Barrs tasked with ending Cork's 13 years of Munster Club SHC woe
ACE: St. Finbarr’s Brian Hayes will be crucial to his side's chances in Munster. ©INPHO/Ken Sutton
It’s the lesser-known Cork hurling famine. A yearning that only raises its head when the little All-Ireland has been played and the Cork hurling champions make for the province.
Over the past 13 years, though, the respective Cork champions haven’t had very much success when making for the province. In fact, they’ve had no success at all.
2009 was the last time a Cork club was crowned senior hurling champions of Munster. Newtownshandrum, on that occasion, collected a third provincial title in six seasons. Since then, diddly-squat.
Even in terms of finals reached, Cork has fared worse than every other county in the province across the last 13 years.
Glen Rovers’ unsuccessful run to the 2016 decider stands as the lone Munster final appearance by a Cork club going back to 2009. Compare that with seven each for Waterford and Limerick, Clare’s four, and Tipperary’s three.
Worse still, Glen Rovers’ one-point semi-final win over Patrickswell six years ago this month is the sole Munster championship win by a Cork club since Newtown’s final victory over Ballygunner at the end of the noughties.
That one win, as you’d expect, is significantly dwarfed by the 11 defeats - the average margin for which is six points - during this most barren spell for Cork clubs.
And so it falls to Cork’s second most decorated club on the provincial scene to try and stop the rot. The Barrs are four-time Munster hurling champions, the last of which arrived in 1980.
But parking for a second the 13-year famine of Cork clubs, it needs mentioning that the Togher side have their own Munster losing run to try and address when they face Ballyea in Sunday’s semi-final.
On the last five occasions the Barrs represented Cork in the Munster Club SHC - 1993, ‘88, ‘84, ‘82, and ‘81 - they failed to win a game. And when you consider that their three provincial sojourns prior to that ended in silverware, it’s very much been feast or famine where their relationship with Munster is concerned.
Following the Glen’s 2016 Munster final defeat to the side the Barrs will stand opposite this weekend at Ennis, Glen manager Richie Kelleher saw one obvious difference between Cork club fare and what they encountered outside of it.
“When we go back to Cork, we are strong in the tackle. Today, they were stronger than us,” said Kelleher of Ballyea.
“Maybe that just shows you the standard of inter-county hurling and where Cork is at the moment. We need to get that bit of steel into us. Cork don’t seem to have that at the moment. That’s everybody’s challenge.”
The Barrs class of 2022 are known more for their silk than their steel, even if they rolled up their sleeves to maximum effect during last month’s biblical county final conditions.
This Barrs group have already ended one famine in recent weeks, that the club’s 29-year wait for county hurling honours. Can Ger Cunningham’s young charges now bridge a second and bring an end to 13 years of hard luck and not-so-hard luck Munster semi-final and final stories?
A Jake Dillon point at the end of extra-time handed De La Salle a 0-22 to 2-15 victory over Sars.
With the wind behind them in the second half, Crusheen outgunned Carrigtwohill by 0-13 to 1-2 to head back up the road six-point victors.
Sars had come from six down to draw level in the 59th minute, but a Richie Ruth goal in the first minute of stoppage time carried their namesakes from Thurles into the decider.
Midleton never once led Sixmilebridge during a second half that ended with the visitors to Páirc Uí Chaoimh four in front.
Another extra-time near miss for Sars, this time falling two short of Kilmallock in a 3-22 to 3-20 48-score cracker.
Ballygunner, backed by a gale, outscored the Glen by 0-16 to 1-1 upon the change of ends to progress by seven.
Trailing a Tony Kelly-inspired Ballyea by nine at the break, Glen Rovers, try as they did, were unable to recover the deficit in the second half of the Munster final.
The first of three consecutive Munster campaigns where the Cork representative, on account of Imokilly winning the county, was the county final runner-up. Blackrock lurched from county final disappointment to a 2-26 to 0-10 hammering by Na Piarsaigh.
Green flags from Conor Lehane and Cormac Beausang had Midleton leading Ballygunner 2-8 to 0-10 at half-time. They were unable to hold onto this lead in the second period.
2-4 from Patrick Horgan was not enough for Glen Rovers to stave off defeat by Borris-Ileigh.
Midleton managed only 0-3 in the first half against Kilmallock. Their 1-9 total left them seven adrift.
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