Why do Cork’s best almost routinely find it difficult to recalibrate for provincial honours?
Aidan McCarthy and Niall Mullins of Inagh Kilnamona celebrate after the match. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
We’ll get to Aidan McCarthy’s form in a moment. So rich is his vein of performance that he surely must be returned to the Clare inter-county panel.
But for Glen Rovers, this one will be chalked down as yet another example of Cork premier senior champions’ pretty brutal form in Munster competition.
Since The Glen’s win over Patrickswell 10 years ago, Sarsfields two years ago are the county’s sole representatives to win a game in the provincial championship.
They went onto win the title, of course, but with the exception of them and Glen Rovers’ win in 2016 it’s a troubling pattern that goes back to when Newtownshandrum were in their pomp.
Why do Cork’s best almost routinely find it difficult to recalibrate for provincial honours? Is the comedown from too much, the idea of chasing a Munster title just small beer? Or is it quality?
Coming from where Glen Rovers were this time three years ago, theirs has been a long journey as it is but all the liveliness and intensity they have brought in recent weeks was absent in Páirc Uí Rinn. Manager Tomás Mulcahy wasn’t making excuses.
“We just couldn't live with them today,” he conceded.
He had issues with some of the frees Inagh-Kilnamona were awarded by Alan Tierney in the second half as Glen Rovers thrice came within four points of them but so much of the damage had been done in a first half where they had gone as much as 10 points behind.
Their full-back line was exposed. The Downey brothers have been sentries in defence this season but the half-back line, which featured both of them here, were often pulled apart by the Inagh-Kilnamona’s movement.
In midfield, the tenaciousness of the visitors stood out from early doors. Mark Callinan and Seán Rynne worked frentically to win or foil ball. And then there was McCarthy, who was a beacon from placed ball and open play.
Whatever differences there are between Brian Lohan and the player that saw McCarthy removed from the Clare panel in 2025, they simply need to be settled. In four knock-out games of senior club hurling, the 26-year-old has posted 1-37, adding 14 in Páirc Uí Rinn, four from play.
It was his marksmanship that Inagh-Kilnamona retained a cushion as Glen Rovers enjoyed the second-half wind factor. Eoin O’Leary’s first point brought The Glen to within four in the 50th minute but David Fitzgerald’s second score followed it and then Fitzgerald put the spade work in for McCarthy’s fourth point from play.
Patrick Horgan attempted a second goal from a placed free in the 57th minute but the ball was kept out and Luke Horgan’s 65 went wide of the mark and Inagh-Kilnamona finished with composure.
Prior to throw-in, Micheál Mullins’ absence was revealed and while one of The Glen’s best championship players was a loss from the start (he came off the bench in the second half), his teenage deputy Michael Tadhg Brosnan had a heartening first half.
Inagh-Kilnamona’s use of the breeze in that period was efficient enough, 1-12 coming off 19 scoring attempts. Glen Rovers’ return was 1-5 points from nine. The wind was one factor, their inability to get beyond Kevin Hehir and James Hegarty, who were tucking in to sweep, another.
Patrick Horgan’s additional time goal from a close-range free, a venomous hit struck with an abundance of top spin to best Eamonn Foudy, gave them some solace going into the half-time break.
Otherwise, the scoreboard and statistics would have made for sobering reading.
The gaps left in front of Glen Rovers’ full-back line were large. Although the half didn’t lack intensity, the number of frees coloured not just the game but some of the players’ behaviour.
There are few club hurlers who can boast McCarthy’s form at present and he posted three of Inagh-Kilnamona’s four points inside the first seven minutes, two of them from frees.
Inagh-Kilnamona led by 0-7 to 0-1 by the 12th minute. Rob Downey and Horgan struck back with points but the margin widened to eight by the 23rd minute when Eoin Varian’s slack sideline gifting McCarthy his seventh point.
Fred Hegarty had a brace of points to his name by that stage and David Fitzgerald found the net in a trademark on-running role in the 26th minute. Kealan Guyler sent a short stick-pass into David Mescall who fed the inter-county veteran.
It ballooned Inagh-Kilnamona’s advantage to 10 points before Horgan’s goal provided a lifeline to a Glen Rovers team who were largely living on scraps.
Mulcahy acknowledged their opponents’ deeper positioning worked.
He added: “We had a couple of harsh words with our guys at half-time. We asked them to perform better than what they were. They weren't doing justice to themselves and what they've done for us all year, and we got a bit of a spurt out of them there maybe for 10-15 minutes in the second half.
“We got back to four points and we were kind of looking good at that stage. But a few questionable frees, picked balls off the ground and stuff like that as well. And two points gone back up on the board again, so they went six points back up again. So, we lost a bit of momentum on that basis.”
P. Horgan (1-7, 1-6 frees); R. Downey, D. Brosnan. L. Quilligan, M.T. Brosnan, E. O’Leary, E. Downey (0-1 each).
A. McCarthy (0-14, 9 frees, 1 65); D. Fitzgerald (1-1); F. Hegarty (0-2); C. Hegarty, D. Mescall, S. Rynne, M. Callinan (0-1 each).
C. Hickey; L. Coughlan, E. Varian, A. Lynch; L. Horgan, E. Downey, R. Downey; R. Dunne, C. McCarthy; D. Brosnan, M.T. Brosnan, L. Quilligan; S. Kennefick, P. Horgan, E. O’Leary.
Z. Lynch for C. McCarthy (h-t); B. Moylan for L. Quilligan (45); M. Mullins for M.T. Brosnan (46); Z. Lynch for C. Guyler (60+2).
E. Foudy; S. Woods, K. White, C. Ryan; K. Hehir, J. Hegarty, D. Cullinan; M. Callinan, S. Rynne; D. Fitzgerald, A. McCarthy (c), K. Guyler; D. Mescall, C. Hegarty, F. Hegarty.
J. Mescall for S. Rynne (temp, 2-4); J. McCarthy for K. Hehir (45); N. Mullins for F. Hegarty (inj 48); J. Guyler for D. Mescall (50); G. Barry for C. Hegarty (52).
A. Tierney (Tipperary)
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