KILBRITTAIN hurlers are living the dream right now.

Winning the county premier junior hurling championship was already a fantastic achievement, but adding a Munster title has elevated an already ground-breaking year. Their championship run now stretches to seven games after a comfortable provincial final victory over Waterford’s Kilrossanty.

Understandably, manager Joe Ryan was thrilled.

‘It’s incredible. Every year, when teams set their stall out internally, they talk about winning counties. It’s tangible and within reach for clubs. On top of that, to win Munster and get into an All-Ireland series is incredible,’ he told The Southern Star.

‘Going into the county final, we knew we had already created history by reaching Munster, playing Glen Rovers’ second team. We felt it was important to put down a marker for the past, present and future of the club in saying that Kilbrittain have done it.’

Kilrossanty, beaten by another Cork side, Russell Rovers, in last year’s Munster decider (3-12 to 1-7), arrived with experience on their side – but Kilbrittain produced a performance for the ages.

‘It was very satisfying, the manner of the performance. We had prepared really well; Kilrossanty are a very good side. We had to get our homework done on them. The lads worked very hard and overall it’s very pleasing,’ Ryan explained.

‘The lads worked so hard in the first half and we knew that by playing against the wind in the second half it would free up space, especially being 0-11 to 0-3 up.

‘Luke’s (Griffin) point came at a really important time. I didn’t think we were playing badly, but they got two or three frees in a row and then a great score from play. Philip (Wall) won a great break in midfield and played it into space for Luke, which he didn’t have in the first half. That was a reminder to the lads that “we can play this space and play to our strengths.”’

Kilbrittain boss Joe Ryan. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

Griffin and Wall were excellent in the forward division, but another attacker lighting up the championship is Mark Hickey. With 1-56 to his name this season, he was the Black and Amber’s big-game performer once again, and his 40th-minute goal was a defining moment.

‘Mark is a leader for us. He’s not a leader in the sense of shouting and roaring in the dressing room – he just leads by example. He has a great temperament for the game,’ Ryan noted.

‘We got a free way back in the first half. I didn’t realise how strong the wind was, but looking at that free, it didn’t surprise me that he came back to the 45 on our own side and put the ball over the bar.

‘Himself and Ronan (Crowley) in the half-forward line worked so hard. They got their rewards in the county final. We had three forwards who didn’t score from play, but when you look at their workrate, we got close to 1-9 or 2-9 from them. Mark is part of that, too.’

Kilbrittain are now just two games from All-Ireland glory. They face either Clane (Kildare) or Davidstown-Courtnacuddy (Wexford) in a semi-final on December 20/21.

‘We’ll get back to hurling from the weekend on. We have a two-week lead-in now, which we’ve had for most games. It’s genuinely hard to put into words because every team at the start of the year talks about their division or a county. You don’t even dream about where we are now, so we want to make the most of it. We want to max out and win as much as we can while we can,’ Ryan concluded.