Watch: Alan O'Callaghan says inconsistent Blackrock content with underdog role
Blackrock's Alan O'Callaghan
A 22-point win over Douglas in their final group game, coupled with other results going their way, secured Blackrock a direct route to the Cork Premier SHC semi-final. It wasn’t something they set out to achieve, nonetheless, the sole automatic spot was eagerly accepted. The last four draw pitted them against the winners of Glen Rovers and Midleton.
Speaking at last week’s championship launch and in the middle of their four-week break, Alan O’Callaghan said Blackrock are managing the time well.
“It is always good to get to a semi-final. We played Douglas. Was the semi-final spot in the back of our head? I don’t think so. We kind of put ourselves in a position to get that semi-final spot, we just kept tacking on the scores. The message coming from the line was to keep going and we were fortunate enough to get the semi-final position.
“Is it an advantage? It is how you manage it. Midleton won a great game against Glen Rovers. We had our own games that we were quite happy with. We got two challenge matches against Tipperary clubs, they were happy to come down and they were two good games to get. We are as best prepared as we can be.
“From now on, it is even keel, so we can drive on.”
Their 11-point triumph over St Finbarr’s meant they already had one foot in the knockouts. They kick-started the group against Kanturk.
“The Kanturk game was always going to be a tough game, it was about winning it initially. If you put yourself in a hole by losing your first game it can be tough. We won that and we prepared well for the Barrs game. We had our homework done. The stuff we did right, we did very well, and we prevented them from playing.
“Going forward you have to improve from there. We are building ahead of the semi-final.
“We won’t be looking beyond Midleton, they are a great club, they have great tradition. They have their stars. We have our stars. But I think it is a 15 on 15 game and it is about how the whole team comes together on the day. Look, we’ll do our preparation, we’ll do our homework, we’ll have our match-ups and hopefully on the day we’ll get over it.”
The Blackrock stars include Cork forward Alan Connolly. There’s more.
“John Cashman, our captain at centre-back and Cathal Cormack. Up the field as well, Robbie Cotter has been in with the seniors this year and he’s come back to us like a new player. Michael O’Halloran is home from his travels, he is so enthusiastic and his commitment is second to none. They’re great fellas to bounce things off at training and they bring everyone else on.
“We can’t say we’ve been the most consistent club team in the championship. We’ve got out of the group every year but again it is about performing on the bigger days.
“Fortunate enough to win the county in 2020, lost the county in 2022. We’ve been close enough every year. We’ve lost to the county champions every year in some form of knockout game.
“It is the four best club teams in the championship in the semi-finals and it is a toss up between all four. We’re fourth favourites in the bookies so we’ll take that on the chin and drive on. They do their business, we mind our own business.”
The Rockies will be without the in-form Tadhg Deasy after he sustained a serious knee injury.
“We all got a bit of a shock when we found out he was injured. He’s been so dynamic in the half-back line for us. My heart goes out to him. He’ll be a loss, but that is what the panel is there for. We’ve lads coming in. PJ (Peter) Linehan was unfortunate to lose his position but he’s come in and done a great job.
"We’ve new lads coming in, Ryan Sweeney as well. Then we have lads who finished up with the intermediates, who are well able to play senior hurling and have senior championship experience. It. Is a 15 to 20/25 man panel. Tadhg is a loss but I’m confident enough we have fellas to fill in the gap.”
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