COLM SPILLANE’S FIRST Munster final was in 1999, when he went to Thurles to watch Cork beat Clare, cheering on local hero Timmy McCarthy, who was winning his first provincial medal.

Nineteen years later, Spillane will celebrate his 25th birthday as he tries to help the Rebels achieve back-to-back titles and he is proud to be carrying the Castlelyons flag into battle, providing inspiration for the next generation.

“I don’t remember much of the [1999] Munster final but I do remember the All-Ireland in the rain,” he says.

“That was the first and we’d a vested interest in it because Timmy Mac was playing. They’re special occasions.

“When I was younger it helped that Timmy was on the team. You have that belief then when you see someone from a small place like Castlelyons playing for the Cork senior hurlers.

“Maybe when I’m down the pitch and fellas see me there, they’ve more interest in Castlelyons and belief they could play with Cork.”

Yet, he had wondered if he might not grace such a stage. An underage star with Cork, injuries hampered him and, just when he got a run in the league under Kieran Kingston in 2016, the curse of the cruciate ligament struck.

Hard work stood to him though and, after belatedly making his championship debut in the win over Tipperary last year, the number 4 jersey has been his.

“When I came back on the panel in 2016 I felt it was my chance and that I was going fairly well,” he says.

“I was unfortunate I did my cruciate down here against Waterford in the league. You do think when you’re out injured and you’re getting a bit older you might have just missed the boat. Kieran had great faith in me, he told me he believed in me and he wanted me to be on the team.

“I was delighted last year to make my championship debut and once you get a taste for it it’s not something you want to give up easily.”

While Spillane – who teaches PE and maths in St Colman’s College in Fermoy, the hurling nursery he once attended – doesn’t live in fear of breaking down again, he makes sure to do what he can to get himself in the best shape.

“It takes it a while to put it behind you because you know the consequences,” he says, “being out for a year. Once you’ve your rehab done and you get used to it you don’t think about it again.

“I do work on my flexibility, my durability and my strength in the core. I learned when I was younger one of the best abilities you can have is your availability. If you’re training the whole time and playing matches you’re improving as a player then.

“The temptation is to do too much maybe. Especially when you might only have a 30-minute session down the pitch and you feel you should be doing a bit more. The recovery aspect is a big difference over the past few years.”

Recovery has been a key feature of the compacted nature of the now round-robin format.

“You’ve to put the game behind you whether you play well or not,” Spillane says, “just recover, come into training on the Tuesday and look forward to the next day but I think it’s been brilliant.

“Fans have really enjoyed it and players have really enjoyed it. You could get very frustrated by the lack of championship games. Last year you’d say we’d a good run but we only played four games.

“Playing championship hurling is special and they’re the games you look forward to so hopefully they’ll keep that format in the future.”

For now though, the focus is on Sunday and silverware.

“If you look at the two teams, they’re well matched,” Spillane says.

“Physically we’re the same, they’ve a lot speed in the forwards, they like to play the ball quickly, so there’s going to be very little between the two, I don’t think the bookies can separate us.

“It’ll be all down to who can perform on the day. It’ll be in the last 10 or 15 minutes, who can stick to their roles, who can put over those crucial points.”

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