MIKE Cahalane has seen the good times and the bad with Bandon.

An up-and-coming starlet on the team that won the 2015 IHC and 2016 Premier IHC and IFC, the former Cork hurler is now one of the elder statesmen of the side.

Bandon take on Aghabullogue in Saturday’s Co-op SuperStores IAHC final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, reaching the decider a response to a tough few years.

What arguably makes the Lilywhites’ achievement even more impressive is the fact that the challenges have come in the micro this year as well as the macro – they had to face Sarsfields in the semi-final a week after losing their premier intermediate football status with a one-point defeat to Macroom.

However, as Cahalane outlines, they were able to assess that game in a process form rather than any analysis being outcome-based.

‘It would have been worse if we hadn’t performed at all against Macroom,’ he says.

‘In a way, we probably did play probably some of our best football that day, so I suppose at least we weren't coming in really on a low that we hadn’t performed.

‘We'd only had five or six days from the Macroom game to the Sars game, so it was just about getting the heads right more than anything to try to get over the line.

‘When it’s a semi-final of a county, people are looking forward to it anyway, so it kind of takes on a life of its own as well.’

Having come down from the Premier IHC in 2023, Bandon didn’t qualify from their group in 2024. Under manager Joe Burke and new coach James Nyhan this year, a strong league provided a foundation and they started well in the group with a win over Russell Rovers.

‘The grades are so competitive that it’s a big thing now, for every team, to try to win your first game,’ Cahalane says.

‘It takes a bit of the pressure off in terms of worrying about relegation and so, once we got over Russell Rovers, it was a bit of a relief.

‘We ended up losing our next one then, to Midleton – we probably didn’t perform on the day but they were very strong as well, to be fair.’

From there, the wins have followed, against Mayfield, Erin’s Own and Sars. A bigger challenge awaits against an Aghabullogue side that was unfortunate to be relegated in 2024.

James O'Donovan and Mark Sugrue celebrate Bandon's 2016 PIHC win.

While Bandon’s team is much-changed from the PIHC final appearance of 2016, they still retain some key experience.

‘Aghabullogue were very unlucky last year,’ Cahalane says, ‘they won a group game and were just unlucky on scoring-difference and then they lost the relegation play-off on scoring difference.

‘They are a super team in hurling and football and so we’re under no illusions about how much we’ll be under pressure.

‘They’re probably used to playing in county finals and they won a double a couple of years ago, they were in a football final last year and again this year, so we’ll definitely be huge underdogs.

‘It’s a first final for some of our lads, but I’m sure they’ll handle the occasion fine. We have some experienced guys, too – Peter Murphy, Mark Sugrue, Darren Crowley – and on line with Joe Burke and James Nyhan and we’ll be trying to help fellas along as much as we can.’