Martin Bowen: Erin’s Own won’t be making up numbers

After Midleton kicked down the door to end East Cork’s wait for the Cork senior hurling title, Erin’s Own were the next through.

The Magpies won the championship in 1983, the first time since 1970 Blackrock, Glen Rovers or St Finbarr’s hadn’t been successful, and for the rest of that decade the four formed a ‘new firm’.

Na Piarsaigh’s 1990 win indicated something was stirring though, and after Midleton beat the Glen in the 1991 final, Erin’s Own claimed the Seán Óg Murphy Cup in 1992, signalling a sea-change as senior hurling in the county became more democratised.