Ian Maguire: 'I couldn't be prouder of the group. I think we've put a lot of ghosts to bed'

For years, Nemo Rangers haunted St Finbarr’s championship dreams. On Sunday night, Ian Maguire and company ended the nightmare

Ian Maguire of St Finbarr's is tackled by Barry Cripps of Nemo Rangers. Pic: Tom Beary/Sportsfile

Another ghost - their biggest ghost of all - put to bed. Winning counties and rewriting history. A victory for the head more so than blue hearts.

Ian Maguire, among others, collected his third Cork football medal on Sunday. Each one was significant for who the Barrs bettered in being first to the finish line.

In 2018, Duhallow were conquered. The class of ‘82 was the first out Togher direction to best on final Sunday the division from the north-west of the county. But given the orange and black flag was subsequently planted atop the local summit at their expense in 1990 and ‘91, the famine-ending result of seven years ago was an important rebalancing of their concluding Sunday rivalry.

Clon crushed their famine-ending dreams in the 2009 decider. They would not do so again four years ago.

And then, of course, Nemo. The market leaders have had a long-standing mortgage on the county final dreams of almost every opponent to stand opposite them on the closing afternoon.

Prior to Sunday, and as has been repeatedly spelled out by this point, there had been no Barrs final win over Nemo and just one Blues championship victory over the neighbours in 36 years. The latter was the Round 4 triumph of 2012. Maguire, present-day corner-back Alan O’Connor, and centre-back Jamie Burns all featured.

That trio, along with seven more starters from Sunday’s line-up, had suffered at least one final defeat to the black and green. The suffering did not continue. No fifth final disappointment to the crowd further across the southside.

“I think for the team and for everyone, there's been a lot about Barrs football over the years and there's been a lot of ghosts, even going back to Duhallow in 2018, Clon, stories you'd hear from the early 90s, and obviously with Nemo and the Haven too, and I couldn't be prouder of the group. I think we've put a lot of ghosts to bed, and I think today it captures that,” said Maguire.

In a game lifted by its many misses and mistakes, the Barrs brought stability in their restart retention. Maguire and Brian Hayes were ever dependable targets for Darragh Newman. Luke Hannigan came on at half-time and plundered two of Micheál Aodh Martin’s five second-half restarts. Brian Hayes fetched and, three passes later, finished to the net another Martin restart.

They bossed and built from kickouts travelling in both directions.

“One thing that stuck to us all year is that we were solid on our kickout, and that probably stood to us towards the end. Even when things weren’t going right, we were still retaining possession, albeit there were mad things happening left and right.

“I am under no illusions that we could have lost that game, no doubt about it. But we just about dug it out. That is something we have been doing this year in the championship. We have been finding different ways to win.” 

Although two down at the break, despite having had the breeze at their backs, Maguire spoke of a dressing-room “reasonably happy” with what they had produced to that point.

“We spoke at half-time and one thing we said was we want to really stamp our personality on the game. It was probably managing the audacious with the basics, but I think we played our football in the second half, built up a four-point lead, and it just turned into a cagey game after that.

“It turned into almost a game of mistakes at the end. It was like, who can make the bigger mistake?” 

The 31-year-old midfielder picked out and paid tribute to another blue totem - and the championship’s top-scorer from play with 4-13 - in Steven Sherlock.

“Watching him lift the cup, nobody is prouder than me. What he has gone through the last couple of years and the burden that is on his shoulders with scoring, I thought he played a captain’s performance all year.” 

Sherlock, unaware of the compliment, brought Maguire unprompted into his own unspooling of post-match thoughts.

“It means so much to this group because people were saying ye need to win one, we went away and won one; and people were then saying ye need to put two counties together, we won a second one; and then people were saying that we needed to beat Nemo, and we went out and we have beaten Nemo. We have done it. This group has done it for the club.

“I couldn’t be happier for the likes of Ian, who has been an incredible servant for us. The best player I have ever played with, hands down.”