one championship. We were in a group with Blarney, Blackrock, and Inniscarra. We looked at that as a competition in its own right. Our target was to finish in the league table at the top and we did that. We went forward then and qualified for the semi-final. We looked at treating that again as a separate competition.

“I saw Blarney’s semi-final against Fr O’Neill’s last year, where they ran them very close.

A lot of people were saying if it went on a bit more, Blarney might have got across the line. So, I knew if we were to progress at all in the championship this year, we would have to beat Blarney in a knockout stage.

“Blarney are a fantastic outfit. They have some unbelievable forwards, which I hope will progress for Cork senior hurling down the tracks. That is the trajectory they are on. Hopefully, it won’t be this Saturday, but certainly I will be watching them with a keen eye into the future, because they are fantastic players.”

However, injury robs McGann of two important players. “Young Dave Morrison is a significant loss for us. He broke his wrist. We were hoping he would be back for the final, but he is not. He scored three goals from play in the group stages. Fierce eye for goal... The other guy we are missing is Ronan O’Regan. He came on in the Blarney game and did his cruciate.”