I Mey well be the proudest son in Cork..
SOCCER ACE DELIGHTED FOR REBEL BOSS AND DAD JOHN
CORK selector Kieran Murphy has lauded hidden “gem” Seamus Harnedy after his Munster final heroics.
Captain Harnedy (left) was superb in Cork’s two-point win over Clare, scoring 1-4 and setting up his side’s other goal for Luke Meade just before halftime in what proved to be a major turning point in the game.
The 27-year-old was first introduced to the Cork panel in 2011 by Denis Walsh before going on to make his SHC debut under Jimmy Barry-murphy two years later.
He was the first player from the St Ita’s club in Gortroe, not far from Youghal, to make the Cork senior team.
Murphy explained: “Denis deserves a lot of credit. He spotted him. He knew he had a gem in Seamus.
“The one thing about him is that he has improved and his performance [on Sunday], he’s captain but we have collective leadership. He was exceptional.”
The clear message coming from the Cork camp after Sunday is that they’re looking to give a much better account of themselves in Croke Park this year after disappointing All-ireland semi-final displays in 2014 and last year.
Murphy added: “We have a Munster under-21 final on Wednesday night which a lot of these guys are involved in too, they are driving it. This group, it is completely player-this.” JOHN MEYLER has jumped on a plane plenty of times over the past decade to take in his son’s biggest days.
The roles were reversed over the weekend, however, as David made the most of a day off from pre-season training with Reading to fly into Dublin on Sunday morning and make his way down to Thurles for the Munster final.
His father John continued his seamless takeover from Kieran Kingston as Cork manager as he steered to Rebels to successive Munster titles for the first time since 2006.
“Obviously I see the work and time he puts in to it and I am just thrilled for him,” said the Ireland international.
“I have always watched Munster Championship since I was a child, even this year, I could see how close and tight all the games were.
“This was their fifth Championship game – they’ve won three, drawn two – but any game could have been different with a puck of a ball, it is so tight.
“I am delighted, not only for him but the whole team because I know quite a few of them,” he added, having played against the likes of Patrick Horgan and Daniel Kearney in his youth.
“I love coming to hurling games. It is the best sport in the world. For me, the intensity, the speed of it, it’s end to end.
“You look at Clare, eight points up just before half-time and you think, ‘Oh God, what is going to happen now?’ And then bang, bang, a goal and a point, we’re back in the game.”
Meyler senior referenced how his son’s advice was particularly helpful in navigating the new Munster Championship round robin system this year, which Cork were the only county to come through unbeaten.
The EFL Championship, which Meyler played in last season with Hull City and will line out in again in the coming season with Reading, is a 46-game campaign and dwelling on the last match isn’t an option. “Obviously I had to help him with certain things,” said David. “The old GAA system where you played and it was a couple of weeks that he’d dwell over games and I says, ‘You’ve got to move on’.
“And even like now, yeah, it’s brilliant that they’ve won a Munster final but they’ve got an All-ireland semi-final coming up so it’s non-stop.
“He comes and watches my training sessions, sees if he can pick up anything that would help his hurling coaching. He puts in a lot of time and effort.”
If things had worked out differently last November, Meyler might have been in Nizhny Novgorod, where Ireland’s conquerors Denmark lost out to Croatia in the World Cup, instead of Thurles on Sunday. But he’s put that behind him.
“No, it has been a long time since the Denmark games, obviously we are very disappointed we never got there.
“But you see the quality of Denmark, getting to the last 16, they’re a very good team and we just came up short in the end,” Meyler added.