The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
O’Shea fully cognisant of test posed by Na Gaeil
ALTHOUGH the name of the competition might be slightly different, what Glenbeigh / Glencar are striving for is still the same, i.e. the Con Brosnan Cup.
Losing two out of the last three finals and seeing every side who has beaten them since 2011 go on to win a Munster Junior title at worst following success in the county has been tough to take.
However, manager Aidan O’Shea says the club are only focussed on the here and now.
“We aren’t harping back to the past. We’ve just taken each game as it comes this year and I think it’s been a great campaign by us to get here because we had no home game in getting to this point,” he said.
Indeed victories away to Knocknagoshel, St Pats/Blennerville (after extra-time) and Dromid Pearses brought them to a semi-final against Ballydonoghue in Austin Stack Park which they won after a tight battle with the North Kerry side.
Indeed some believe the nature of that win will stand to the Mid Kerry side in getting the sort of test they didn’t get towards the business end of other campaigns. O’Shea sees it a bit differently, however.
“I would be disappointed from the point of view against both St Pats and Ballydonoghue we had five point leads and left both of them back into the game. It’s one problem I find from being a Division 1 club like we are in that we are normally hanging on or trying to keep teams out in the County League and when it comes to championship then we tend to forget how to play a natural game of football.
“Sometimes I think a Junior club would be better off playing well in Division 2 as opposed to trying to hang on in Division 1,” he says of the difference between league and championship.
Working in Tralee, O’Shea is well aware of the way Na Gaeil are rising up the ranks with a strong degree of underage success.
“I actually think their County League position is misleading (promoted from Division 4) because had they not been relegated last year they would definitely be promoted regardless of what division they were in this year.
“They have some great players coming through and they play a very nice brand of football and I think it could be a very good contest on the day between the two teams,” the Glenbeigh/Glencar manager said.
He re-iterates the fact that the heartache the club has suffered at this level in recent years is not the primary motivation for the team on Sunday.
“We just want to go out there and play good football. We’re not targeting any specific area on the pitch to do well in, we just want the players to perform to their best and hope it is enough to win the match on the day.” All of the club will hope that Gavan O’Grady and Jack Brosnan are fully fit on the day having been troubled with injury in the build-up.