Charleville all set for north Cork showdowns Diarmuid Sheehan Charleville’s new boss is their former boss Claude Gough and he’s rearing to get going
E are now just a few weeks away from getting back to championship hurling in Cork and while the situation is far from perfect at the moment that isn’t going to faze those hell-bent on securing a county title for their beloved clubs in 2020.
It has been a big few weeks for clubs in Cork with both hurlers and footballers around the county collectively back on the training pitches getting some well needed bonding and some heavy hits in and now they all know when and who they will face – even if the where is still a little up in the air.
One club side that is relishing getting back to competitive ways are a side no stranger to big days on a hurling field after making it to Croke Park twice in the last decade. Charleville’s senior hurlers are, like most other teams in the land, back preparing for their tilt at a county title – and while the trophy may be new the ambitions remain the same – win a county.
Drawn in one of the most competitive groups in any of the county competitions this season, Charleville will look to show their worth right from the off when they take on highly regarded Bandon in the opening game of a round robin series that also involves games with North Cork neighbours Mallow and Fermoy.
Cork legend Ben O’Connor has left the club for pastures new (Midleton) with the Newtown man’s departure opening up the managerial role which has been filled, for the second time, by local favourite Claude Gough.
Gough and his charges have been going about their business in a calm and professional manner since the lockdown began, but from this point on they are focused on one thing, that opening game with a highly fancied Bandon side.
“It is really exciting to think that we are getting back to playing. You could nearly knock the term senior championship out of it and just call this a local competition in many ways.
“The group we are in will be so competitive. Each team in there has their own claim and while some may see us as slight favourites because of our trajectory over the last few years each of the other three have great squads and some very talented individuals.
“This mini competition is very much a local derby competition with all four sides knowing each other very well. Four sides that have been there or thereabouts at the latter stages in the Intermediate grade over the last few years and now senior – all will want to get off to the best possible start and will look to play the best players they can for as long as they can.
“It will be very tight and it may well come down to which club can best manage their squads because two or three injuries in any side could be a disaster as you just won’t have the time to get those players right – so it will be very important to keep your best players fit for as long as possible in this year’s championship – and that is as important for Charleville as it is for the rest. The season could be over before you really get going so it is critical to start as fast as possible and put your best foot forward.”
It may well be an overused cliché but Gough is clear that this group will come down to who is best on the day.
“There will be nothing in it,” he says.
“It will be on the day, of that I have no doubt. Bandon have been competing at a real high level in recent years with both Fermoy and Mallow doing a great job in both hurling and football so they all know what they are doing at this level too.
“The athleticism in both those clubs is at a very high standard so you know what you are going to be facing from both those sides. Having said all that we are really just focussing on ourselves. That really is the one thing that we can control so we will focus on that, especially in the current climate with the goal posts changing so much – that is our job. Look after ourselves and hopefully the results will take care of themselves.”
Gough believes that there is a benefit to a club being dual at a high level (like Bandon, Mallow and Fermoy), but there can be draw backs too so the Charleville head tactician isn’t convinced either way that it will be a factor in what is a genuine group of death.
“It is a tricky one really because if you go well in both it can be a real benefit to a group however if you struggle in one code you may well struggle in both so on that score I can’t be sure but for us, in Charleville, hurling is our number one – it must be said though that a lot of clubs that play dual don’t rely on the same sets of players for both and in that case it shouldn’t really have a major impact.”
When it comes to top players in the red and white of the 2019 All Ireland intermediate finalists two names stand out – and both bring very different gifts to the party.
“Danny [O’Flynn] and Darragh [Fitzgibbon] are hugely important players for us – both on and off the field. Darragh gives everything for every team he plays with and is obviously one of the best hurlers in the county. When Darragh is at training the levels rise, that is the kind of thing he brings. Darragh is a hugely significant player for us.
“Danny on the other hand is just one of the most inspirational players we have. Whether Danny is on the pitch or not you know you are going to get 100%. His dedication to Charleville is phenomenal and that is the way he carries himself in all facets.”
Gough has all the credentials to kick on with this current crop of Charleville stars this season after leading the club on and off the field in the past.
“I would have been Captain the year we won the junior and took on the team as manager the following year – we lost the final to Fermoy that year and won it the next year. Bandon and Fermoy contested the final the following year after both had beaten us in that season’s championship so at that point we decided that it was time to hand it over to someone else – of course Ben [O’Connor] and his team [Tony and John] came in then and the rest as they say is history.”
Charleville have had more highs than lows in recent years, but the two losses in Croke Park in less than a decade did hurt, but Gough was clear those really aren’t the days that matter.
“It was brilliant for Charleville to get to Croke Park once, never mind twice and those days really are the jam on the icing on the cake. Getting there, winning your county and your provincial title, these are the things that players strive for – the rest are really just dreams. Many brilliant hurlers will never get to play in Croke Park on All Ireland final day and some of our lads have done it twice.
“This year it is different with no All Ireland but for us it wasn’t an
In many ways we are quite new to the term senior so we are not really over thinking it – we really are just mad to get going
– Claude Gough
issue anyway, but really nobody is going to complain at this stage – at the end of the day your target at every grade is to win a county and if you are doing that, regardless of the grade, you are moving forward.”
Charleville find themselves playing Senior A hurling this year and while the competition may be seen by many as a lesser grade than the traditional senior, Gough is clear that the challenges remain every bit as severe.
“Obviously you would love to be at the top table of those 10, 11 or 12 teams and we thought that maybe the performances of last year deserved it, but at the end of the day you still have to win games and last year we only won one (against Erin’s Own) but no matter what was put in place there were always going to be one or two teams upset so the only way to answer that is to drive on, earn it on the field, go up and then compete.
“When you consider everything from a Charleville hurling standpoint you have to concede that in many ways we are quite new to the term senior so we are not really overthinking it – we really are just mad to get going. We are not fazed by it per se – we are really embracing the challenge.”
Gough will lead Charleville back into action against Bandon on the opening weekend of the senior hurling championship at the end of this month with former stars Mervyn Gammell and Brendan Dennehy by his side as selectors and while the destination is the least of concerns the new manager has his preference.
“I think we really like Páirc Uí Rinn. If that is where the game is played that would be good. Páirc Uí Rinn is a great surface and has been good to us over the years but honestly at this stage we would play anywhere. It is just great to be getting back into championship hurling.”
Charleville come into this season’s Senior A Division full of the enthusiasm one associates with the start of May and while the month may be different (July) the passion, belief and hunger inside the Avondhu side remains more infectious than the disease that called a halt to sport everywhere for what seemed like an eternity.
Gough isn’t overly cocky about his side’s chances, in fact one could say he is being quite conservative considering the talent he has at his disposal, but when the dust settles and one takes a hard look at the four sides striving to make the knockout stages you would have to say that Charleville have all the attributes required to make it through – now all they need to do is put it on the pitch and see what happens.
Group 2 of the Senior A Hurling Championship in Cork is likely to be the tightest and most unpredicatable of races. Two to qualify from four really exciting teams, three of those from the same division – it has all the ingredients of an epic few weeks – don’t be surprised to see this one decided on by scoring difference.