West as semi-final beckons
find ourselves in a situation after Sunday where we’re preparing for either an All-Ireland Final or else having to knuckle down and get ready to return as a senior club in the county. With the changes to the local calendar and the Club Championships being held in April we need to prepare for that almost straight away should we lose on Sunday,” he said.
The playing of Moy will bring up echoes of the Kerry versus Tyrone rivalry for a lot and the prospect of a personal duel between Marc Ó Sé and Sean Cavanagh but despite another Tyrone player in Kevin Hughes and members of his Killeeshil St. Mary’s attending the fundraising function for An Ghaeltacht in the INEC before Christmas, An Ghaeltacht still aren’t the wiser about Sunday’s opposition.
“They didn’t give too much away about Moy on the night (laughs)! It’s understandable why there is a lot of interest in this match because of the Kerry versus Tyrone thing but both clubs in this instance are only concentrating on trying to get to an All-Ireland Final.
“Even though Marc and Sean Cavanagh had very similar timelines in their inter-county careers, the possibility of them marking each other in the modern game is very slim because it’s hardly ever no.5 marking no.12 anymore. What I find as well in these games is that it’s normally the non-inter-county players in both sides that are the difference,” Ó Cinnéide said about the level of interest in this fixture.
Portlaoise as a venue for Kerry versus Ulster matches has seen a mixed success rate, the losses maybe coming in the more high profile ones but Ó Cinnéide says the venue holds no phobia for the West Kerry side.
“When you would draw up a list of potential venues for this fixture, it would be at the top of the list in terms of geography. I’m not too familiar with the venue in recent times but from my own days playing it was a great surface to play on and I still believe that’s very much the case which is important for any side in playing a game where they are trying to make an All-Ireland Final,” he said.
In trying to come through Sunday’s eagerly awaited clash, Ó Cinnéide feels that An Ghaeltacht will have to show a different quality to what they have been associated with thus far.
“We’re known as a young, light and fresh team but this will definitely be a time for showing we can cope with the grind of winter football in things such as controlling a difficult ball on the day. We’ve tried to move it up a level with each performance since we have been on this run and we need to keep doing that on Sunday.”