Kanturk captain ‘Figo’ O’Neill influenced by Real Madrid idol
KANTURK captain Lorcan O’Neill is hopeful his side will raise their performance sufficiently to handle the serious challenge that Mallow will pose in Saturday’s highly attractive County Premier IHC Final.
Popularly known as Figo, the Kanturk skipper understanding of the game has locked out opponents in the current campaign, colleagues powered on by his massive determination. O’Neill takes his nickname from the dazzling play of his idol Luis Figo, the former Portuguese and Real Madrid star.
“When playing soccer after school, I wore the Real Madrid jersey with Figo name on the back. That title has stuck to me over the years,” he said. “To be named club captain is a great honour, when growing up, one always wanted to be Kanturk captain in a final. Everybody knew, we didn’t do ourselves justice last season, requiring a win over Tracton to offset possible relegation, going into 2017, we had expectations of faring much better.”
Saturday night’s run out of the hallowed turf onto Pairc Uí Rinn will be O’Neill’s third hurling final, mixed joy, losing to Kilworth in 2012 but gaining quick compensation to overcome Éire Óg the following year to land IHC accolades.
“We learned a big lesson from the Kilworth defeat, the experience stood to us, winning against Éire Óg at Pairc Uí Chaoimh drove on the club to new heights. This season, former player Donough Duane as manager is doing all he can for the side and coach Jim McCarthy is very experienced, his knowledge of the game exceptional,” said O’Neill.
The team captain is quick to credit the imput of inter county players Anthony Nash, Lorcan McLoughlin and Aidan Walsh yet he is quick to say that every player has held a key role to the unbeaten run this season.
“Two years ago, we lost to Castlelyons and we were keen to turn the tables on coming up against them in the opening round. Really, in this grade, nobody can be taken for granted, any team could win on a given day,” he said.
“The game against Ballinhassig was tight, the rain made it difficult in greasy conditions, we got over the line, the perfect preparation for a final, involved in tough and competitive tussles.”
With the majority of the Kanturk side operating as dual players, O’Neill is also a key figure on the football’s march to a county IFC final, well accustomed to heavy involvement from underage days.
“That’s the way, the club scene has gone in Cork, we train hard for preparation for games at this stage of the season. The success
at underage is vital, that’s where, we’re today, learning from the skills developed from u8/10 levels, hopefully the current crop of young players taking up the game will be playing senior hurling for Kanturk in ten years time,” said O’Neill.
Harbouring ambitions of playing club senior hurling in
Cork next season is one thing but trying to stop Mallow is a different proposition that O’Neill accepts.
“We know that we’re coming up against a massive Mallow team, that’s going to be a big challenge. There is serious respect for them but hopefully if we can put in the work over the hour, we can bring the Cup to the town and become the first Duhallow club to obtain senior hurling status,” he said.
There was no shortage of dazzling moments in the heart of Real Madrid golden era, Luis Figo’s trademark elegance decorated the stage. Kanturk’s version is not short of courage and determination as patrons attending Pairc Uí Rinn on Saturday night will witness.