Lehane buoyed ahead of league

CONOR Lehane is convinced that the Cork hurlers are ready to give a good account of themselves in the forthcoming National League.

The Rebels will open their campaign with a home fixture against Clare next Sunday week, and ace attacker Lehane believes there is no shortage of optimism in the camp regarding their prospects of making an impact this season.

“We’ve been at home for our first game in the league for the last few years, and there’s always been an unbelievable atmosphere there, so we are really looking forward to the game against Clare,” said the Midleton man in the wake of their Munster SHL final victory over Limerick.

“Last year was disappointing, we lost all five of our games in the group stage, but we’re not going to be dwelling on that, although we know we have a lot to make up for in terms of the league.

“We’re going to use as motivation in a way, and drive on as best we can, but we’d only be wasting our time if we didn’t believe we could go out and perform,” he stated.

Lehane is satisfied that the Munster league has served it’s purpose from Cork’s perspective, primarily because it afforded the management an opportunity to give a lot of new players game-time.

“The new guys have been brilliant since they came in, they have fitted in perfectly over the last few games, and they have increased intensity for places.

“They are putting pressure on the rest of us, so it makes everybody work harder, and that has to be a positive in regard to building the foundations for a strong panel.

“It was nice to get a win today, and we have won five games in a row now, which gives us a small bit of encouragement going forward. We are fully aware there’s no comparison between this competition and the National League, and this win will soon be forgotten about once the league starts, but today’s game was as good as any in terms of preparing us for what lies ahead.

“As I’ve said, it’s going to help us a small bit, and it’s certainly better to be going into the league with a few wins rather than a few defeats behind us.”

Lehane accepts that Division 1 in the league is extremely competitive, but he points out that Cork played well in a few games last year.

“I suppose we blew hot and cold from game to game, but our aim now is perform more consistently and get a bit of momentum going from the start. That’s obviously very important in terms of building confidence, but we are under no illusions it’s going to be a big step-up in the league.

“It will be a case of going out and doing our own thing in every game and see where it gets us, but, for now, we’re happy with the win today, and, hopefully, we can do ourselves justice for the rest of the season.”