Mark Foley: Charleville can now cope against the Barrs without Fitzgibbon bailouts

Charleville must face St Finbarr's in the Cork Premier SHC quarter-final without injured Darragh Fitzgibbon 

Charleville's Jack Doyle and Erin's Own's James O'Carroll tussle for the sliotar during the Co-Op Superstores Cork PSHC at Mallow . Picture; Eddie O'Hare

One of Mark Foley’s opening lines is to exhale, with a great puff of relief, that “we are finally after getting there”.

“There” refers to the knockout stages of the Cork hurling championship and Charleville’s success in crossing the rubicon from relegation-escaping specialists to quarter-finalists. “There” took quite the journey.

Let’s first begin with Foley’s journey. This is, after all, former Limerick half-back and two-time All-Star Mark Foley.

The Eircode is Adare. What takes him within striking distance of the North Cork hurling fraternity is Foley’s Bar in Ballyagran, 10 minutes out the road from Charleville.

His ownership of the Ballyagran watering hole means he’s long been up to speed and long followed the establishments that carry the torch just south of the Cork-Limerick border. Newtownshandrum, obviously. Ballyhea, too, when they were supping pints from the top counter of Cork hurling. And more lately, Charleville.

He spectated during the latter’s run to All-Ireland intermediate glory in early 2019. For their Senior A success a year later, covid meant he and many more streamed rather than spectated.

And then, out of the blue, came a call from the late Martin Condon. Claude Gough, following said Senior A success, had decided to end his involvement on a high note. Condon wanted to know if Foley would fill the vacancy.

“I met Martin, and the rest is history,” Foley begins of his now three-season Charleville tenure.

“I would have had a fairly good knowledge of what Charleville had at their disposal before I went in, so that was definitely a help.” 

Making progress, though, within the tight confines of Cork’s 12-team premier championship proved most difficult.

In 2021, Conor Reynolds’ brilliant save, to deny Carrigtwohill’s Aaron Walsh Barry, scored Charleville a 3-2 penalties victory in that season’s relegation playoff.

In 2022, they again found themselves fighting the drop. Their escape on this occasion, mind, was far more comfortable. Na Piarsaigh put away with 20 to spare.

Foley declares himself a front row fan of the current format, even if it doesn’t leave a whole pile of room for manoeuvre.

“There are such fine margins in Cork at the moment. You have Kanturk and Glen Rovers in the relegation final, but with the hop of a ball, that could very easily have been three or four other clubs.

“We were just thankful that we managed to get over the line in that relegation final in year one. It took a small bit of pressure off.

“In year two, we played Blackrock in our last game. With two or three minutes to go, we were leading and on the way to a quarter-final. But they got a couple of points (Blackrock hit the front for the first time on 59 minutes), and all of a sudden we were in another relegation final.

“It is a great championship, very cutthroat. In terms of the final day permutations and all the moving that goes on in Round 3, it is very entertaining.

“People might say it is unfair on teams who get a bad draw and all that kind of thing, but the format is probably the only avenue the county board have because you have so many dual clubs and there’s not the room to stretch it out a bit.” 

In year three, Charleville got themselves to the other end of the group table.

Both Fr O’Neill’s and Erin’s Own pegged them back for a share of the spoils. But there was nothing shared two weeks ago, Foley’s Charleville securing their first Premier Senior group win - at the ninth attempt - to claim top spot in Group B and a quarter-final bout with the Barrs.

“If we didn't advance, you could realistically point to the three years and no real progress, so it was absolutely crucial we got out of the group.” 

Moreover, to down Douglas without injured Darragh Fitzgibbon made their maiden Premier Senior win all the sweeter.

“It was positive affirmation that there is a good spread of talent in Charleville. Darragh has never been one of these guys that comes back to his club after the inter-county and doesn't perform. He performs every day, even though he always gets a lot of special attention.

“To win without that level of performance from your best player was great, and it was great for the players. It just shows that when there is no kind of safety net of Darragh bailing anyone out, that the players can do it. A great fillip for this weekend.” 

This weekend is about being clinical, ruthless, and grasping an opportunity that might not come their way again anytime soon.

“This is it. You could be talking about coming back next year and building on this season, but the reality is you could perform better next year and not get out of your group. That's how competitive it is.

“We're here now, and we are not going down to make up the numbers. We've met the Barrs the last two years and drew with them last year.

“Even though Darragh is missing, we feel we are in a better place this year both physically and in our understanding of the game. If we are in it coming down the stretch, I'd give us every chance.”