Evening Echo, Saturday October 11, 2003

It was typical December weather back in 1998. Cold under foot, cold in the air and damp too. It didn’t bother John McCarthy, though, as he left Fermoy. Christmas was still three weeks away, but in his mind Santa had dropped in on Newtownshandrum already.

He left a Cork Co U21 hurling title for the good folk to savour after Newtown dismissed Na Piarsaigh, Sean Og O hAilpin and all, by 1-12 to 0-7 in a replay. It was the first leg of a hat-trick of U21 championships and McCarthy, who leads out a Newtown side with nine of those players in the senior decider against Blackrock at Pairc Ui Chaoimh tomorrow, believes it was the defining moment.

“They’ve all stuck together since and their attitude all along has just been phenomenal. “It was the win in 1998 that you could say then, Newtown were well capable of winning a senior hurling championship. “There was definitely something special along the way with winning a senior county genuinely possible. We were on the threshold.

“Most of that side was just 19. They had won minor A titles, second division stuff inefect, lost a premier county and had lucky wins too. “They were fortunate to beat Charleville in the North Cork final, winning by a point after Charlevill missed a lot of frees. They played Cloyne in torrential downpour in a real dour struggle and got through it. “Cloyne were favourites and had beaten us in the senior championship earlier in the year,” he said. The est Cork club, who came agonisngly close to reaching tommorrow’s final, feature prominently in Newtown’s recent history.

Go back to 1996. McCarthy, a tight corner back was captain that season as well, when Newtown competed in the intermediate grade. “You’d shit the course if you’re told at the start of that year that you’d end up playing in a county intermediate final. I was so nervous.”

Not only did he play in one county final, he played in four after Avondhu reached the senior decider against Imokilly. More Cloyne players again. “I played in all four county finals and ended up marking the same player Philip Cahill each time. “Both went to replays and by the end of it I was so casual. When you do things so often it becomes fairly straight forward.

“It really is either a feast or a famine. I remember the last quarter of the second intermediate game. We were up three points with 14 minutes to go, but were back level within four. “Cloyne missed a chance of a goal. We got a free out. The ball broke in midfield and Ben O’ Connor put it over the bar. We got more points to kill them off.”

It was decision time for Newtown and McCarthy was in a 20% minority of club members against joining the elite in the senior ranks. “I though we were too young. I believed we were good enough to win another intermediate in the next two years and then go up. The younger fellows would have matured by then.”

Democracy ruled and the club joined the elite, rubbing shoulders with the big three, Barrs Glen and Rockies. “In retrospect it was probably the right decision, because it takes a couple of years to get used to senior hurling. “In our first year we lost out to Kilbrittain. In 1998 we were beaten by Cloyne. If we had stayed intermediate they would have taken a step ahead of us.”

Bagging a couple of county medals in the same season was never part of the equation for McCarthy growing up in the North Cork parish. Playing hurling for the love of it was all that mattered really. Michael Harrington from Cobh, taught at the local school and he had a big interest in the game. “I won absolutely nothing early on. We were always B grade. The players weren’t there, but we always played hurling and enjoyed it.

“We didn’t win, but what about it. You still loved it all and there was the social side of it as well. “I played Avondhu U16s and it was more of the same, losing. I went to the CBS in Charleville and was on probably the only team in the school not to win a match. It was certainly a bad vintage.”

And yet there’s a good tradition in Newtown at junior and intermediate levels through the generations. McCarthy played in the ’92 junior county final defeat by Newestown. “I was the youngest, the oly U21 player on the team. “We were deservedly beaten and people were saying we’d be down for a long time because of the age profile of our players.

“Four years later we won the intermediate championship. We got a group of young fellows together and that did the trick for us.” Now he’s the oldest at 31 on the starting 15, though subsititue Dan Riordan, who is likely to see action at some point, is a year older.

McCarthy’s daily routine certainly seems demanding. His work takes in milking the 8- or so cows on the family farm of 90 acres before 7am and hen it’s off to the accounts section of Pacific IT in the North Point Business Park in the city. It’s back to the cows for a second time, training with the lads and his day is almost done b 9.30pm.

In the past dozen years McCarthy has had one weekend away. Not that it bothers him. “In 996 the Avondhu team got a weekend in Swansea for winning the county. Imokilly, who were beaten, went to Lanzarote. Doesn’t sound right, does it?

Newtown have gone on holidays over the years, but I never went. It’s no big deal with me. I don’t lose any sleep over it. “There’s a good side to farming. It’s not all bad. And sure my parents Daniel and Nora are around also.” There’s no sitting on the fence, though when it comes to the social side of playing. “Most of us don’t drink. I’d take the odd pint, but I hate binge drinking and wouldn’t go to pubs that much.

“I despise the smell of smoke from your clothes and the hassle from people. “I remember after losing last year a guy coming up to me in a pub with a photo of 1973 Newtown team which won the county and saying ‘they were the dream team’.

“I’d much prefer to be sitting around a table in a quiet spot with half a dozen of us talking about the game.”

McCarthy’s glad its Blackrock again in the final, though, obviously he’s hoping for a different result on this occasion after losing by five points 12 months ago. “They’re the best side in the championship and it’s a fair argument that we’ve never beaten them. “There’s no revenge factor, because there’s no room for it. We’re playing well enough consistently and we’ve got to focus on our own performance. “Up to the first Sars game we conceded only nine points from play, but they got 2-9 alone from play that day from general play to hammer the record.

“Against Blackrock their defence will compress the space. We must ensure we keep room for our half-forward line and midfield.”

McCarthy plays down his role as captain. His is not the only voice in the dressingroom. “Most players who want to talk do so and being captain is basically going up for the toss of the coin. “I’ve lost every toss so far bar the replay against Sars. In 1996 I won them all. “I usually call and get it wrong so I let their captain Paddy Gahan call the last day. “If we win the toss we traditionally play against the wind, the sort of siege mentality and it takes 10 or 15 minutes to settle into the game anyhow.

“I feel more pressure this season for some reason. There’s more responsibility. “Maybe it’s an age thing. I suppose you get more conscious when you get older. “In 1996 I was completely blasé about it,” Irrespective of the outcome McCarthy is optimistic about the club’s long term prospects. “The great thing about the club now is the production line coming through. “There are guys in the U14 team who are better than the Ben and Jerrys in our team at their equivalent age.

“There’s so much natural talent it’s almost unbelievable. When Ben was 12 he was the only fellow who could flick the ball off the ground into his hand on the run. “Now there are six ir seven fellows who can do it at full pace. They’d break a tackle, bounce it off the ground into the hand as opposed to just solo and catch it.

“Liam Ryan deserves so much credit for it. I know he was suffering after losing the U14 county final to Blackrock, but I believe you learn more from losing. “It’s a bit like Cork. If you suffer badly enough you’ll come back and win it next year. “And anyway if you win too much too young it can dull your hunger later.”

That’s in the distance. Now it’s county final time and a repeat of the 2000 win over Erin’s Own on the cards.