Earning Your Stripes

This entry has been a while in the making and the fury with which it was first conceived has since subsided. Myself and Ricky were in the jacks in The Greyhound one night in August and were joined by Wardy, Brian C and maybe Peter Fitz. They are the young generation who are making their way on the Intermediate team for the last year or two. Myself and Ricky have long gone and these fellas would have only been giddy pups when we were around.

There was a bit of banter flying and then they managed to get an almighty rise out of us when they referred to us as 'Junior Footballers'. If anything were to light our fuse it was going to be these young fellas making a remark like this. We've had two very good Minor teams, of which these lads were part of, who have now come through and given new impetus to our Intermediates. However, the timing of their arrival allowed them bypass the mine field that is the Cork Junior Football Championship.

From 1997 through to 2005 we were knocking on the door but couldn't find the key. There is one major difference between the Junior and Intermediate format. The Intermediate is an open draw so you can play a team from anywhere in the County. This offers games which generally don't have the embedded local spite and so allow for more attractive, free flowing football.

However, the Junior structure is different as it is split according to the 8 geographically determined Divisions. The winners progress to the County section quarter-finals and need to win that to go up. It’s the local Divisional games which are probably the biggest hurdle to achieving success in any grade in the County. I've seen fellas blow their nose in opponent’s jerseys, spit, pull hair and do an assortment of other unsavoury things, at a fair more frequent rate than in County section games.

We had some monumental battles over the years. The '97 final went to a replay against the Courceys. I don't remember was it the first or the second game but in one, a massive brawl broke out on our sideline with subs, mentors and players swinging. I was on the bank that time and watched with amusement when, in another incident, two Courcey players lay panned out about twenty metres from eachother. The culprit, a Kinsale man, stood somewhere in between the two bodies. Local games are riddled with intensity and a deep sense of local pride. Fellas were often schooled together, grew up playing against each other and generally found themselves rubbing shoulders in The White Lady on a Saturday night. All heightens the rivalry.

In '98, a spectacular performance from Jeremy O'Donovan wasn't enough to get past Crosshaven in the final. Ricky made his debut as a minor that day, at wing-back I think. In '99 we got revenge on the Courceys in the semi-final. It was my debut and this time Ricky found himself in the forward line, just off a flight from America. We would have been hot favourites for the final against Tracton but against the run of play, Gerry Murphy had to kick a massive last gasp score. Tough tackling epitomised the occasion with Barry Gray stretchered off in the first half and spending the rest of the game lying flat out on the dressing room floor. Having overcome Muskerry champions Canovee, we were blitzed by an Ilen Rovers team, laden with Cork players, in the Semi Final. If ever confirmation of the strength of the Junior ranks in Cork was needed, the fact this team could not clear the last hurdle is it.

On to 2000 and our team was in disarray as the Courcies beat us. Controversial team selections and some fortunate goals saw us trudge out of Ballygarven having lost another Divisional final. We regrouped in 2001 though and on a red hot day in Brinny, we turned around a 0-7 to 0-1 half-time deficit to win a fantastically intense final. Ricky was centre back that day. We marched through a replay against Mitchelstown and on to a semi final against Adrigole. They were led by Cork starlet Brendan Jer O'Sullivan. Kenny marauded up and down the wing, Ricky frustrated Brendan Jer into a red card and we headed for a rematch in Bandon against Ilen Rovers. Two years on from our last meeting, Ilen still hadn't climbed the mountain. 1-04 to 0-7 at half-time; the holy grail was in sight. It was Ilen who climbed the steps and picked up the cup though. They would march through subsequent Championship campaigns and run Nemo close in a Senior final. We had to go back to a first round Divisonal clash with Ballinhassig the following May.

It’s difficult to make you understand how hard it is to get out of the Junior ranks and what a mortal blow it is when you get so close but are sent packing all the back to the beginning. We went to a replay against Ballinhassig in round 1 in 2002. They barely play any football but like nothing more than taking the scalp of the seasiders from Kinsale. We huffed and puffed back to the final. Courceys were knocked along the way but not before Gearoid Condon landed a haymaker on one of the Hayes. He got the line.

Ballygarvan in Carrigaline and another trip behind the pipe band. A poxy goal set them on the way. We were riddled with injury and running on empty. They had the momentum having won a Minor county in recent years. Driven on by Ger Spillane and brother Joe, they had too much for us. They ultimately bowed to Carbery Rangers, Ilen's successors in the Carbery Divion. Again, they were a talented outfit. Cork players Michael O'Sullivan, Kevin McMahon and John Hayes (along with his talented brothers and cousins) send the 'Garvan back to the start line.

2003 was a blow out. So many broken dreams and long roads to nowhere travelled, the tank and the mind were empty. We exited to Shamrocks in one of the worst Championship games I was ever involved in. They put three men on Gerry Murphy and we had no plan B. I sat out the 2004 season for various reasons (saving it for the book!!) and can't quite remember at which point we failed but it was the semi at latest.

Gerry Murphy had the manager's reign in 2005 and there was a freshness about the whole thing. We'd brought very little through since 2001 but the hunger was back. Something like 5 points down to Ballinhassig with ten minutes to go in the Quarter-final, we never had to dig so deep. Our goalkeeper Andy's quad went in the second half and i think Mick Sull was struggling with an injury. I was on kick-out duty and was barely finding the half-back line. Who stepped up? Ricky O'Hanlon, with his brotherly sidekick Fergal 'The Horse'. We charged on to a final in Riverstick. The pitch was heavy, the wind blowing the rain around it, all contributing to an awful game. I watched the game on DVD after and it was dire stuff but full of commitment. We snuck through.

On to play Ballyclough in the quarter-final. Led by Cork youths Colm O'Neill and Paul O'Flynn, we went to a replay before advancing. Gerry Murphy, who held himself on the line all year, came out of retirement in the County section. The pounding he was receiving in the Divisional games pushed him towards retirement in 2003. However, he was a surprise package that year in the County section and sprung himself when required. The luck was on our side that year and it was the one when, after nine gut wrenching campaigns, that we stepped up to Intermediate ranks.

You surely can't grasp the intensity with which some of those games were played. We laboured past Valley Rovers second team a couple of years, when we would have been a match for their Intermediate team. We played our best football outside the Division but those games were inevitably played in atrocious wintry conditions when an unfortunate slip could be the difference.

I intentionally focused on Ricky on a number of occasions. His versatility saw him line out in around seven or more positions through those campaigns. He was on the first Underdog team which launched Kieran Donaghy's career. He fought as much as anyone to achieve Intermediate status.

When we came back down the stairs after the banter with the young fellas we rejoined Gerry Murphy and some of the lads. His disgust matched mine as he proclaimed that fellas hadn't proved themselves by beating Courceys in a first round Intermediate Championship, instead they needed to do it in a melting pot like a South-East final. A significant comment from a man who scaled the height s when captaining Laune Rangers to an All-Ireland club in 1996.

In fairness, the young fellas were probably just winding us up to a certain extent. They are at a loss because they didn't get the experience of those character building wars on the local battlefields. If there were there, it would surely heighten their commitment to sustaining and improving on our Intermediate ranking. Without it, they must bring the momentum of underage success to the table. They are in a privileged position; one which myself and Ricky covet. They have a responsibility to do everything they can to progress things on from here. I hope they understand.