‘We’re up against it’
With Christy Moorehouse THE captain’s armband will not weigh Christy Moorehouse down. He won’t worry about the threein-a-row, he won’t worry about Carnew and he won’t worry about his added responsibility as appointed leader.
Just like he always has, he’ll be concentrating on himself and the hurl perched in his hands. It was this Emmets side that halted Glenealy’s dominance of the county scene three years ago and Moorehouse knows it is his side’s scalp that everyone now craves.
But after all the talking, it will all boil down to a simple game of hurling and that is the only thing occupying the attacking maestro’s mind.
“There’s no talk of three-in-arow. We’re just trying to get the year back on track. We’d a couple of shaky games and we’re just trying to compete; that’s all. We know we’re up against it on Sunday and Carnew will be a different outfit than they were last year. They’re hurling very well and they’re a great club.
“We’ll compete. We’ll do our best as the man says but there has been no talk of three-in-a-row. We’ll leave that to the other teams.”
Three years ago, Emmets were the new kids on the block. Last year, they had the experience of winning and repeated the trick as they sealed their second championship but neither of those victories will have any impact come throw-in this weekend. Carnew will have an impact though and Moorehouse knows how big an impact that could be.
“We take every year and every game (on their merit). It’s not about the year, it’s about every game that comes and lads are trying to be at their best. We’ve new lads coming in the whole time and it keeps us fresh and busy. We take each year as it comes and every year is a big challenge. There’ll be no complacency.
“Well jesus, we could have got an easier one (opponent)! But Carnew are Carnew, they’re absolutely biting at the champ to get going at us and they’re a great team over the last decade. If you look at how many county finals they contested and they were very unlucky in some and I’m sure last year they didn’t perform on the day so they’ll be an awful lot better this year. They’ll be a different outfit.”
Whether it had been Carnew, Glenealy, St. Patrick’s or Eire Og awaiting the Bray side on Sunday, preparation would have remained the same for John Henderson Sr.’s side.
“The way it is, we have to worry about our own camp. We’ve to get our own lads to perform and we’ll go out and we’ll try to perform to the best of our abilities and leave the rest to them. We can only look after our own. I can’t see any match-ups or anything like that. Everyone will go out in their own position and do their best to try and win their own little battle.
“We’ve our own little community when it comes to Bray Emmets and our own little camp and there’ll be no talk of three-in-a-row, just trying to compete with Carnew. They’re hungry so we’re just going out to compete with them and be the best we can be on the day – if that’s good enough to win a county final then fair enough. We don’t want to go and not turn up, we want to give them a good game and we’ll see what happens at 4:30 on Sunday.”
Carnew do not need any added motivation for this clash. It is, after all, a county final. It doesn’t get bigger or better but being the side to topple Emmets would an extra feather to the cap.
“It’s like Kilkenny and it’s like Dublin as well, the neutrals and half the county will be hoping for Carnew to win and at the end of the day, I’ll be playing against Carnew on Sunday but you couldn’t begrudge them winning the championship. They’ve been such a great club and they have the quality hurlers and the household names. They’ve been in county finals since I was a young lad because I remember going to watch them and watching Hyland and Timmy and these lads. It’s a dream to play against them. When you win two championships, lads will want to knock you off your perch and if you’re not at the top of the game or as good as you were for the first one, that’s when you will be knocked off.”
Moorehouse is confident in his own abilities and in his teammates’. He knows they can win but he definitely won’t be planning any celebrations yet and won’t let his captain’s duties shirk him.
“I’ve no speech or anything like that and I won’t be doing it either. If we win on Sunday I’m sure I’ll think of something there and then but at the minutes I’ve no speech done up and I’ve no intention of doing it.
“I go out in every game to do my best and if your best is good enough, it’s good enough. It’s an added bonus being captain. I wouldn’t say it brings any pressure or anything like that but it would be nice to win. I’ll be treating it as just another game, who the captain is goes out the window once you’re on the field.”
Moorehouse’s year began in forgettable fashion as he was overlooked for the role of captain for his county. Now he has the chance to end it on the perfect note.
“Captaining the lads to a championship would be an absolute dream for me. What happened earlier on in the year was (nothing), whatever happened happened and I forgot about it the night after it happened. You have to move on. That’s sport at the end of the day and you’ll have highs and lows. It’s not how hard you fall, it’s how quickly you get back up and I’m sure Sunday will be no different.”