Cork IAHC final: Éire Óg hurling boss out to emulate footballers

Éire Óg celebrate winning the Bon Secours Cork SAFC Final - the club are looking to add an intermediate hurling title to the trophy cabinet. Picture: Ger Bonus

Éire Óg hurling manager Donal Hurley is hoping everything will go right for his charges in tomorrow’s Cork IAHC final, as was the case for the club’s footballers in June’s Senior A decider.

Éire Óg are bidding to achieve a 2020 double at Páirc Uí Chaoimh tomorrow evening, the first half of which was completed by the footballers in pretty awesome fashion when they overcame Mallow with nine to spare in mid-June.

A dozen of that county championship winning team are part of Hurley’s hurling panel and the aim is to again deliver a display that will result in promotion to a higher rung on the Cork ladder.

“They got everything right on the day of the football, so hopefully we can do the same on Saturday,” said Hurley of their county final date with Aghabullogue.

The dual players worked exclusively with the football panel from when collective training resumed on May 10 until the June 19 county final, with hurling taking priority thereafter.

A key feature of the aforementioned football win was the fitness levels of the Éire Óg players, a level of conditioning that was attributed to the work of former Cork footballer Paudie Kissane who is part of the club’s backroom team.

Hurley said his group have benefited from Kissane’s football involvement, complementing the work done by hurling coach Niall O’Halloran.

“What the two have done has been excellent, they have the players focused, fresh, and tuned in.

“The two also work very well together in that if a player was being overloaded, Niall and Paudie would chat and that player would then be rested.

“It is a new thing for the club that we rest players more than we just flog them and play, play, play. That is helping us big time.”

With the first round of the 2020 county intermediate hurling championship having taken place on August 1 last year, Hurley has no problem admitting that the 2020 campaign has become a bit of a chore given the length of time it has run for.

“It’s becoming a chore now, we just want to get it over and done with. It is hard to get a handle on the buzz for it, the players have to come again, have to come again to the well. But the form is good with them. They are a great bunch of lads, were fierce committed over the last 12 months and stuck with it.

“The attitude is good and there was an excellent buzz when they came back in after winning the football. It made it very easy starting back that you didn’t have to rally them in the slightest.”

“Now, we did have a lot of injuries up to two weeks ago. We played Aghada in the league and we were missing about 10 players from our starting team, just niggly injuries they picked up after the football.

“Eoin O’Shea, our midfielder, is ruled out for tomorrow. He recently underwent surgery for a hamstring injury and will be sidelined for a number of months.”