Latest news with #Newtownshandrum
Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Times
How U12 rivalry helped forge one of the great Cork partnerships
O n a June evening in 2009 the Newtownshandrum under-12s came to the field in Milford to meet Sean Clárachs, Charleville hurling's youth wing, two parishes stuck together like the houses on Coronation Street, families and lives all mingled up together. But distinct and different, too. Charleville was the big town hard on the Limerick border without any significant hurling tradition. Out the road, Newtown were the tiny village citadel of Ben and Jerry O'Connor, winners of county titles and an All-Ireland, crafting new ways of hurling that would change the game itself. These were two places that usually hurled on different plains. Usually. Newtown had Tim O'Mahony, brother of Gerdy who won an All-Ireland minor medal with Cork and a cousin of the O'Connors, already tall and rakey and running the show. The Charleville under-12s were hunting their second successive league title. Darragh Fitzgibbon was their star, all skill and no size. Not yet.
Irish Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
'It would be lovely' Robert Downey bidding to go where 13 Cork men have failed
Thirteen Cork men have sought to follow Seán Óg Ó hAilpín in the last 20 years and none have succeeded. Back then, Cork maintained the once widespread, though now largely diminished, practice of allowing the county champions to nominate the captain of the county team so, with Na Piarsaigh winning the Seán Óg Murphy Cup in 2004, Ó hAilpín was the obvious choice and duly lifted the Liam MacCarthy Cup as they completed the back-to-back the following year. Pat Mulcahy had the honour the following year after Newtownshandrum won the county, but Cork failed in their three-in-row bid and 12 others have held the role since without the ultimate success of captaining Cork to an All-Ireland. Kieran Murphy from Erin's Own followed Mulcahy, after which Cork broke with tradition as the team management was granted the power of picking the captain, with John Gardiner the first to be chosen in that manner for the 2008 and '09 seasons. Since then Kieran Murphy (Sarsfields), Shane O'Neill, Donal Óg Cusack, Patrick Cronin, Anthony Nash, Stephen McDonnell, Séamus Harnedy, Patrick Horgan, Mark Coleman and Seán O'Donoghue have been handed the role, before Pat Ryan turned to Robert Downey last winter. 'I was taken aback a small bit, yeah,' says Downey. 'I was delighted and hugely honoured. To be asked to captain any team is an honour, but to be asked to be captain of the Cork team is a massive honour. Especially with the guys that we have. We're so close and so tight, so it's something I'm quite proud of.' The role of the captain has evolved from the table-thumping, chest-beating stereotype, and Downey was wary over-thinking the role. 'It would be quite organic. I was conscious not to change too much. Stephen McDonnell, a clubmate of mine, would have been captain of Cork before. I would have played with him, I spoke to Stephen alright. 'Everyone I would talk to would say that Maccie was one of the best captains they ever played under. The conversation, there wasn't too much, but he just gave a small bits of advice. And the biggest thing was that if you're performing on the field, then guys will follow you. 'We have plenty of guys to do jobs all over the field but the biggest thing is you can't say too much or do too much different; just do our job and do it as best you can on the pitch.' Downey has endured an injury-interrupted campaign this year and only came back into the starting side for the All-Ireland semi-final win over Dublin. But what an environment to lead the team into, with some 60,000 Cork people in Croke Park. The nature of the final, with tickets distributed all over the country, means that Cork won't command the same level of support in the stadium for Sunday's final against Tipperary. 'It was funny going up on the Friday,' says Downey, 'obviously it was very business-like and guys were serious, but even driving in on the bus on the Saturday, you were getting a bit giddy. 'I remember seeing Hoggy [Patrick Horgan] getting onto the bus. I won't call him old but he's the oldest on the team and he came on and he was giddy, laughing. He knew: these days don't come around too often. 'It was brilliant to see the Cork fans, and the buzz. And then when we got out onto the pitch, it was just red everywhere. It means an awful lot to us, to have fans like that. You just get a great buzz and a great energy from it.' The 25-year-old, somewhat surprisingly, retains memories of Cork's win over Galway in that final 20 years ago. 'I watched it in the backroom with my dad. I was five or six. In the sitting room. I was just going on six. I'm born in September. And I can just remember my dad jumping around, delighted. Very vague memory of it because I was very young. I watched the 2006 final in the Fox and Hound pub, close to our house.' He has more vivid memories of growing up under Glen Rovers clubmate Horgan's wing. Cork's Glen Rovers trio of Patrick Horgan, Robert Downey and his brother Eoin celebrate the Munster Championship win this year. (Image: ©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo) 'We'd have always played in the ball alley in the Glen. We played squash with our hurleys and sliotars in the Glen. Just one touch. I can remember when I was very young, Hoggie would ask us to come in and play with him. 'The alley in the Glen would be bigger than a squash court, it's designed for that game specifically. We play a lot in the alleys here as well. We were lucky we had such close access to Hoggie. I can remember him an awful lot. 'It gave us the bug to want to get to the levels he was at and to practise as hard as he did. And it's funny now, even in the offseason, I could ring him or he could ring me and there'd be a few of us going to the alley again. We always find ourselves back there.' And what about Downey lifting the cup, with Horgan following him up the steps after completing his 18th season? 'Look, it would be lovely for him obviously, but at the end of the day it's about the group, and it's a group effort. 'It's a massive effort from everybody, not just players. But look, it would be lovely.' Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts.
