Passionate Ben O’Connor’s stamp now all over Midleton

Ger Fitzgerald (back) and Ben O’Connor. Picture: Eddie O’Hare

As they count down to a first county final appearance since 2018, it’s hard to get away from the observation that Midleton’s most impressive piece of work in recent seasons was not any championship result, but rather the acquisition of Ben O’Connor’s services.

Three years is no long gap at all, but where final opponents Glen Rovers have been a model of consistency, reaching a sixth Cork decider in eight years, Midleton were nowhere near the county final conversation in the last two seasons.

In 2019, they fell to the Glen and Imokilly in the early rounds, while a year later, they were the big casualties at the group stage of the newly restructured championship.

O’Connor was on board last season, his first as Midleton coach, but as pointed out by selector Terence McCarthy, the GAA’s decision to go club first, as well as a short preparatory window before championship threw in, meant O’Connor’s mark was in no way visible as the East Cork men came up short against both Sars and Douglas.

While on-field achievement is no guarantee of off-field acumen, three-time All-Ireland winner O’Connor arrived in Midleton with stock high having steered Charleville to Cork premier intermediate and Munster intermediate titles in 2018.

“We had 12 weeks with Ben last year. We are at week 25 with him this year. You can see his stamp on the team,” said McCarthy.

Midleton manager Ger Fitzgerald and coach Ben O'Connor celebrate at the final whistle against Blackrock. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

But what exactly is his stamp?

Passion is the first word to roll from Conor Lehane’s lips.

“He’s so heavily in it. He has really, really bought in, which you’d expect anyway, but he’s taken it to another level and when you see that from someone who isn’t actually from the club, it stands out even more.

“The passion he has brought and how much it means to him, you can see it by the way he talks and by his actions in training. It means as much to him as it would any one of us,” said Lehane.

For manager Ger Fitzgerald, it is O’Connor’s humility that has stood out on their journey back to the concluding afternoon of action.

“He’s brought his personality, his coaching knowledge, his hurling knowledge, and himself. He came in here and there are no airs and graces about Ben, he is very steady.

“His coaching is excellent and his rapport with the lads is very good. He is a pleasure to work with and he is doing a great job for us,” remarked Fitzgerald, a two-time All-Ireland winner with Cork.

Standards dropped, the manager added, when asked why Midleton’s graph nose-dived after their 2018 run to the county final. “Collectively, we weren’t pleased with that. This year, we focused on that and we are getting better performances. We’ve had a situation similar to 2018 where in each game of the championship we improved.”

One final factor in their return to the Cork decider has been the infusion and influence of youth, an inevitability really when you consider Midleton won back-to-back county minor championships in 2018 and 2019.

From across those two teams, goalkeeper Brion Saunderson, half-backs Ciarmhac Smyth and Tommy O’Connell, midfielder Sam Quirke, and half-forward Ross O’Regan have already worked their way onto the senior starting team. For Saunderson and Smyth, this is their first year out of the juvenile ranks.

“The opportunities were there for them and each one of them has grasped the opportunity. Each one of them has stepped up,” Fitzgerald said.