Cork champions move in on target

News round-up With five provincial club finals set for this Sunday comes the prospect of five first-time champions.

For Newtownshandrum the Munster hurling final in Thurles is already a step into new territory, and yet winning the title was a goal the club had set from the outset. It was time to set the bar that bit higher.

Although they had only one Cork title to their name, and a brief experience of the provincial championship to go with it, Newtownshandrum started this season thinking big.

So they took another Cork title by beating Blackrock to add to that won three years ago and kept their sights on a higher goal. Now only Patrickswell, the vastly experienced Limerick champions, are standing in their way of achieving their target.

"Of course it was a big achievement for us to come out of Cork again," explains manager Pat Morrissey. "Even to reach the county final again. But to be honest that wasn't our ultimate goal this season. We had set our sights a little further this year. So this game on Sunday has really been the one big goal."

Victory for Newtown would also bring the Munster club hurling title back to Cork for the first time since the success of Midleton back in 1987.

That's a long time for the county that has still won far more Munster club titles than anyone else. Yet Morrissey also knows exactly the sort of challenge that awaits them.

"Well on one hand we will be playing in awe of Patrickswell. But on the other hand we're ready to have a real cut at them. They are an incredibly experienced team, and have some real legends of Limerick hurling playing with them. And they are definitely going to be a very difficult team to beat.

"So it is going to be a fierce test for us. And I felt all along they would be team to beat in Munster. But we're ready now to have a real crack at them. It's the opportunity we've been working for."

Much of the talk surrounding Newtownshandrum's preparations has focused on the availability of their most influential players, corner back and captain John McCarthy and wing forward Donal Mulcahy. Both players missed out on the Munster semi-final win over Toomevara and are practically certain of missing out on a starting place for Sunday.

McCarthy will undergo a final fitness test this evening as his injured ankle ligaments have been slow in healing: "He's definitely another week or two off playing," says Morrissey, "but if my back is to the wall then he might yet go in there. Donal has also been making a miraculous recovery. But there's still no way he's going to start.

"But besides those two we have a clean bill of health which is very positive. The last three weeks gave gone very well, training under the lights in the way we needed. So the preparations have gone well. As well as we could have hoped."

With Newtown so close to the Limerick border, Patrickswell won't need any introduction. But they wouldn't for many top clubs in the country.

They collected the Munster hurling title in 1988 and again in 1990 and several members of that team still survive - the likes of Gary Kirby, Ciarán Carey and Paul O'Grady. Beating reigning champions Mount Sion of Waterford in their semi-final was something of a surprise, but hardly a shock.

It was Mount Sion who beat Newtownshandrum on their only other journey into Munster in 2000, and the chance for some revenge might have been an added spur for Newtown. Yet Morrissey knows his team won't be lacking the motivation to beat Patrickswell.

"I don't think it makes any great difference if we'd been playing Mount Sion rather than Patrickswell. If anything I'd say Mount Sion might be the better hurling team but Patrickswell are probably a harder team to beat. They showed that in the way they won their semi-final."

What has made the Newtown success all the more typical of the club championship is the string of family ties that runs through the team. The O'Connor brothers Ben, Jerry and John are the high-profile names - and the high scorers too - but Paul and Mike Morrissey, also related to the manager, and the other Mulcahys, Brendan and Pat, create a remarkable bond in the team. The sort of bond it takes to achieve their ultimate goal.