Cork SAHC final: The rise, and rise, of Fr O'Neills 

The strength of hurling in east Cork hasn’t gone unnoticed. The accomplishment of Imokilly’s three-in-a-row is transferring to the clubs

Declan Dalton, left, is a key man for Fr O’Neills, a reality readily acknowledged by joint manager Dave Colbert. Picture: David Keane

On the back of a Cork Premier IHC county win that took them all the way to last January’s Croke Park final thriller, Fr O’Neill’s are still going strong. The 2019 season was a major achievement in its own right, so the remarkable return of the club to the big stage once more is phenomenal as they prepare for Sunday’s Cork SAHC decider.

The strength of hurling in east Cork hasn’t gone unnoticed either. O’Neill’s joint manager Dave Colbert says the accomplishment of Imokilly’s three-in-a-row is transferring to the clubs.

“The success of Imokilly in the previous three seasons at senior is translating to the clubs that fed into that. They are all getting their success now as well. Imokilly definitely helped all the clubs. A lot of people would say it is a drain of resources but I think it actually helps. It gives players massive experience.

"We have fellas with three county medals in the pocket who have experienced playing in those big days. I think it is an advantage.

“You can see it with Castlemartry and Russell Rovers (in the LIHC final) and Castlelyons (PIHC final). All these clubs are coming to the fore in their championships.” 

The rigours of year-in, year-out, must take its toll. “When we started off at the start of this year, you were looking at the league starting three weeks after the All-Ireland final. And a first round of the championship three weeks after that, or maybe four.

“Last year was a massive challenge for the players involved. Ger (Millerick), Declan (Dalton) and Mark (O’Keeffe), especially Ger with the Cork U20s, they played something like 10 weeks on the trot. They put in super-human stuff and we were lucky to come out of that with a clean bill of health. When you are winning it gathers momentum, and that helps.”

Ger Millerick has played no part this year due to injury.

“He is a big loss, there is no point in saying different. Dan Harrington is still out and Adrian Kenneally is out from the previous campaign. Those three would have started in last year’s team. But, we are lucky we have a large group of players. We have got to a county final now with a re-arranged team and the fellas that have come in have done really well. It backs up what we would have said and thought last year about the strength of the squad.” 

On the plus side, Declan Dalton is in superb form. “For the last six or seven years in the club he has been a key part of our attack and the team. He is getting rewarded now making Cork squads and he fully deserves that. He is a huge player for us. Massive attitude and work-ethic about him. Very important to us.” It is a case of so far, so good, for O’Neill’s.

“When you are jumping up a grade and facing teams who are a grade above you – I know the championship has been reformed – but they were still playing a grade above you for a long time most of those clubs. We would have been happy with the way we performed against them and the scores we got to come through our group stage. In our first group game against Kilworth this year, there were two new players started that day in the full-back line from the previous year’s championship and they are playing really well at the moment. 

So, we are really happy with how we have moved things around and how those players have acquitted themselves.” Adding to the showdown is the fact both of Sunday’s finalists have enjoyed comparable journeys. Charleville were the 2018 PIHC champions, also reaching the All-Ireland final.

“You have two clubs that have had great success in the past two seasons. Two clubs with great players. We have had very similar seasons. Charleville got to the All-Ireland final the year before us and were very unlucky as well not to come out on top that day. You have two good teams going at it on Sunday.”

Paths to the final 

Charleville 2-26 Kanturk 3-17 (semi-final)

Charleville bye to semi-final

Charleville 3-21 Fermoy 0-15 (group)

Charleville 0-22 Mallow 1-16 (group)

Charleville 3-21 Bandon 0-17 (group)

Fr O’Neill’s 4-13 Newcestown 1-13 (semi-final)

Fr O’Neill’s bye to semi-final

Fr O’Neill’s 6-19 Ballymartle 2-11 (group)

Fr O’Neill’s 1-20 Bride Rovers 0-16 (group)

Fr O’Neill’s 3-16 Kilworth 0-18 (group)