McCarthy urges Castlehaven players to grab ‘once-in-a-lifetime chance’ in Munster club football final

BY KIERAN McCARTHY

JAMES McCarthy can pinpoint the moment that convinced him Castlehaven were going to remind everyone they haven’t gone away.

The nearly men in recent seasons (2020-22), they are part of The Big Three along with Nemo Rangers and St Finbarr’s, but came up short every time. A final defeat. Back-to-back semi-final losses. Something had to give.

But then the Haven boss saw something in his team in their Cork Premier SFC opener against Carbery Rangers that inspired him to make a prediction afterwards: we’re going to win the county, lads.

‘We could have died a death that day, could have thrown in the towel,’ McCarthy says of their 0-11 derby draw with the Rosscarbery men.

‘We were on the road for three years and had no medal to show for it, having been there or thereabouts. In those final few minutes we were down to 13 men – Mark Collins was off (black card), Ronan Walsh was off (red card), Conor and Jack Cahalane had come off, we had no Brian Hurley, that’s five starters we were missing. The lads could have said “that’s it”.

‘Darragh Cahalane, in his first championship game in goal, got a quick kick away, and we held onto possession for those last two minutes to scrape out a draw. I said it in the huddle afterwards “lads, with that spirit, we’ll win the county this year”. I don’t think anyone believed me, but I felt that was our turning point, I saw the spirit in this group.’

Since that July Friday night in Clon, Castlehaven found their groove, improving with every outing to eventually take down two of the other big three – St Finbarr’s in the semi-final, Nemo in the final – to retake the throne in Cork for the first time in a decade. Now this group wants more: a Munster medal. They’ve negotiated two tricky provincial hurdles in Cratloe and Rathgormack, but face their biggest challenge yet: Dingle in the Munster club final this Sunday at the Gaelic Grounds (2pm, live on TG4).

‘It could possibly be a once-in-a-lifetime chance for a lot of players,’ McCarthy points out, and he’s right. The Haven have waited ten years to dip their toes in the provincial series. They have a handful of survivors from their 2012 and ’13 campaigns, with captain Mark Collins, Brian Hurley, Michael Hurley and Damien Cahalane the only survivors. They know they need to grab this chance, and become the fourth team from the club to win this title.

‘We have one shot, it’s one game,’ McCarthy adds.

‘The players have spoken about that, they are tuned in and know this is a great opportunity to get their hands on a Munster medal, but they also know what’s ahead of us on Sunday.’

Haven and Dingle have no previous history. McCarthy can recall meetings with An Ghaeltacht, but never Dingle. But there’s no sense of the unknown here, he says, pointing to their line-up.

‘They have super players, All-Stars like Tom O’Sullivan and Paul Geaney, All-Ireland winners, all the Geaneys, so we know we need to be on top of our game otherwise we could be in big trouble,’ the Haven boss warns.

‘Between Nemo, the Barrs and now Dingle, you have to be on top of your game or you’ll be out. We know that. And our lads know what’s at stake. We have to turn up and there can’t be any weak links; what I mean by that is not conceding soft goals, those kinds of things.’

McCarthy also feels his side are primed to deal with whatever style this game takes on. The Haven adapt to the opposition and the day. Against Cratloe (1-12 to 0-11) and Nemo (0-11 to 0-9), they packed bodies behind the ball in two arm wrestles. Against Rathgormack (1-16 to 1-7) and the Barrs (1-16 to 2-11), it was more open and free-flowing, and this Haven side can play football when allowed.

‘We have had to change our game-plan to match the style of play in Munster,’ he notes, but there is a consistent running through their county and provincial campaigns: the spirit he saw in their opener that has underlined Haven’s march back to the top of the charts in Cork. Now they want the number one spot in Munster, too.