‘The players are all mature and sensible. They have to enjoy it’ says O’Malley

Jason O’Connor Beaufort’s manager had some big shoes to fill but in bringing the club to Croke Park he’s done just that

THE task looked onerous to begin with for Eanna O’Malley. To take over from a manager in Gary McGrath who had brought the club to back-to-back Mid Kerry titles, the first time in two decades they had won their local Championship, and back to Division 1 of the County Senior Football League for the first time since the mid-1990s. Being his assistant did much though to prepare O’Malley for a role that has sees him at helm of a trip to GAA Headquarters this Saturday.

“A lot of people asked me if there was pressure in taking over from Gary, but to be honest I never really looked at it that way. Tim [Coffey] got us out of Division 4 [2014] and then Gary took it on a step further.

“I learned a lot and I knew that there was no need to make any great changes, just keep it going in the right direction. Gary is there in the background and I often talk to him about things, he’s a huge help still,” O’Malley said about his predecessor in the role.

That Mid Kerry success in 2016 saw them defeat previous (Milltown / Castlemaine) and future (Glenbeigh / Glencar) All-Ireland Club Champions as belief began to grow about a journey for themselves beyond the county.

Na Gaeil stopped it before it ever started on the Easter Bank Holiday Monday in 2017, but as fate would have it, the sides met again in the 2018 decider in a match that won’t be forgotten anytime soon by those present in Austin Stack Park that May Bank Holiday Sunday.

This time, after 80 action packed minutes and more, Beaufort squeezed through.

“A lot of people will say that any game you win is a good game, but you did take great satisfaction out of winning a great game such as the final against Na Gaeil. We looked dead and buried once or twice but the lads showed unbelievable character that day,” the Beaufort boss said.

A long wait until Munster meant a proper plan had to be put in place to cope with the wait, something O’Malley

said the management team took great satisfaction in getting right even if their opening games against Ballylooby / Castlegrace of Tipperary and Michael Cusacks of Clare were non-events as actual contests.

“Our first two games in Munster were, in hindsight, a bit pointless, so we were worried coming into the Munster Final that we could be caught cold. Again, we were able to react when Dromtariffe threw the kitchen sink at us. We have had two hard games now so we are hoping that they will stand to us,” he said.

When it came to the recent All-Ireland semi-final with Dundalk Young Irelands in Portlaoise, O’Malley compared another tough encounter to a match in Kerry where they had been expected to win comfortably by those on the outside.

“It was very tough, but probably the best way to win a semi-final is to have been a bit below par and still get there. The game against Dundalk reminded me a bit about the semi-final against Churchill where we were given a massive fright.

“Dundalk were very fit, very strong, very athletic. You tailor your game-plan to suit, especially outside Kerry. Within the county, most Kerry teams have a similar style, we met no team with 13 behind the ball in Kerry. Against Dundalk we had to change,” O’Malley felt.

Although not in Division 1 now for 2019, O’Malley agreed that the experience was always going to stand to them when it came to championship level.

The hype and sense of occasion with a trip to Croke Park is

something

The fact that we had such great teams in the past, there would be a longing for those days back again – Éanna O’Malley

that can affect any club or player experiencing it for the first time, but the Beaufort boss said that the club are working on the right balance in terms of the mindset the players will have taking the pitch.

“The players are all mature and sensible. You can’t totally isolate them; they have to enjoy it. I think if you get the balance right and they are aware of it, then it can help to drive them on,” he said.

The possibility of becoming the ninth Kerry club to win the All-Ireland Junior Club title and the fourth in Mid Kerry to win an All-Ireland Club title of some description is tantalising, but O’Malley warns against viewing the match with Easkey solely on its own terms.

“It would mean a lot to everyone. We have a long tradition for a small club. The fact that we had such great teams in the past, there would be a longing for those days back again, so there’s a lot of happy people at the moment. We have unbelievable support.

“I haven’t seen Easkey, we’re working on that, but the consensus is that they play a similar style to us. I think a lot of people keep saying that it’s Kerry against Sligo, but it’s not.

“It’s two small clubs up against each other.”