Mallow are still ‘hugely positive about the future’

MALLOW hurling is on the up, of that there is little doubt. The premier side impressed all this season by playing as good as any at the grade right now.

Despite this there was no championship success for the top team and no silverware this season (except for an under 21 title) however neither fact seems to have dulled the enthusiasm and expectation that surrounds one of the county’s biggest clubs.

The management duo of Joe Buckley and Dermot O’Riordan came off the pitch in Ballyhea last Saturday evening disappointed that their side had lost the league final to Charleville but both men clearly saw the plusses in the 2015 campaigns.

“We didn’t gift them a five point head start, they took it off of us and ultimately that proved to be our downfall” O’Riordan said at the final whistle.

“We knew they were going to be tough and we also knew they were going to be fresh as they only finished championship two weeks ago. It was hard for us to get fellas to turnout as we were out of championship six weeks ago but to be honest we didn’t push that either.

“They have done really well over the year and if they couldn’t turn out they couldn’t. You could see in our legs today we weren’t match fit and you are never going to be able to match a team like Charleville if you are in that condition. We did well for long periods but some choices in front of the posts cost us.”

With O’Riordan reflecting on what had just happened on the pitch it was left to Buckley to outline the thoughts on next year’s campaign.

“We will take a break now and get back at it in January. We have a great bunch of young lads here and there is a great will to win among the squad. We are hugely positive about the future although we know it is going to be really tough with so many really good North Cork sides in there as well as the likes of Killeagh coming down from senior.

“We have made steps forward and we have the bones of a really good team here. Now we just need to push on. It is also very positive that we will now play in the top intermediate league grade which means we will get some good league games as well. It should be another positive for us.”

Mallow are one of the clubs that people expect to do well however over the past decade they have clearly underachieved but now there seems to be a buzz around the club, the same type of buzz one sees around the Charleville club, and that can only be a good thing.