Cork Premier SHC final: Sean O’Leary Hayes relishing taking on Patrick Horgan
Sean O'Leary Hayes of Midleton defending against Na Piarsaigh's Padraig Guest earlier in the Championship. Picture: Jim Coughlan.
It’s a job someone is going to have to do. And if the brief is given to Sean O’Leary Hayes, he’ll quite frankly relish the challenge.
As Glen Rovers so spectacularly proved during their 14-man quarter-final win over Imokilly, they are capable of staying afloat without Patrick Horgan’s presence.
But what must also be pointed out from that against-the-odds quarter-final triumph is how Horgan finished as the Glen’s top-scorer despite receiving his marching orders as early as the 23rd minute.
So while far from a one-man show, it cannot be overlooked how reliant the Glen are on the 33-year-old to tally the bulk of their scores. The numbers simply do not lie.
Glen Rovers have struck 6-79 in their five-game journey back to a third consecutive Cork hurling final. Of that, Horgan has been responsible for 5-43 (0-29 placed-balls), exactly 60% of his team’s total.
There was the eye-watering 2-13 he struck in the sink-or-swim final round group game against Newtownshandrum, a performance that just about shaded his 1-11 semi-final contribution last day out, of which 1-5 came from play.
In their run to the county final, Midleton have had to plan for Sars’ Jack O’Connor, Robbie O’Flynn of Erin’s Own, and Blackrock’s Alan Connolly, with manager Ger Fitzgerald correctly remarking that there will be in every game a “household name” that requires “minding and managing”.
Horgan’s club form, though, has been on a different level to any of his Cork teammates named above and so critically important to Midleton's title bid will be their efforts in attempting to limit his influence. Central to this will be the defender given the job of standing alongside the Glen talisman on Sunday.
Sean O’Leary Hayes was just 19 when he picked up Horgan in the 2018 county championship game between the Glen and Midleton. It was his second year with the Midleton seniors and first time standing on the same field as Hoggy.
“The first few balls came in and I realised this is a different level. I quickly changed my game in that game to keep up,” recalls O’Leary Hayes.
In the end, Cork’s 2017 minor captain didn’t fare out badly at all. Horgan finished with two points from play, with his young marker getting up the field to deliver the winning score as Midleton advanced to the quarter-finals by the minimum.
Would he mind another dance with the four-time All-Star this Sunday?
“No matter who you mark, it is going to be hard, so why not mark the hardest and then you are really going to test yourself. That's kinda the way I’ve always thought,” comes the reply from the now 22-year-old Cork senior.
“Training with him with Cork, we both kinda know what we are about. If it does come up that we are on each other, it is just seeing who can give the best performance.
“Concentrating on your own game is important, as well, because if you are only concentrating on him you are not going to end up doing anything in the game. So it is more just getting the best out of yourself, that is the main thing.”
Reflecting on their path to the decider, it’s interesting to hear O’Leary Hayes pick out their final group game against Sars because although Midleton fell by 10 points that afternoon, the game was largely irrelevant as both sides were already assured of their place in the knockout stages.
“We had a chat after the Sars match and said, individually we didn't put enough into it, we didn't try hard enough. Also, we needed to individually take more accountability and responsibility on the pitch to get it done, make changes on the pitch. Basically, put more onus on the players to play on their own terms, play as a team, and defend as a team, even in the forwards.
“That has come through in the last few matches. You could see at the end of the Blackrock semi-final that fellas were closing opponents down and they couldn't get it out of their defence.
“The Blackrock match was the first time in a while that we played the way we can and I think there is still a small bit more left in us.”
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