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19 Sept 2025
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19 Sept 2025
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Damien Cosgrave, captain of the Monaleen Junior 'B' team who mostly recently won the All-Ireland title | PICTURE: Brendan Gleeson
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“AFTER 28 years of playing adult hurling with Monaleen I have seen a lot of dark days and after playing with so many different teams and players, an All-Ireland final win is pretty sweet” said Monaleen Junior 'B' hurling captain Damien Cosgrave.
Twenty eight years might sound like a lifetime to many, but Cosgrave said that he ‘doesn't find the commitment too difficult’ to juggle. Monaleen defeated Drom-Inch 2-11 to 0-8 to claim the All-Ireland Junior ‘B’ hurling series title in Raheenagh this month.
“I just head away to training and don't think about it too much. I enjoy playing and almost get a relief when I'm on the pitch. I have been lucky with injuries over the years and I enjoy the commitment side of it.”
Damien has seen plenty of changes throughout the years in the Monaleen club and many defeats and dark days in the lead up to their most recent All-Ireland final win. Cosgrave said: “Playing with different and younger players would definitely open your eyes, anyways.
“There is such a huge age gap between myself and the rest of the junior team this year, but I have found in the last few years there is a group of lads coming along in the club who are very close friends and I haven't seen such a group of close-knit lads in a long while, so that has helped matters on the field as well. The new management has created a huge bond between us all.”
After the heartbreaking loss to rivals Drom-Inch in the Munster Junior 'B' final Cosgrave said the club was determined to reverse the result in the All-Ireland final.
He continued by saying: “When we found out we were playing them (Drom-Inch) in the All-Ireland final again we put our sole focus on it. We didn't want to let in any goals in the final and that is exactly what we did.
“The win was such a relief, to turn around the heartbreak of the Munster final defeat into an All-Ireland final victory.”
Cosgrave says he will ‘keep going’ playing hurling with Monaleen as they team move up to Junior 'A' for the season ahead.
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