AFTER their opening championship game, Diarmuid Ó Mathúnas’ backs were to the wall. The pressure was already on.

Defeat to Bandon meant the 2024 winners had to beat 2023 champions Clonakilty to keep their championship hopes alive. They did just that.

Since then, Pat Lucey’s team have built momentum. 

Three successive victories over Randal Óg, Ballinascarthy and Kilbree, both 2025 finalists, have taken Mathúnas back to the RCM Tarmacadam Carbery Junior A Hurling Championship final.

They will meet local rivals St Mary’s on Sunday (3pm) in Dunmanway. 

Lucey sees the victory over Clon (0-17 to 0-13) as a turning point in their campaign.

‘The Clon win was massive. If we were beaten, that was it. We were staring down a relegation final or something like that. For such high hopes in the year, that would have broken your heart,’ the Mathúnas boss explained.

‘You get great satisfaction with winning the semi-final against Bal too. There is a massive rivalry there. We beat them two years ago. There was nothing between us last year either. With only five minutes to go, there was nothing between us this year either. We got the scores when we really needed them in the end.’

After the early setback in the opening match against Bandon, did Mathúnas believe they would reach their second final in three years?

‘We didn’t really, but the lads knew that they let themselves down that day. We couldn’t get our head around it for a week or two. No matter what we did, it just seemed to go wrong for us,’ Lucey said.

‘In fairness to Bandon, they saw that we were under pressure and they drove on. They deservedly beat us. There was a lot of soul-searching done after that. That had to be done because we had Clon two weeks later.

‘The Kilbree game in the quarter-final was a tough, fierce physical game. It was only with ten minutes to go that we drove on for the finish line. The Bal win was a huge one for us too, given they beat us last year.’ 

Their county league Division 6 campaign also helped the Castletownkenneigh club develop that big-game mentality.

Mathúnas finished sixth, safely avoiding relegation. That was a division that included Aghada and Sarsfields, two clubs that reached the county intermediate A semi-finals this year.

‘They were massive games. We treated them all like All-Ireland finals because, at the start, we were hoping to win three games,’ Lucey explained.

‘Then we got safe and we ended up playing Bal in the last game, and it didn’t mean anything to anyone. That was grand because both Bal and ourselves were able to field lads we couldn’t give games to all along, because they were so competitive. It worked out great in the end. You have to keep these lads happy too, because if you don’t have them playing games, training is no good.’

Lucey’s management team has been at the helm for three years. The first year, 2024, was a dream, as they won the Flyer Nyhan title. A semi-final loss to Ballinascarthy was disappointing last year, but Mathúnas find themselves back in the final this year.

The influence of Bandon man Colm Fogarty, their coach, cannot be overlooked either.

‘Colm has been a good coach there for two years, he’s a great lad. His drills and everything are superb. If we do something wrong in the game that we’re not happy with, the next night in training, he has drills to improve all these things,’ Lucey said. 

‘There’s no night that we go training, and we have the same drills. He has a different drill every night. The lads are really after buying into him,’ the Mathúnas boss added, as he praised his experienced players too.

‘We have many of the same warriors. We don’t have too many coming through, which is an issue. Key players have stood up when we needed them in the big games. Against Bal, Ted Lorden got three points. He’s 41 years old. He’s been there and done that and he’s with the younger lads as well. We need the likes of these lads to be playing, otherwise we can’t compete. It’s as simple as that.’

There is rivalry between Mathúnas and Mary’s, but plenty of respect too.

The clubs are amalgamated as Ahán Gaels at underage but there is more than that.

‘They dug up our own pitch this year because it needed to be done. It’s re-seeded at the moment. In fairness to Mike Dineen from Mary’s, he has provided us with a pitch all along for training – he’s been very good to us. We get on great there at underage and everything. It’s a real healthy relationship, but it’ll be different for 60 minutes this Sunday,’ Mathúnas boss Lucey noted. 

‘We’re in a good place, but we’re under no illusions about Mary’s. They’re unbeaten in all their games, including beating Bandon, which we couldn’t do. I presume that people think that they’re favourites now. We met them last year and won by a few points, but only at the very end. It was nip and tuck all game. The one thing about them is they’re probably a much better team this year.’