In the previous review we looked at how our under 21 football team had qualified for the inaugural East Cork B championship in 1974. This team was backboned by quite a number of players that had played on very successful Glanmire underage sides from 1969 to 1974 inclusive. They were therefore a very young side and had probably qualified for the final a year or two ahead of schedule. To illustrate this, seven of the players that played in their big semi-final victory over a fancied Carraig Na Bfhear side were still minor. Ger Brady, the full-forward that day, was only 15. With such early progress, expectations were high that a championship could be secured at this grade in the following years.
In 1975 the side would still be considered young. A number of the players were still in the minor age group including the star player Tommy Hickey who would also have been the main man on the Glanmire minor football team in that era. The footballing year, in general, had started well for White’s Cross. There was an opening round league defeat to Glenville but this may have been expected as Glenville were the dominant team in the division that decade winning four out of ten Junior A championships. This defeat was followed with wins over a formidable Aghada side and Ballinacurra. Of course, success at junior level is never a great barometer for predicting how an under 21 side will progress. Though all championship is very much on the day, this is never more true than at under 21 level where the sides rarely get a chance to train collectively. In 1974, the under 21 championship was the sole focus for the club when the opening game was played on August 13th as our other teams were out of the championship. In 1975, our first game was on May 17th. So despite the optimism of the 74 journey and the good start to the 75 junior league, what was to transpire was a very disappointing 6 point defeat to an unfancied Glenbower Rovers team; a side who themselves would not progress beyond the next round when they were beaten by Carraig Na Bfhear.
In 1976, the competition did not start until August. Again, as in 1974, we were out of the other championships so full attention could be given to an under 21 team that had shown so much promise two years previously. The draw not been kind, however, as the quarter final pitted us against Glenville, the aforementioned dominant side in the division that decade. However, showing that our own ability to get results against supposedly better opposition was no fluke, we managed to win a thrilling game on a scoreline of 1-06 to 0-08. However, from the highs of beating one of the strongest teams in the competitions to the lows of a crushing semi-final exit to St Theresa’s (Castlemartyr) in the following game. White’s Cross were accused, by the match reporter, of handing out their Christmas presents early. Chance after chance was squandered in the second half while the more economical Castlemartyr side took theirs. They won by two points. We lost. We were out. Castlemartyr went on to win the final. While, we no doubt regained some of the promise shown in 1974, the stark reality is that we ended up trophyless and, more worryingly, the sands of time were running out for the team. The very young under 21 side of 1974 were now a side that had one chance left.
Decorated players with the Glanmire minor side in the A grade had one year to win something for their local club at the B grade. The opening round saw the team again lined up to play Glenville, a side that were also looking to win a first under title for their club at under 21 level and a side looking to reverse the result of the previous 12 months. This was a thrilling match and after a tremendous struggle we won, for the second successive year, by a single point. Bride Rovers were next up in the quarter final. Possibly the nightmare performance against Castlemartyr in 1976 was in their minds when they crushed the Rathcormac outfit. There were to be no gifts of any sort this time. They held their opponents scoreless while at the other end, there was to be no wasting of chances as they racked up an impressive 3-12. Carrigtwohill were next up and a similar ruthlessness was shown. After 45 minutes of relentless pummelling by the White’s Cross forward-line, the Carrig lads called time on the match when trailing 4-08 to 0-03 points.
And so, the club was back in the final and with a chance to go one step further than they did four years previously. Lisgoold would provide the opposition. Lisgoold, in 1977, had one of their most successful years as a club and were involved in league and championship, – hurling and football – deciders almost every week that Autumn. As a consequence, White’s Cross had an anxious few weeks wait while the East Cork board scheduled the final. There was to be no drop in intensity, however. The side, under the management of Andrew Hickey and assisted by Jim Mulcahy, Martin Flynn and John Hickey (RIP), trained savagely during the weeks leading up the game in mid November. With tractors, supplied by Noel Murphy,Joe O’Callaghan (RIP), Ricky Burke and Pat Fitzgerald, acting as floodlights and in the boggy field in Piercetown, also kindly donated by Noel Murphy, the team worked ferociously hard to ensure that there would be no complacency or no loss of sharpness or momentum due to the layoff. Thankfully, the fruits of their labour would pay dividends as the 13th of November 1977 was the greatest day in the history of the then 20 year club. It was the day that we had secured our first ever championship title following the five point win over Lisgoold.
The squad of players contained several players from the area that had started their underage careers with Glanmire and made a massive contribution to the resurgence in the fortunes of underage there from the late 1960s to the mid 70s. There were also some very young players on the squad that were coming through our own fledgling underage setup. Almost all of the players in that squad would go on to play with the club at adult level over the next decade or more. We will cover some of their exploits in later reviews. The victorious panel was: Tony Malone, Ger Brady, Ricky Burke, Stephen Murphy, Pat Collins (Lower Road), Pat Collins (Templemichael), Tommy Stewart, Jim Fitzgerald, Ger O’Leary, Peter Sheehan (RIP), Ted Sheehan, Vincie Ryan, John Cooke, Pat Fitzgerald, Tommy Hickey (captain), Liam Cooke, John Sullivan, John Reynolds, John Crowley.
A big thanks To Ger Brady, John Sullivan and Andrew Hickey for their memories/assistance in this piece.