Munroe relishing a fresh shot at Ulster

SENIOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

AN EXPERIENCED team laced with the enthusiasm of youth provided the perfect blend as Carrickmore came from behind to once again clinch the Benburb Cup following last Sunday’s Senior Hurling Championship decider against their old rivals from Dungannon.

It was a special achievement for the Éire Ógs. A sixth consecutive county title brings their tally to 31 overall and secures their place in the Ulster Club Intermediate Championship later this month. That’s now their key focus under the new management of Adrian Slane.

There was no doubting their determination in the Healy Park Final, which owed much to a number of key performances. Aidan Kelly, Dermot Begley, Conor and Sean Og Grogan, Justin Kelly and Conor McElhatton are providing the vast experience on the team and panel, alongside much younger players including Shea Munroe, Aidan Woods and Cillian Kerr.

Then, there’s a group of lads reaching the peak of their potential. They include Cormac Munroe – one of four brothers on the Eire Og panel for last Sunday’s final. He was understandably delighted with the character shown by the team when the going got tough and they were forced to battle back against Eoghan Ruadh in the second half.

“It’s not hard for us to keep going year after year because this is a very hungry group. Every year we are fighting to get a shot at Ulster because that is the ultimate goal, but this county title is the first target,” he said.

“We expected Dungannon to come here and try and make it tough for us. This team has been in tight situations like this, but the difficult games in the past really stood to us in this final.

“The Ulster Club is a target for us now. We’ve come close a few teams in Ulster, got to the final and lost. That’s obviously the aim, but you have to look at the first round first and then seeing how things develop.”

October is looking set to be a busy month for Cormac, a key player for both the Carrickmore hurlers and footballers. After winning for the hurlers last Sunday, he’ll be lining out this Sunday for the footballers in their county semi-final clash against parish neighbours, Loughmacrory.

“Playing with both teams doesn’t affect me to be honest. I’d have been playing with the footballers anyway this week. But I’ll be ready again for the semi-final next week again,” he added.

“It’s good to have the matches week on week and to get a bit of momentum. The training isn’t as hard either,2 he added.

“The hurlers have won a lot of underage titles in the past few years and there’s a lot of work taking place. Those young lads are now starting to come through onto the seniors which is great and it’s special for them to have got this success at senior now as well.

“The older hands need them to start coming through. The next few weeks are going to be great and the Ulster Club will be a big game for us no matter who it’s against.”