'They've created their own bit of history now': Ballinhassig manager O'Sullivan hails his charges after PIHC triumph

Ballinhassig’s James Reardan leads the celebrations. Pic:Tom Maher/Inpho

John O’Sullivan hailed his Ballinhassig players for creating their own history after leading the club to a third Cork PIHC title in 20 years.

The Blues haven’t been back to this stage since 2012, but they grabbed their opportunity with a six-point victory over Ballincollig.

“It's about the players, and they've created their own bit of history now for Ballinhassig,” O’Sullivan said.

“There'll be underage players looking up to them now, and it's great to have a new crew to look up to.

“This is a long time coming. We’ve always been there or thereabouts, quarter-finals, semi-finals, but could never get to the final to test ourselves and see how we would get on.

“We got there this year after going deep into our panel because we’d a lot of injuries. To a man, every one of them that we called on this year delivered.” Ballinhassig’s history of provincial and All-Ireland honours means that they will be taking the opportunity of a Munster title seriously.

“We brought on the injured players towards the end, so we'll have to reassess and see where they are, but the fact that we're in it, we'll give it a good cut,” O’Sullivan said.

“When we won the junior back in 2002, we ended up winning the All-Ireland on the back of it, and in the intermediate in 2005, we went all the way to Croke Park and lost the final.

“We have a good record in Munster and All-Irelands, so they'll be interested in going far in it and extending the year. We'll see how it goes.”

Ballinhassig’s Eoghan Lombard and Liam Kirby celebrate the win. Pic: Tom Maher/Inpho

They arrived at the county final with half of their starting forward line from the first-round victory against Ballincollig restricted to bench duty due to injury. They accounted for 2-6 in that round 1 win. Here, they made another big impact when introduced.

“The plan was always to hold them in reserve. We had met a couple of times this week. The whole plan worked because the times we brought them in were the times we had planned. Everything went off as we had seen it.

“The likes of Evan (Cullinane) came on and scored three points. Seán Lombard came in and set up a goal. Adam (O’Sullivan) worked hard up there.” But it was captain Ger Collins who had the biggest impact, with his 1-11 contribution accounting for half their total score.

“The Collinses are synonymous with this group. Ger was excellent. He's been excellent for us all year,” O’Sullivan said.

“And to have an asset like Patrick with his puck-outs, it puts the opposition under serious pressure.” As for the jump to senior A hurling, O’Sullivan’s side will take that in their stride.

“The first year up, you'll always hope that you get a bounce off a team. We'll just have to see where it falls for fellas.

“Some of our guys are on the wrong side of 30, and some of the rest of them are actually very young.

“We'll get through Munster now, we'll all reassess at the end of the year, but I would hope we'd give it a good go first year up.

“They'll know that there's more expected, and I've no doubt that they will deliver on it.” Ballincollig manager Éamonn Keating hailed free-taker Stephen Wills, who tallied 1-10 despite playing through a hand injury.

He added: “We've no qualms with the result. We've regrets, obviously, but the better team on the day won. I’ve no doubt they’ll represent the county very well in the Munster Club.

“I’ve nothing but admiration for our fellas. I'm sure they're hurting inside. But next year is a big year. We have to bounce back. We have to get back here, and we have to go further.”