COLM Cronin knows how much winning a Carbery U21 football title means to local clubs – he points to St Colum’s last U21B success in 1995 as the catalyst that sparked their rise to the junior A ranks.
‘That win (in 1995) provided us with maybe ten great years – we won the county junior B in 1997 and went on to contest three West Cork junior A finals at a time when Ilen and Rosscarbery were the kingpins,’ Cronin said, as the club gears up for the Clóna Milk Carbery U21B FC final against Ahán Gaels in Drimoleague this Saturday (6.30pm).
‘These U21 competitions are fiercely important – we need to keep fellas playing and enjoying it,’ he added.
‘I grew up watching U21 competitions all over West Cork and the A games were huge – a lot of Cork players came out of those teams.’
St Colum’s are still producing inter-county talent with Cathal McCarthy captaining the Cork minor footballers this year, while Shane Murnane lined out for the Cork minor hurlers a few seasons back. There’s a good pedigree in the club, and the hope is that an U21B title can spark more success in the years to come.
St Colum’s have also had a long wait for this divisional final – they beat Kilmacabea/St James (5-13 to 1-13) in a quarter-final and then Tadhg MacCarthaigh (2-9 to 1-7) in a semi-final, both games back in February.
Captain Gearoid Cronin and Liam Hourihan scored the decisive goals against Caheragh, and both are also involved with the club’s junior football and hurling teams.
Gearóid Cronin, St Colum's, with Colm Cronin at the media press event. (Photo: Paddy Feen)
‘Eight of this U21 team are on our junior team,’ Cronin explained, but he knows they won’t have it all their own way against an Ahán Gaels outfit that had to wait longer than most to kick a ball in this championship. They received a bye to the semi-final, only playing their first U21B game on August 10th when they beat Bandon 2-8 to 0-7. Olan Corcoran was the Ahán hero, kicking 2-7 for the St Mary’s/Diarmuid Ó Mathúna amalgamation.
‘We started our preparations just after Christmas, had two or three challenge games and were getting ready for games, but then it all stopped,’ manager Kieran Fleming explained.
‘The lads went back playing with their clubs and, when we knew the semi-final date was coming up, we got together again. They’ve made a great effort and it paid off against Bandon.
‘Our work-rate was very good in the semi-final – we turned Bandon over a lot. We had to defend well, too.’
William Hennigan and Conor O’Sullivan are key players in defence, the midfield pairing of Michael O’Sullivan and Eoin Cullinane was solid in the win against Bandon, while Caolan O’Donovan, Jack Eady and James Fleming are others to watch in attack.
‘It would mean a lot to us to win – we are two small clubs trying to battle away with the bigger clubs,’ Fleming added.
‘Numbers are tight – we have only two or three up to the age, the rest are from that down to U17. For both clubs, it would be brilliant to pull it off.’