Irish Examiner
17-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
'If it comes down to a hurling match, Cork will have too much for Limerick' says Pat Mulcahy
The last time we checked in with Pat Mulcahy before the 2021 All-Ireland final, he was brimming with belief. Few were anticipating Cork would be able to upset the odds against Limerick and so it transpired, but coming away from their 2006 All-Ireland final captain in Charleville that day you felt at the very least there was a way. The hangover of that 16-point hammering in 2021 extended into the following two seasons before the pain subsided with that outrageous game in Ballintemple 12 months ago, backed up in another mesmerising game in Croke Park. Needless to say, Newtownshandrum man Mulcahy is buzzing again this week, convinced that Cork can inflict a third straight championship defeat on his close neighbours. 'I group this Cork squad now into three groups, the older generation – Patrick Horgan and Seamus Harnedy and obviously there is a sense that time is running out there, but they have managed to keep themselves in really good shape. 'There's the middle group, the Mark Coleman group, who have had a lot of losses but they're at an age where they're at their prime, they've reached a level of maturity physically, and I think they too realise the time is running out and they've got to do something. 'Then you marry that with the younger group who have won two U20 All-Ireland titles. You know, for their winners, they know how to win and they're bringing an air of confidence and adding that to the older groups, which is hugely important. 'That confidence is probably the biggest thing that had been lacking as it was in 2021. Even when they hit the couple of speed bumps against Waterford and Clare last year, they still have that belief in themselves that they were as good as the teams that beat them. "When it came to it, they had the pace on Limerick last year on both occasions. Shane Barrett played a huge part in both of those games.' It certainly was in Limerick's half-back line where Cork made hay last year and Mulcahy spots opportunities there again, though not as much after some recent surgery. 'Seeing how Tipp did against Limerick, I really fancied Cork's chances because Limerick struggled in the half-back line. 'But bringing (Barry) Nash out there alongside Kyle Hayes adds a very different dynamic. They can definitely get at (Diarmaid) Byrnes, 100% get at him, but they need the space to do it. 'Cork this year remind me of Rory McIlroy at Augusta. I think you'll see them do the spectacular then being reeled back and then going again. Cork have the firepower for Limerick, the pace, they have everything going for them except the home ground. There is going to be a massive intensity. This Limerick team also know that time is coming to an end for them. 'A lot is going to be thrown at Cork and they will have to deal with that. It's going to be incredibly physical and mental but they should be well able to cope with it. If it comes down to a hurling match, I think Cork will have too much for them.' Mulcahy was slightly surprised to hear John Kiely feel the need to rally the Limerick following for this game. 'I thought it was interesting. It's not like him. I think the support for Cork, for a couple of reasons, is incredible. The hunger for success is so big that we're bringing massive crowds to matches and I think the big thing for Limerick was that they don't want to be outdone in their own stadium for numbers.' Mulcahy would like to see referee Liam Gordon stamp his authority to ensure there are no flashpoints as have been seen in other championship fixtures. 'The big thing to me is the fighting before matches. I think that's absolutely ridiculous. I think there's a very simple way of dealing with that. Liam Gordon goes into each dressing room before the match and tells them, 'The first person to do this off the field.' Once the players look into the whites of the referee's eyes and knows what he is about, that cuts it all out. 'I don't think we do enough in hurling as they do in rugby with pre-match engagement with the referee. What happened before the Tipperary match where every player was wrestling beforehand, it was appalling. It was really poor. But if a referee tells all of them beforehand, it cuts out a lot of the messing. " For the past three seasons, a Clare-Limerick trilogy has been touted only for the third leg not to materialise in Croke Park. The same now is being spoken of Sunday's pairing. 'Whether it's in a Munster final or in the All-Ireland stages, they're definitely going to meet again,' says Mulcahy. 'I see it being a major rivalry over the next 12 to 18 months.'
