'It’s an incredible feeling' - Sars boss Johnny Crowley revels in famous win
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It’s been 18 months of unimaginable highs and searing lows for the Sarsfields club. In no particular order, there was the untimely passing of both Teddy and Conor McCarthy, there was a nine-year county famine ended, a failed county title defence, and the destruction of their club grounds by Storm Babet.
On Sunday, the rollercoaster rolled on and up. Another unimaginable high. The provincial silverware they collected for the first time is named after the man who founded their club at the end of the 19th century.
“To be bringing the Billy O’Neill Cup back to Sars tonight, it’s huge,” began Sars boss Johnny Crowley.
“It’s an incredible feeling. You think of all the people that have passed away recently and the people who have never witnessed something like this, it’s just surreal. You can’t put it into words, it’s incredible.
“The next phase is an All-Ireland semi-final. Even saying something like that is pretty surreal. We have to enjoy this and then we’ll knuckle down and regroup.” They are regrouping as Munster champions after producing a result that nobody but themselves saw materialising. A first Munster club defeat inflicted on Ballygunner in 12 games and five years.
“As a group of 47, 48, 50 people in our little bubble of management, players, logistics and everything, we genuinely believed we could win this game today,” Crowley continued.
“Outside of our bubble, nobody believed we could win the game, but we came up here today and we were so relaxed, so comfortable, we knew what we had to do and the way the lads executed the plan was just superb.
“We worked on getting a start. Ballygunner are such a fantastic team, you give them a foothold in the game and next thing they could be 10 points up. We spoke about that a lot. We wanted to get a foothold in the game and be in the game at certain stages. Get to the 15-minute mark, get to half-time, sit down, regroup, get your breather, and go again.
“Every quarter, we were there or thereabouts. We did say if we could get to the last 15 within three or four points or up three or four points, we felt our fitness would see us through.”
The final quarter plaudits will fall at the feet of Shane O’Regan, but on an afternoon where both the individual and collective shone, the contributions of elder statesmen Conor O’Sullivan and Daniel Kearney were immense. For men who’ve given so much to the senior team since the late noughties, a first Munster club medal is just reward.
“It’s absolutely amazing. It’s a great time to be a Sars senior hurler, it’s a great time to be a Sars clubman, and it’s a great time to be a Sars supporter. These days don’t come around very often. We’ll cherish this, we’ll enjoy it, and we’ll knuckle down when we have to over the next few weeks.”
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