Cork Premier IHC final: Brian Hurley hoping Blarney’s luck holds in decider

Eddie O'Connor, Inniscarra tackles David Walsh of Blarney during the Premier IHC clash earlier this year.  Picture: Jim Coughlan.

Blarney know only too well what Castlelyons will bring to the table in Saturday’s Co-Op Superstores Cork Premier IHC final (Páirc Uí Chaoimh, 7pm, live-streamed by the Irish Examiner). A six-point deficit at the hands of the Imokilly men in the group stage is forewarning.

Blarney coach Brian Hurley says they will have to give a better account of themselves because you only get one chance to win a final. He also hopes their luck doesn’t run out.

“We came up against a very good Castlelyons side, we knew they were good. They were exceptional on the day, all their performances since then have been exceptional. Watching them against Courceys (semi-final), they were very strong. So, it is up to us to see can we up the ante.

You go out, 15 on 15, and hope we can match up a bit better and stay in the game a bit longer. And take our chances if they come.

“Genuinely, Castlelyons are the strongest team in it, there is always one stand-out team in this grade. It is very hard to find a weakness in them. In a one-off game, you have a chance. We have good players as well. We will try and match them and try and perform 10% better than we did the last day. Even if you do that, there is no guarantee. You have to hope for a bit of luck and hope that we didn’t use it all up against Ballincollig.”

That derby joust with Ballincollig was the quarter-final. Blarney were extremely fortunate to get by them after being nine points down late in the contest.

“Ballincollig played very well on the night. In the last 20 minutes, our lads showed a lot of quality. We sneaked over the line. The lads just kept going. They have a lot of belief and a lot of heart, in fairness. If those late scores didn’t come, we wouldn’t be looking at a county final this weekend.”

They learned a lot from the Ballincollig game. It instilled belief and their confidence grew. Next up was a semi-final meeting with a fancied Carrigaline team which had topped its group.

“It was the opposite to the Ballincollig game. We took the game to them, the lads made a conscious effort to focus from the first minute. We got a good start that day and didn’t give them much chance to get back into the game. We put up a big score and our defence was top class. Our defenders were really strong and that was the platform.

"The space opened up late in the game, we pulled away. The scoreline (4-20 to 1-12) might have flattered us a bit. All round it was a very good performance.”

Mark Coleman will spearhead the Blarney challenge.

“He is a Cork senior hurler and a top-class one. He is a great influence. A quiet fella, but when he talks, fellas listen. He is a strong character. A good leader on the pitch, particularly in the Ballincollig game when it wasn’t going well for anyone.

"He was getting a tough time from his marker but he kept going, he kept us in the game and kept the supply of ball going in.

“We have Cork minors/U20s feeding off him. Padraig Power, Shane Barrett, and Declan Hanlon. They are young but they have a lot of hurling behind them, Harty Cup with Christians too. They were in the Premier 1 minor final a couple of years ago. They have a lot of high-level action behind them.

For young players, they do lead by example. There are some experienced fellas there too but the young fellas are strong characters.