True blue Ethan Twomey making case to go back in the red

On Cork hurling semi-finals weekend, Ethan Twomey and Micheál Mullins delivered the outstanding performances of those outside of Ben Connor’s favoured 18 or 19

Ethan Twomey walks the pitch before the Cork County Senior Club Hurling Championship semi-final. Pic: Tyler Miller/Sportsfile.

Blue all the way. Ethan Twomey was somewhat reluctant to give airtime to red matters and potential red frustration. The Barrs and Sunday have his bandwidth. Nothing else.

Red matters and red questions were inevitable after inter-county periphery during the first half of this season was followed by extreme club prominence of late.

In Pat Ryan’s final year as Cork manager, Ethan Twomey held first-team status for three-quarters of the campaign. The midfielder started four of the county’s six games in the League round-robin. He struck 1-2 on the afternoon of the League final rout.

He continued to be present at throw-in for the opening three games of the Munster Championship. The last of those - the 16-point hammering away to Limerick where he was whipped at half-time - was his last appearance in red of 2025.

No reprieve arrived under the new boss. The 24-year-old featured in just two league games the spring gone. Started the Tipp win, brought on away to Kilkenny. There were no championship minutes. He was not part of the matchday panel for the final round-robin game in Munster, the Munster decider, or the All-Ireland semi-final.

Fast forward to October. Club fixtures of this time of year carry greatest weight. Twomey’s second half against Kanturk a fortnight ago restarted his Cork conversation.

On Cork hurling semi-finals weekend, he and Micheál Mullins of the Glen delivered the outstanding performances of those outside of Ben Connor’s favoured 18 or 19 players from the inter-county season.

The Cork management couldn’t but take note of his semi-final second half. He delivered 1-3 in total and assisted two of their seven-in-a-row run at the finish. He was towering under Kanturk puck-outs.

“You definitely have to channel it positively,” Twomey said of his down-the-pecking-order red existence in 2026.

“Every player wants to be playing, obviously, but it’s back with the club now and we’re all enjoying our hurling here.

“When you’ve a county final to look forward to, you don’t really think of much else, to be fair.” 

Integral on the journey to last year’s Munster Club football decider, Twomey, who initially played his underage football with Kilshannig before committing to the blue cause, is hurling only in 2026. Late summer exams meant something had to give on the sporting front.

That hurling campaign almost met a premature end in the group phase as opening day defeat to Midleton was followed by the stickiest of encounters in the final round against Newcestown. Trailing late on, the Barrs were on the way out before eventual stalemate sustained them in the race for local silverware.

“We were calm enough after the Midleton game, because I think we had had only one proper session [beforehand], with footballing and then lads coming back after being with Cork. It was kind of tough, but we gathered well after that and analysed where we went wrong.

“The Bride Rovers game was a big one, to be fair, to get a win under our belt. When we got the draw [against Newcestown], we nearly thought we were out – you're looking to the line and you weren't even sure what was happening. You nearly felt it was gone.

“We were lucky enough to get through. It was a dogged match and they probably deserved to win. You take massive heart from that, to see the character of fellas show in tough conditions.

“There are plenty leaders around, we’re not short of fellas in the dressing-room who can speak their mind. There’s no fella who’s afraid to call you out.” 

Twomey’s blue debut coincidentally happens to be the last championship meeting of Sunday’s finalists. The Barrs were an unsettled camp for that 3-20 to 0-15 battering on the opening day of the 2020 edition.

Having reached just one semi-final in the decade previous, Twomey’s blue times have been far more fruitful and elongated. The 2022 famine-ending success has been followed by near-misses at the semi-final stage in 2023 and last year.

“It was a rude awakening to senior hurling, to be fair,” he said of the 3-20 to 0-15 non-event six years ago. “They were hopping that day, and we were a fair bit off it.” 

Whatever the outcome of Sunday’s old money final, do not expect any 14-point full-time difference.