Ian Maguire: Barrs learned their toughest lesson in Killarney

The outgoing Cork skipper was one of eight survivors on the team from a 2018 Munster semi-final drubbing by Dr Crokes 

16 January 2022; St Finbarr's captain Ian Maguire and manager Paul O'Keeffe celebrate following the AIB Munster GAA Football Senior Club Championship Final match between Austin Stacks and St Finbarr's at Semple Stadium in Thurles, Tipperary. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Lessons don’t come much tougher than 21-point trouncings but Sunday showed St Finbarrs learned from 2018, according to captain Ian Maguire.

The outgoing Cork skipper was one of eight survivors on the team from that 2018 Munster semi-final drubbing by Dr Crokes in Killarney.

Substitutes Enda Dennehy and Michael Shields also began that game while Jamie Burns and Alan O’Connor, who started against Austin Stacks, featured from the bench on that day Crokes ran riot.

Looking back, Maguire believes so much focus was put on the county title that when it came to the provincial championship their minds were elsewhere. “To be fair, we set out in 2016, ’17 and ’18 and it was all about getting to the county final because we hadn’t been to one in 10 years or whatever.

“Obviously, we then had the heartbreak in ’17 (losing to Nemo Rangers in a replay) and then it was a relief in ’18 to get over the line. Sometimes, when you get that relief, you’re not looking beyond and we didn’t and we got a lesson. To be fair to Crokes they were probably the best team or second best team in it at the time.

“Liam Hodnett was the chair at the time and he said, ‘You need to learn these lessons, unfortunately’. They’re unforgiving but you need to learn them and we learned the hard way a couple of years ago. It goes to show that you have to appreciate the moment because if you’d asked me in 2019 would we get back here, I’d have said who knows.
“But we got back here and we had the lessons. It’s a credit to the players but I think it’s a credit to the management as well. We learned a lot from them and they got us in tip-top shape. We proved our worth there in the final 10 minutes – well, the whole game but we proved it.”

And yet the abiding emotion on Sunday was alleviation having come so close to being caught. “When the final whistle went it was just relief, really but that’s the emotion of the game. We felt like we were ahead, we were home and hosed and all of sudden we were fighting for our lives and then we felt that we were home and hosed again and they got a last-minute goal.”

A victory which starts a week which finishes with Cork and Kerry squaring off in Killarney, Maguire believes beating Kingdom opposition does mean something in the county scheme of things.

“For a lot of people, Cork/Kerry is obviously a sub-plot when you are playing. It's positivity, it's a win but again Nemo have been doing this for years. We can't understate this, Nemo have a brilliant record and they have done this before.

“For us, from chatting to Keith Ricken during the week, Cork have won a Munster final, it's a huge bonus and we need to push on from there. We're in the final four now - Cork/Kerry stuff is done. It's brilliant, the journey continues.”

For goalkeeper John Kerins to emulate his late father John senior in picking up a Munster medal was special but he was glad to show Barrs’ glittering history doesn’t weigh heavy on this current team.

“It's a massive result. What was it, '86 the last time that we won it, so it's kind of like the county a few years ago, the big gap, the monkey's off the back a small bit. We're just over the moon at the minute.

“We kind of set out at the start of the year, looking at the county, trying to get that second one. Thankfully, we've done it, we're in bonus territory now.”

He continued about the club’s pedigree. “Growing up with it, you'd always hear about it. The Barrs have kind of been in the doldrums for 30-odd years, there or thereabouts. Always the bridesmaids, we're starting to come good now, we've a good crop of players coming through, we're getting over the line.”

It’s a formidable challenge St Finbarrs face in taking on Kilcoo in the All-Ireland semi-final but Kerins will embrace it. "We just know Kilcoo are similar to Stacks, they're just ultra-defensive but again they break at pace. They're all lean, well able to travel up and down the pitch. Their fitness is something else. We'll be looking to compete with that.”