A young Watergrasshill supporter hails the club's victorious hurlers after their win in the Cork Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship Final.
By John Harrington
Things can change very quickly in sport.
Just look at Watergrasshill Hurling Club who are now just one win away from an All-Ireland Intermediate Club Hurling Final.
The same Watergrasshill who couldn’t buy a win in the Cork Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship in 2023 and 2022.
Over the course of those two seasons they played six group matches, drawing five of them and losing one.
The margins were very fine in a lot of those game, but winning county and provincial honours this year after two years without a championship victory is still some turnaround.
You ask club chairperson, Niall O’Riordan, what has made the difference this year and he’ll tell it’s no one thing. Marginal gains were made in different areas both on and off the pitch and it’s all added up to greatest year ever in the club’s history since it was founded in 1928.
“The Community is buzzing,” says O’Riordan. “There's a great atmosphere around and it's just been brilliant for the community, particularly the older people and the younger people. It's been brilliant.
“We've never had a year like this. It's 20 years since we won a county intermediate championship, and we've had it tough in the championship for the past couple of years when we were there or thereabouts but just couldn’t win a game.
“It was a struggle at times but we have a very good bunch of young players who gave great commitment this year under a new management team headed up by Eddie Enright.”
An All-Ireland winner with Tipperary in 2001, Enright has been living in Watergrasshill since 2002 and finished out his playing days with the club when he transferred from Thurles Sarsfields in 2008.
Former Tipperary star, Eddie Enright, manages the Watergrasshill hurlers.
In his playing days he was a thoughtful hurler who knitted together a forward-line with his creativity and selflessness, and it would seem as though he has a similar style as a manager.
“Eddie put a good structure in place and a good team around him and has gotten buy-in from the players,” says O’Riordan.
“It's been great fun as well, it's been a great journey. Great commitment from the guys, training has been good, the S&C coach is really good with the lads and, again, he also makes it fun.
“It's just been a really good set-up this year and players bought into it because they could see the work being done behind the scenes with the management team and the analysis that's been done and the support the club has given them in terms of whatever they've needed.
“You've had club members getting involved with food before matches and there's just been a general buy-in.
“The target at the start of the year was get out of the League. We were in Division 5 League which would be lower than the standard of championship we're actually playing in.
“We won all our games bar one which we drew and won the League Final. We utilised the whole panel along the way so that gave us a really good platform coming into the championship.”
Even with that platform it didn’t look like Watergrasshill would get their first championship win for three years when they trailed Carrigaline by 10 points midway through their first group match this year.
But they summoned an incredible comeback that electrified their supporters and charged their championship campaign with an energy that hasn’t flagged ever since.
Cork panelist, Daire O'Leary, is a key figure for Watergrasshill.
They beat a very talented Carrigaline again in the county final and then elevated their form to an even higher level in the Munster campaign with back to back wins over Wolfe Tones of Clare and Cashel King Cormacs of Tipperary earning them provincial silverware.
“We turned around six days after winning the Cork championship, our first in 20 years, to play Wolfe Tones of Shannon in the first round of the Munster Championship,” says O’Riordan.
“That was a milestone movement that drove us forward again because it would have been very easy for guys to rest on their laurels six days after winning a county. We had to celebrate that county win because it was our first in 20 years and we didn't want to hold guys back, we had to acknowledge what they delivered, but at the same time have a good cut off Munster.
“It's a fair achievement six days after winning a county to win a Munster championship match against a very strong Shannon team. That game stood to us going into the final against Cashel. It gave guys belief that physically we were good enough.
“We knew our hurling was good enough and if we could bring the intensity that we'd give it a shot. Cashel were favourites. A very big club from a town that's a lot bigger to where we're from. But we knew we'd put it up to them. We definitely took confidence from the Shannon game.”
Club championship success never happens by accident. It’s usually the outcome of sustained hard work and good practice over a period of time and that has been the case for Watergrasshill.
They’ve put huge work into their underage coaching and the development of their younger players has been further hot-housed by a significant investment in the club’s facilities.
Watergrasshill have invested in their club's facilities.
The strength and conditioning of the club’s teams went up a notch after a gym was constructed during covid, and the installation of a state of the art 60x30 floodlit astroturf ball wall area two years ago has proven to be a great asset during the winter in particular.
Watergrasshill is within the Cork city commuter belt so it’s a growing village, and the club has done very well to capitalies on the increasing number of players that are coming up through the ranks.
Seven of the current senior panel are still U21, and the number of Watergrasshill players who have represented Cork at underage level in recent years has been on a steady uptick.
Seven of their players were also part of the Imokilly panel that won the Cork senior hurling championship this year, with Daire O’Leary, Adam Murphy, and Sean Desmond especially prominent figures in the team.
The club is doing a lot right both on and off the pitch, and qualification for an All-Ireland Final would be the ultimate reward.
They’re warm favourites going into Sunday’s semi-final against Ulster champions Carey Faughs of Antrim, but O’Riordan insists they’re taking nothing for granted.
“Absolutely not,” he says. “We'll give them the utmost respect because we've probably been disrespected ourselves during the year by teams who didn't probably rate us so we know how that feels and we definitely will not do that to them.
“They've won the Ulster Championship and that has to be respected. We'll face this game the same way we do every other game. If you're off the pace at this grade and don't bring the fight, the intensity, and the work-rate, then you'll be found out.
“If we don't bring that regardless of what odds you are then you're going to get found out. Eddie is very clear with the team, we need to bring it next Sunday. It's a big day for club so hopefully we can do it.
“It would be brilliant to get to an All-Ireland Final but we’re not looking beyond next Sunday. People are asking when the final is and our answer is we're not in the final. I couldn't tell you what date the final is on.
“We're looking at Sunday. We've a job to do. It's a great opportunity for us all and it would be brilliant for the community if we could win this . It would make it a great Christmas for everybody. But I'm sure the guys from Antrim are saying the same as well.”
