Charleville Halloran say team is making hay while the sun shines
CHARLEVILLE selector P J O’Halloran isn’t unduly surprised by the club’s rich vein of form, away from a rewarding hurling run, the club has made a definite mark in football this season.
“There is plenty of football in Charleville, it just has to be managed properly, getting the right guys in, the same applies to our hurling team. It takes alot of work to get both codes operating, 2018 has been highly successful, winning the North Cork JAFC , a fantastic year todate for the club, hopefully , it will continue on Sunday in the Munster IHC Final,” he said.
Not only does O’Halloran applaud the efforts of a skilful panel but is quick to acknowledge the contribution of Pat Donnelly on bringing his years of involvement with Drom-Broadford to coach Charleville.
“We’ve Patrick on board, he is terrific with the football side, coming from Dromcollegher, he brings a wealth of experience, making it appealing and exciting to play. That’s helped by a special bunch of committed players with everybody pulling together and given the current talent, clubs like Charleville have to make hay while the sun shines,” he said.
“Twenty years ago, I played in a County A Final against Castlehaven only to lose. Today, we won the B title, most of them were involved with the JAFC breakthrough in North Cork, it confirms, they are keen to play both football and hurling,” said O’Halloran.
Given a tight schedule, Charleville were forced to play their semi final against Midleton six days previously, one change from the match programme saw Darren Butler numbered 17 introduced from the start at full forward with devastating consequences.
“Darren missed the semi final, he had been excellent for us all season, because of his physique and strength, we put him in and he performed,” said the team mentor.
It’s been pretty hectic of late for Charleville, combining hurling and football yet all involved are thrilled with the winning sequence.
“The guys just love playing, maybe not training as much owing to the hurling but they want to play. After winning the County Premier IHC and overcoming Lixnaw in Munster, the football came up, the boys were keen to play.
“We did a bit of research on Duarigle Gaels, they possessed a some quality players. Though, we were missing Jack Barry owing to holidays, our boys were focused and once settled, they delivered telling scores,” he said.