Club connection powering St Mary's to brink of history
15 September 2026; In attendance at the 2026 FAI Intermediate Cup Final Media Day are Cobh Wanderers chairperson Frank McCall, left, and St Mary's AFC manager Craig Hurley at the FAI HQ, Abbotstown in Dublin. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile
Turner’s Cross will be the venue Sunday when Cork's St Mary’s and Cobh Wanderers battle it out for the FAI Intermediate Cup. Both sides overcame opponents from the capital in dramatic semi-finals where St Mary’s edged St Mochtas 4-3, while Cobh Wanderers and Finglas United played out an intense 1-1 draw before going to penalties which saw the hosts come out on top.
St Mary’s will be hoping that midfielder James O’Leary can reproduce some of the attacking potency that was on show in Kilcully, where he registered three assists and added a goal from the spot.
Lining out in an FAI Intermediate Cup final may have been difficult to foresee for O’Leary in recent times. Having joined the Cork City Academy from St Mary’s, he signed for Cobh Ramblers where he would go on to win three Munster Senior Cups. But he stepped away due to the challenges of balancing football with work commitments and having lost some of his love for the game.
“Stepping away after four years, I loved my time there, but it was just that decision of trying to find my feet again. Because ultimately, I thought my footballing career was done, because when you’re in that mindset it’s very hard to get out of,” he says about that decision to call time on his spell with Cobh.
He credits Mary's manager Craig Hurley and his staff for convincing him to find that love again, with the club where he spent his teenage years developing his game.
“Craig and the lads came out to my house and I knew Craig, being manager of St Mary’s for the previous three or four years maybe. He just talked me back into playing again and finding my love for the game again really. Because I feel like it fizzled out a little bit, and I have to give a massive thank you to Craig, and Morris and Micky who came out also.”
O’Leary describes the impact his return to St Mary’s has had on his game, and how he’s now able to approach it. How stepping down, as some may perceive such a move, can be beneficial for players.
“People can see it as a bad thing. But I feel like if you want to gain confidence, I lost my confidence, I lost belief in myself. I didn’t think I was a good player at the time, so stepping down, finding your feet again, it can benefit players massively in the long run. And at the end of the day, it’s still senior football so, any bit of senior football will benefit you massively, especially at this level.”
It will be just a second appearance for the club in the Intermediate Cup final and their first since 2000 when they were defeated by Bluebell. Manager Hurley says the significance of that is a factor in the build-up.
“They’ve never won a national trophy at any age which is phenomenal for a club so big with a 78-year history. We’re kind of using it as a motivational tool. It’s there, sometimes you can hide it all you want but some of these lads have seen it. Their family members have played in the last final. “They’re on the committee and stuff like that so, no it’s there.”
As director of football at the club as well as senior manager, Hurley sees the sense of community and togetherness as an important factor going into Sunday.
“In the semi, even St Mochtas were in the pub afterwards and they were asking us how we’ve got such a connection through the club. I coach the 11s boys, 12s boys, 12 s and 13s girls, I do the academy. So, I’m doing so many teams that I think there’s a lot of people that know who I am and I’m constantly trying to push the whole thing together.”
Despite winning various titles in his coaching career, including Treaty United’s first ever silverware, Hurley says victory on Sunday would be the greatest achievement yet.
“I just think this is the bread and butter of amateur football, I think it’s the biggest competition. And to do it with St Mary’s I think is phenomenal. My dad is on the coaching staff, so winning a major trophy with him would be phenomenal.”
O’Leary shares that sentiment and has no hesitation in describing where a victory would rank.
“This would definitely be my biggest achievement, individually and collectively. This trophy everyone wants to win, no matter what level you play at, this is a really hard one to win."
Speaking of 2000, he describes an article from that game that is framed outside the team dressing room. “It gives you extra motivation to go one more, for ourselves and to make the club proud really. For the players who couldn’t do it before us. So hopefully we can go one further now on Sunday.”
For O’Leary, making the hardest decision of his career may yet lead him to his greatest day.
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