Darragh Fitzgibbon pictured at the launch of Electric Ireland's sponsorship for the Higher Education Championships. Electric Ireland’s First Class Rivals platform in 2020 aims to celebrate the unexpected alliances formed when County rivals, united by their college, come and play together in pursuit of one common goal.
By Cian O’Connell
As 2020 edges closer Darragh Fitzgibbon is completely aware of the possibilities existing for Cork.
In his first two years on the senior inter-county beat Fitzgibbon collected two Munster Championship medals before suffering harrowing All Ireland semi-final defeats at Croke Park.
GAA headquarters was the scene of another Cork disappointment when Kilkenny triumphed following a gripping 2019 quarter-final.
Valuable lessons have been learned, though, with Fitzgibbon encouraged about the return of Kieran Kingston as Cork manager.
“Kieran gave me my Championship debut in 2017, he gave me and a couple more our debut against Tipperary,” Fitzgibbon says.
“He showed a lot of faith in us, throwing us in at the deep end. That is one of the things I remember him saying to us when we first met with him when he came back.
“He has so much faith in us for us to reach our potential. Obviously we haven't got over the line in a couple of years, but it has been such a competitive Championship. Literally the hop of a ball can change a whole Championship for you.”
Fitzgibbon doesn’t shy away from the fact that significant expectations are always attached to Leeside teams. That is just the way it is.
“Winning two Munsters in a row was an achievement in itself, but when you grow up in Cork you are judged on how many All Irelands you win,” Fitzgibbon states.
Darragh Fitzgibbon has emerged as a key performer for Cork.
“We haven't got over the line in Croke Park so far since I've been involved. It is a thing we have to try to rectify, but you can't really think about what happens in Croke Park in All Ireland quarter, semi, or finals yet because you have a vigorous Munster campaign to get through.”
Experience has been acquired which will be beneficial next summer according to Fitzgibbon. “All five teams in the Munster Championship are in the same boat - your goal at the end of the year is to win an All Ireland, like ourselves,” Fitzgibbon remarks.
“I have three years under my belt now, a good bit of experience. That brings another challenge in itself because with Kieran being back you have more stuff done and there is probably more expectation on you.
“We have had reasonable success, but you are judged on how many All Irelands you win when you play with Cork. We haven't got over the line yet so we still have a lot to do.”
Ultimately 2019 proved to be an action packed year for the Charleville clubman, who suffered an AIB All Ireland Intermediate Final loss and an Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup success in the spring.
“My 2018 season ran straight into my 2019 season, I didn't see the Fitzgibbon Cup bar the final,” Fitzgibbon comments.
“Obviously it was great getting to an All Ireland club final with Charleville alongside all your friends and everyone you'd grown up playing with. It was a hectic year from 2018 to 2019.”
CIT and NUIG form an interesting group in the Fitzgibbon which commences early next month. “I suppose it is a different scenario for us because we are the defending champions,” the Cork star replies.
“We are the bar everyone is trying to get up to and everyone is probably going to be looking for our scalp, especially CIT being our local rivals. In a group of three you don't have much margin for error so we have to be ready for January 12 for both games.”
Darragh Fitzgibbon in action for Charleville during the 2019 AIB All Ireland Club Intermediate Hurling Final.
Charleville competed in the senior ranks in Cork in 2019 which was an important step for Fitzgibbon. “We were fairly happy with our performances, we won our first round against Erins Own, but we lost our third round game against Glen Rovers after extra-time,” Fitzgibbon reflects.
“We actually got relegated because of the change in format which relegated six or seven teams out of the Senior Championship in Cork. We were unfortunately one of those teams. We were disappointed with the way it happened after getting good results winning one game and losing one game after extra-time to be one of the teams to be relegated. That is the way it goes, we just have to regroup.
“We would be one of the favourites to go back up, but that is a challenge in itself. Everyone will be gunning for us thinking if they beat us that they will have a serious chance of winning the county. We have a lot of challenges to face in 2020 with Charleville too.”
The past decade has been packed with critical underage work in Charleville with Fitzgibbon delighted that the club is relevant again at adult level. That is key for the next generation.
“When I was growing up Charleville were a Junior club, there was huge, huge work put in trying to develop the underage structures, to develop what was going on,” Fitzgibbon admits.
“Again when I was growing up all the teams I was involved in had huge talent and the success was seen as we got through the ranks.
“We got from Junior to Senior in seven years, but we also had a lot of turnover in players naturally like any club does. There has been huge talent and it is great for the kids growing up now that they saw their club as a senior club.
“That was unlike me growing up we were only a Junior club. It is only for the betterment of the club going into the future.”
The accomplished UCC and Cork hurler is most certainly leading by example.
