Coleman and Blarney looking up while age is on their side

Blarney are once again banging relentlessly at the door of top-flight Cork hurling. 

Alan Fenton, Castlelyons and Mark Coleman, Blarney. Pic: Jim Coughlan.

Blarney escaped Cork hurling’s second tier at the end of the 2008 season. 

Eventually escaped might be a better way of phrasing their promotion. They’d been beaten semi-finalists in three of the four previous seasons.