Conor Lehane confident of 'bright future' for Cork
Wednesday 31 October 2018 21:10, UK
Cork star Conor Lehane says the Rebels can push on in the coming seasons off the back of consecutive Munster titles.
The considerable pessimism surrounding Cork hurling in 2016 has been allayed in the last two years by back-to-back provincial titles at senior as well as huge progress underage.
There is no doubt that they have been moving in the right direction, but 2018 saw their seniors eliminated at the All-Ireland semi-final stage for the second consecutive summer. Nonetheless, Conor Lehane feels that they are moving in the right direction.
"We got to the same stage again where we got knocked out which is disappointing," commented the Midleton club-man. "But with the changes to the championship structure and the fact that we got to retain the Munster title was brilliant because to retain something is a difficult job to do. Not that you're going out to retain, more going out just to win what's ahead of you. But looking back on it it's definitely an improvement.
"You can tell from the amount of talented players that were on the U21s, they've been in and out - a lot of players are on the seniors but there's a lot of guys who have been in and out with training. The future seems very bright, just to keep focused and keep together is the most important part."
Lehane said that while the U21 final loss to Tipperary in August was a disappointment, those young stars won't let it define their careers.
"Losses come and go. They got to a final, they won a Munster. As cheesy as it sounds, it's about learning and moving on. If that's the case you can't hold onto things too long, you just kind of take what you learn from it and apply it then as you go on."
While most Cork fans will be eager to see the side push on and reach the decider next season, Lehane said the side aren't setting a clear goal.
"It's a matter of starting again and regrouping, going as hard and fast as we can and taking it as it comes. If we enter a mindset that we've only one step to go, we won't be long getting knocked out. It's about taking each game as it comes. Hopefully then at the end of the following year we can look back and see how we got on."
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