As Fr O'Neills stand tall, Barrs stare into long winter after Championship exit

Their supporters poured onto the field at full-time. They stayed for as long as there were backs to slap. Disbelief embraced disbelief. One man with tears in his eyes.

STEP AHEAD: Fr O’Neill’s Billy Dunne sidesteps St Finbarr’s Cian Walsh, during their Premier SHC clash at Midleton.

Cork Premier SHC: Fr O’Neill’s 0-18 St Finbarr’s 0-15.
IT seems almost disrespectful to the 14 men of Fr O’Neill’s to begin with the Barrs. But against that, it is a hat tip to their overcoming-the-odds, behemoth-felling victory that we are compelled to begin with the city side.

Ever since the club's at-the-time emerging crop of Hayes, Twomey, Buckley, Cunningham, and the third Cahalane brother stunningly announced themselves in 2022, the consensus was that the Barrs' days of early elimination and mid-pack status were behind them. Togher was once again a force on the Cork hurling map. 2022 county champions. 2023 semi-finalists. And that latter campaign should, in all likelihood, have gone further.