DERMOT Curtin’s first year as St Mary’s junior hurling boss is on track to be a dream debut season.

The Saints boss has guided the club to the Carbery junior A hurling final. 

Not only that, the Ballineen/Enniskeane outfit are unbeaten in the campaign, with all their victories coming by two points or fewer, including a semi-final extra-time victory over Bandon. 

St Mary’s know how to win tight games and that could prove vital on Sunday when they meet neighbours Diarmuid Ó Mathúnas in Dunmanway (3pm). 

‘All the games were close affairs, and they required the team to dig in and grind out a result,’ Curtin said.

‘Even in the very first game against Newcestown, we won by a point. We beat Kilbree by two points. We drew with St James and we beat Bandon by a point. Every game was very competitive and we were put to the pin of our collar. Luckily, we got over on the right side in all of them.

‘In fairness to the lads, there’s a lot of determination and there’s a great core of fellas there. The will to win is very strong. You might call it lucky in one sense. It could go against you on any day as well.’

St Mary's Jack Eady cuts inside St James' Conor Dooley during their RCM Tarmacadam JAHC group game.

The St Mary’s boss is the ideal man to take charge of his team in the Carbery hurling final against Diarmuid Ó Mathúnas.

He was coach of the two clubs’ underage combination, Ahán Gaels, for six years during the 2010s. He mentored Mathúnas players like Gearóid O’Donovan, Jamie Lucey and Matthew Draper, and a lot of Mary’s guys too, including Darren O’Donovan, Brian Everard and his son David Curtin.

‘This is my first year involved with the adult team, but I have been involved with Ahán Gaels over the years,’ he explained.

‘I would know quite a few of both teams. Most of the lads played with Ahán Gaels, and I’ve been involved with them on the way up. For the selection committee, this is our first year in this. So far, it’s going well.

‘We’re two small clubs and we have to work together at underage level. It was about survival originally. It’s gone past that now and it has worked quite well. It’s the feeder, the conveyor belt for four teams, if you think of it as hurling and football in both clubs. 

‘I don’t think either club would be able to field at underage without each other, not all the time anyway. There might be an odd year, but that would be more the exception than the norm. 

‘Ahán Gaels has been a great success, in my opinion. There’s mutual respect between the two clubs. They are very intertwined, are in the same parish and play together underage. It’s a very small community. The rivalry is there, of course, but it’s a healthy rivalry.’

St Mary’s have taken part in five Carbery finals in their history, the last one being in 2021 against Ballinascarthy. However, they have come out on the wrong side of all of them.

It’s a stat they are eager to improve on, but Curtin insists that shouldn’t be at the forefront of his team’s mind. 

‘You can’t look at it that way. We’re in a final, and finals stand on their own merits. If you start looking back and saying, “we’ve never won it,” and all that, that’s a defeatist attitude,’ he explained.

‘It’s a huge challenge against Mathúnas. They are sound favourites for the final, playing three grades above us in the league. They’ve been there recently too and they’ve been extremely impressive all during the campaign. After the first game, they really took off. 

‘We’re looking forward to it and we’ll give it our best shot. That’s all we can do.’

St Mary's manager Dermot Curtin.

St Mary’s operate with largely the same players in football and hurling. They are coming off a football semi-final win against St James last weekend that sets up a potential double, but focus quickly changed to the small ball. Being more or less the same team has its benefits though.

‘Football feeds off the hurling. The hurling feeds off the football. I think this year for us, momentum is everything. The footballers got a great run, and in fairness, it’s fabulous to see it,’ Curtin said. 

‘On a panel, you need a tight mix. We’re a small club, and numbers are limited. It’s to try and get everybody on board, get everyone down to training, which has been fantastic this year. Everybody rowed in, in both codes. 

‘This is a fabulous bunch of players. They want to do the very best they can for the club and they left no stone unturned in all aspects.’

A win this Sunday will mean the world to the club. Not just in beating their local rivals but bringing silverware back to Ballineen and Enniskeane.

‘It would mean everything. It would be a milestone and history in the making,’ he said.

‘But we’ll be facing it as another game. Yes, there’s a bit of spice in it. It’s Mathúnas. But having said that, we’ll be looking at it as just another game. We have to do that. 

‘This being potentially our first title, these opportunities don’t come around very often. In 2021, we got to the final, but afterwards we struggled in hurling for five years. After the week we had with football, we sat down with the lads on Tuesday and Wednesday night and did a light training session to get them ready for Sunday. The guys themselves, they’ll have to get themselves right. I know they will,’ Curtin concluded.