Adam Lynch was the man with the honour of raising the Seán Óg Murphy Cup in the name of Glen Rovers.
Having put in an impeccable display in defence as no goals were allowed, Lynch’s speech perfectly conveyed the pride and joy involved in returning to the top of Cork hurling afterwards he still carried the glow of victory.
“I’m probably still caught for words, it’s an unbelievable feeling, it’s an emotional feeling,” he said.
“I was confident coming into the game, to be honest, with the team that we had, that if we performed, we’d win.
“It’s still not after hitting, to be honest, words can’t describe it, it’s the best feeling in the world.”
Glen Rovers players celebrate with the Seán Óg Murphy Cup. Picture: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
It’s only three short years since the pain of relegation for the Glen. An immediate return was secured with minimal fuss, but did Lynch believe that they could challenge for the top honour so soon again?
“A hundred percent,” he said. “When we went down, we had a lot of young fellas coming through and we knew that they had serious ability.
“They’re after coming in now and the team is very young, so I had huge confidence in the team, to be honest.
“Our goal at the start of every year is to win the county. We have the players, we’re blessed that we still have Patrick Horgan there and you want to soak up as much as you can from him, like a sponge.
“Absolutely, I knew that the talent was there and the young fellas are just driving it.
There’s a good mix there between older and younger and I expected that this is the level we should be at.”
At half-time on Sunday, the Glen trailed by two points despite having had more of the play. Even so, there was little panic.
“You look at the Midleton game, it was the same, they had a purple patch just before half-time,” Lynch said.
“We knew that the start of the second half was hugely important. We probably didn’t play our best in the first half and were still only two points down. We knew if we’d bring it to them, we’d come out on top.
“At the start of the second half, we knew that it was important to win the throw-in, get the first point of the second half and drive it on from there.
“There wasn’t much changes, to be honest. We just knew that we had got caught a couple of times in the first half with puckouts, Ben Cunningham caught a few and had plenty of space so we had to get a bit tighter.”
Eoin O’Leary of Glen Rovers celebrates after his side’s victory in the Cork County Premier Senior Club Hurling Championship final match between Glen Rovers and St Finbarr’s at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
They did that, ensuring few goal chances for the Barrs or even too many chances from frees.
“No and we knew that that was important as well, Ben’ll tip over anything he gets,” Lynch said.
“We were trying to be as tenacious as we could, legally! We’re very lucky, we do have an unbelievable defence and I think it’s a standard set up in the forward line with the work they do.
It’s kind of easy for us then and we have serious defenders.
“It’s about getting out in front, getting physical, getting a hand, making contact – but, as I said, trying to be as legal as you can.”
Those efforts will resume in just under a fortnight against Inagh-Kilnamona of Clare in the Munster Club SHC and the Glen will be keen to keep the campaign going.
“Absolutely,” Lynch said. “We’ll enjoy the next few days and then focus on the Munster.
“We’re a hundred percent going to go for it and I think we have the capability to go on. We have a serious outfit, a serious team – we’ll enjoy the next few days and go from there.”