It is against this backdrop that selector Brian O’Callaghan repeatedly stresses the importance of the Midleton class of 2019 delivering a performance at Páirc Uí Rinn tomorrow afternoon.

Five of the side who feature this weekend — Dylan Hogan, Darragh Moran, Kian Farmer, Joe Stack and Cathal Hickey — started last year’s final defeat, while a similar number was involved in the team which lost the Dean Ryan (U16½AHC) Cup decider in November of 2017.

But where the latter side probably should have beaten Thurles CBS, the school’s top team never left the starting blocks in last year’s Harty Cup showpiece against Ardscoil Rís.

Falling seven behind as early as the 20th minute, Midleton had long been cut adrift as the game entered its final quarter, trailing 3-11 to 0-7.

So it’s no surprise to hear selector O’Callaghan say the priority is a performance this time round.

“We actually haven’t talked about last year at all,” O’Callaghan revealed.

“Last year, the lads put in a massive effort and it just never happened on the day, which can happen with young fellas.

"They never got the performance that the work they put in deserved. We didn’t dwell on that game because we didn’t want to dwell on a negative.

The final aside, they had a great year last year. The boys had them really well prepared, but it just happened where they came up against a really good Ardscoil Rís team and never performed on the day. What we’d be hoping for is we’ll put in a performance.

With this being the first all-Cork Harty Cup decider since 1994 (when Midleton lost to North Mon), as well as the fact that the county’s 13-year wait for a Cork champion of this famed colleges competition will end at around 3.30pm on Saturday, there is considerable interest in the fixture.

“The experience of last year will surely help our lads in the build-up to the game,” O’Callaghan believes.

“It is very hard to avoid [the hype] because it is the first time in 25 years that you have an all-Cork Harty Cup final. There is big hype and rightly so.

"We just hope our lads can put in a performance and we’ll see what happens from there.”

No question but management will be looking for the same grit which carried them through the second-half of their semi final against Waterford’s De La Salle.

Having played with the wind in the opening half, Midleton’s interval lead of 0-7 to 0-6 didn’t look enough, but O’Callaghan was effusive in his praise for what they produced on the restart to advance on a 1-11 to 0-12 scoreline.

“At half-time, we referenced our first group game, which was also against De La Salle. That first day, we played against the wind in the opening half but it was as good a half an hour of hurling as we had produced, so we tried to reinforce that.

“We were just looking for the lads to go out and put in a performance. And they did, they really did.

"It wasn’t a perfect performance, but they showed great heart, great spirit and really stuck in there.”