It has been a challenging few weeks for Mallow in both codes, but U21 football manager Andrew Cashman hopes their success last Thursday evening will give the whole club a lift.
The team in red and yellow defeated Kilshannig in the Barnes Jewellers Avondhu U21 A football championship final at Glantane. Mallow winning on a scoreline of 1-10 to 1-9.
Mallow's Premier Senior footballers and Premier Intermediate hurlers have lost the first two games in their group stage as they face crunch matches in the coming weeks.
Cashman, who is also in charge of the Premier Senior team, hopes with silverware on the table, that it will give the bounce required to the adult teams.
"We are delighted with the win obviously, in finals that's what it's all about ultimately," he said post-match last week.
"In fairness to Kilshannig, they have plenty of quality, plenty of fight in them. We knew being up three points at half-time that there was a lot of work still to do.
"We were proved right. They came at us with everything. Our boys didn't wilt though and worked their socks off.
"We had a few lads that came off the bench that added something. It was a real squad effort. It's great for the team to win by a point and to retain the trophy. Hopefully we can kick on from this."
Cashman doesn't hide from the fact that it has been a difficult period in both codes this year, but other clubs have shown recently that divisional U21 success can have a positive impact on the other teams in the club.
"We have a very young team, I think only three on the age," he says.
"Looking at the game here when the game was in the melting pot and the blood was up, it was similar to the game against Newcestown in the Premier Senior football championship. We didn't come out of a tight contest in that one.
"Some of the lads that played in that game were on the pitch this evening and they are clearly learning from those experiences.
"It's silverware on the table. I won one of these when I was around 18 years of age. I thought I would win four or five and that was the last one. We never take it for granted. You always show the opposition the respect that they deserve.
"At this grade, it's all about keeping lads playing football for Mallow. That's the main goal. We will take the wins and the silverware as we go along, they are a bonus as far as I am concerned."
Mallow got knocked out by the eventual winners Bishopstown at the county quarter-final stage last year. When it does start in the coming months, the North Cork men will want to make an impression.
"We are really looking forward to the county section now. We are excited to be representing the division when the county gets going. That's another part of it. We want to test ourselves against the best."