The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Hard work is coming to fruition
MIKE Tim O’Sullivan, Tim McMahon, and Neil O’Sullivan form a strong managerial trio, combining individual skills and knowledge into a cohesive whole that has helped to drive the school back to a Corn Uí Mhuirí Final, their third in four years.
Mike Tim O’Sullivan: “We have definitely improved. From the start of the year... I suppose we would have started planning last May, looking at our team and putting a panel together. At the start of the year, like any team initially, we were looking at ideas and game plans and set plays, even getting to know lads because some players would have come through that we wouldn’t have worked with before.
“The lads are playing better, moving better, we have players with experience, lads in with the Under 20s and so on, that’s a massive help. Definitely, since the start of the year our play has improved big time.
“All of the teams that I have been involved with, the application has always been top notch. Over the last couple of years all of our players have given 100%, but I do think that this year what we have is better finishers and good players coming off the bench, we do have strength in depth.
“We’ve also been lucky this year in that we have had no injuries. In previous years we did have injuries going into games and that does affect things but even the last day, fellas who came in for us, they all made an important contribution.
“A game now is 70 plus minutes when you add in everything so your finishers are your game changers. We’d be very happy with our strength in depth.
“Going back a couple of years ago, our preparation wasn’t ideal at the time. We had a trilogy against Críost Rí that time [it took two replays to separate Tralee CBS and Críost Rí in the semi-final].
“We wouldn’t have been overly happy at being forced to play seven days later because we had a lot of knocks at the time and we felt that their recovery wasn’t ideal. Now, the scenario that we are in at the moment, we have three weeks to prepare.
“We are very happy with that. On the day it can go for or against you but we are happy with things just now. Playing the Sem, no matter when you play them, they are always well prepared. They are a traditional team, they are always prepared.
“They are always very fit, they are always well drilled. They are a well-oiled machine but look, from our own point of view, you get to a final on merit, we are backing ourselves, and all you can do on the day is perform and hope that all our starters and all our players who come in are firing. If we can get our performance level to where we know it can and should be, we will be there or thereabouts.”
Tim McMahon: “Throughout the year – we started off the season very poorly, actually. We lost our opening game against Mounthawk and we lost our second game to Rathmore, whom we went on to beat there recently in the semi-final.
“So we had serious defensive frailties at that stage that needed to be shored up, so we’ve worked an awful lot on the defensive side of the game. We always felt that we had enough going forward at the top of the pitch, but the modus operandi had to change and we had to get a bit of defensive solidity.
“We have certainly conceded a lot less scores in the last number of games because of the work we have put into that. The only way you are going to win matches really is balance. If you score loads but concede loads, chances are that you are going to lose.
“We have worked on kick-outs as well; Devon Burns is an exceptional kick-out keeper, a player who can kick the ball really well off the tee and spread it around. We are conceding less and we have won games on that basis.
“The players are young, but they would have a certain degree of knowledge of the Sem’s success over the last couple of years . I suppose the big thing is to get the message across to them going forward into the game, and this is a once off game, a once off opportunity, not to be afraid of any tradition.
“This is their day in the sun. If they go out and perform on the day, tradition will count for very little. We are big believers in the team ethos. We do spend a lot of time together, a lot of gym sessions and the like, and lads become friends anyway, so there is a good camaraderie there.
“Our objective always, right from the getgo, has been to win the Corn Uí Mhuirí. We had a tough group in the first place against the Sem and a very good Killorglin side. It was almost a group of death. If we lost our first game against Killorglin, we were practically out of the competition, so it was always step-by-step.
“We played ISK, we played Críost Rí who were fairly weak, and the Sem game then decided who topped the group. We weren’t going into the Bandon game in any kind of celebratory mood; we were working, looking at the game.
“We went on then to the Rathmore game, got over the line against Rathmore. The final is just the next step in that process. You get over the line and you move on, you look at the performance. Why did we struggle? Why were we eight points up and sacrifice that lead? You’re micro-analysing and asking how did that happen?
“How can you improve for the final, because we will have to improve to get over the line the next day. We do have good experience on our panel, a lot of lads who were involved with county minor panels, some of them have played Munster hurling finals and county finals with St Brendans. We genuinely feel that everyone has a valuable contribution to make.”