Now with Sars, Vivienne Harris knows finalists well

In tomorrow’s county final she will come up against St Finbarr’s, with whom she won a senior county medal in 2006 - the only time the Blues were successful in the Cork senior championship.

Sat, 12 Oct, 2024 - 07:44

Therese O’Callaghan

These days you’ll find Vivienne Harris patrolling the sidelines for Sarsfields camogie teams. The five-times All-Ireland medallist with Cork joined Tadhg Óg Lynch’s set-up as a selector this year. Her daughters Kacey and Emma Harris O’Brien play underage with the club.

In tomorrow’s county final she will come up against St Finbarr’s, with whom she won a senior county medal in 2006 — the only time the Blues were successful in the Cork senior championship.

“There was huge hype in 2006,” the midfielder recalls. “At the time, Imokilly were very strong. It wasn’t going to be easy, we knew we had to put it up to them. It was all about keeping calm and keeping our composure and doing what we had done all year.

“We won 2-9 to 0-12, Lynda O’Connell was captain and she’s still playing. The big story was Colette O’Mahony, who played for years with the Barrs, and she finally got her county medal. In the backroom, Marian McCarthy was there and is with them now and has been fantastic for the club.

“I’m living in Glanmire for almost 20 years. I have two girls and both of them are going to school locally and play with Sars. Emma is with the U11s, Kacey is with the U14s. We have another county final next weekend in the U14 P1.

“I got involved with the kids,” she explains.

“I was standing on the side of the pitch anyway. The numbers in Sars are very big so I thought they were a bit overwhelmed. There was one guy with about 40 kids and I said if you need help I’ll jump in. I was involved with the U14 team up along, and with the minors last year. I’m involved with the minors this year and then I was asked to get involved with the seniors.”

The defending champions are seeking a fourth title. The split season, however, has its challenges.

“Throughout the league we didn’t have our Cork players, not until after the All-Irelands in August, which is quite hard. We had four involved with the seniors, two with the intermediates and we had another four or five with the minors and some of them did their Leaving Cert so we didn’t see them until after the summer.

“Our numbers were down at training. But to be fair to the girls who were there, they turned up every week and they put in a huge effort. It’s great now, everyone is back. We had a few injuries, and we’re hoping we’re over that as well.”

Big numbers means places are up for grabs.

“If you look back at all the games we played in the championship, we never started the same 15. That’s the one thing I will say about Sars, we have a bench and there is real competition for places. Nobody is guaranteed a spot.

“I’m expecting the final to be a cracker. I think both teams are very similar in how they play and are very

close competitively. They’re both hurling teams. For me, it’s going to come down to the day and who puts in the best performance.

“When I look at Sars, they won the county last year having lost the year before. They had such a good year getting to the All-Ireland semi-final. Definitely they have the ability and the players to do it again.

“When you talk about a team coming up like the Barrs, they’ll want to get another county after 18 years. They’ll push hard for that. They’d have been kicking themselves after missing out in the last couple of years. They’re going to be hungry. A team with hunger is always hard to beat.”