'Heartless and gutless' couldn't be further from the truth as Ballygiblin look to deliver on unbeaten run

'It probably all really started with Darragh winning the two All-Irelands with Cork and Mark coming home.' says Captain Fionn Herlihy.

UNBEATEN RUN: Pictured ahead of the Co-Op Superstores Premier Junior Hurling final, Michael O'Sullivan, Tracton and Fionn Herlihy, Ballygiblin, at the Co-Op Superstores Cork Hurling Championship Final lineups 2022.

Cork Premier JHC final 

Ballygiblin v Tracton 

Saturday: Páirc Uí Chaoimh, 5pm 

Referee: Willie Wallis  

Ballygiblin’s run is going on 15 months now.

From “heartless and gutless” junior nobodies to 12 championship games unbeaten in Cork.

2021 North Cork junior hurling champions. 2021 county junior champions. 2021 Munster junior club champions. 2021 All-Ireland junior club finalists. 2022 Cork premier junior finalists.

Some run, in fairness.

As for its roots?

Captain Fionn Herlihy has a few thoughts.

“It probably all really started with Darragh winning the two All-Irelands with Cork and Mark coming home.” 

Darragh is Darragh Flynn and Mark is of course Mark Keane.

The former was a pivotal half-forward figure on the Cork U20 teams that won back-to-back All-Ireland titles in the space of six weeks last summer, just before Ballygiblin embarked on a winning run that hasn’t yet had a full stop put at the end of it.

Keane, when home on an end-of-AFL-season break last November, hopped aboard the Ballygiblin bus. The impact was immediate. His goal late on in that month’s county final was crucial to their getting past Dromtarriffe.

Home for good since last Christmas, the once Collingwood footballer was a towering presence in the recent extra-time premier junior semi-final win over Russell Rovers, with Flynn, coming off the bench, contributing three points from play and a sideline cut.

“We knew there was talent there instantly,” says Herlihy of the pair, “but it takes a lot to [bring it all together] and every club would say it.

“A lot of people would have said that we were heartless and gutless, but a lot has changed in the last 12 or 18 months.

“There is that inner belief, but it’s easy to have it when you’re winning matches. We haven’t lost a championship game this year, so we still continue to have it and it’s a help coming down the stretch in a tight game.

“We’re all realistic enough to know that it won’t last forever either, so we want to make hay while the sun shines.” 

Make hay they absolutely have, even if the initial target was avoiding relegation. An understandable target, it must be said, seeing as Russell Rovers went from 2020 Cork lower intermediate finalists to 2021 relegation finalists (the competition was renamed premier junior this year, lest anyone get confused).

But once Ballygiblin won their first two group games against Dripsey and Ballygarvan, targets shifted.

“After winning last year, you have that bit of confidence and it carried us in a few early league games where we got big wins. Deep down, there was that inner belief that we could get back there but you’re trying not to get carried away,” continued 31-year-old Herlihy, who lines out at full-back.

Beaten All-Ireland club finalists last February, management gave players six weeks off after the one-point Croke Park defeat to Kilkenny’s Mooncoin - their sole championship defeat of the past 15 months. And even after they regrouped in late March, management’s relaxed approach set the perfect tone.

“We’ve had a lot of long seasons with football and, even when you’re winning, it gets tough mentally.

“Management encourage lads to go away on holiday or to go to weddings or trips away. There was no real pressure to come back on a Saturday evening or Sunday morning for league games and it stood us in good stead – we’ve developed a fairly strong panel now whereas last year we were limited to maybe 18, 19 players.

“There was a togetherness from last year and we probably went out with close to a full-strength team for most league games anyway. Normally, you’d be missing a few with other commitments but there was such a buzz, and we were able to build momentum early on.” 

It’s a momentum they are still carrying as they head into back-to-back county final appearances on Saturday evening and chase back-to-back county titles.