Managers set out their stall for campaign
DAMIEN REDMOND - AGB
Fortune favours the brave and Damien Redmond hopes that rings true for his fearless young side.
AGB made the last eight in 2017 but the plan now is to eclipse that and make the last four.
Redmond is aware of how finely poised the groups will be - success and failure could be decided by the kick of a ball.
He is hoping that his smattering of veterans amongst the young guns will prove to be a winning formula.
“First and foremost, we want to stay safe in senior. That’s the most important thing. But we want to get better than what we did last year when we got to the quarter-final – a semi-final would be fantastic. We know we’ve a tough group but that’s our aim.
“We’ve lost a few players in these last few weeks to injuries so we’re kind of just getting used to getting lads back on the field injury free. We would be a young panel alright but we do rely a lot on the four or five older players – the likes of Ciaran Hyland, Philip Gleeson, James Tyrell would steady the ship.”
Giving Hyland and co. a reward for their years and years of dedication weighs on Redmond’s mind and it is another reason why he wants to breakthrough to the semi-finals.
They’ve slogged for over a decadetogettheclubtowherethey are today and Redmond would love to thank them by granting them a day out on the biggest stage in Wicklow.
“That was our incentive two years ago when we won the intermediate, we wanted to win something for them lads. They’ve been soldiers for 10/15 years with the club and had won nothing so it means a lot to them. Most of the young lads coming through, they haven’t seen the hard work. They’ve just seen success with the minors and the intermediates. They weren’t around for the bad years. We have seen it.”
The experienced lads have seen it all before.
They’ve felt the force of Rathnew, Blessington, Baltinglass et al before but as for their younger counterparts – they don’t care. To them, it’s just a game of football. It’s just another chance to show what they can do and they won’t care who is togging out in the opposite changing room. With the talking almost done, Redmond can’t wait for the ball to be thrown in now.
“They don’t care who is stood in front of them – it’s all about how we play. They don’t care who they’re up against which is a good thing. There’s no fear at all in them.
“The build-up and all is great but getting on the field is the important bit and playing the way we want to. We’ll have no fear.
EMMET O’SULLIVAN AVONDALE
Avondale are hoping to strike while the iron is hot.
With a semi-final spot in 2017 and some fine league form behind them this campaign, Emmet O’Sullivan wants to use his side’s momentum to go even further but he is under no illusions with regards to how difficult the group will be for his side.
“I think the group we’re in, every match is winnable and every match is losable. You’re looking to go as far as you can. We got to a semi-final last year so we’ll be looking to build on that.
“We’ve a lot of good footballers and we’ve a lot of young talent coming through. You’re looking to build and push on from last year. That’s the measure of a football team. We’ve been in a couple of quarter-finals and then we stepped up from that and got to a semi-final so you’re looking to push it and step up again.”
O’Sullivan’s side won’t be able to afford a slow start as the county champions await them in their first fixture but belief in Avondale - like McGraynors - is not in short supply.
“We’ve Rathnew in the first match and that’s probably a big ask. They’re after beating St. Vincent’s last year but I always find that Rathnew are in the championship every year so if you want to win it, you’ll have to beat them. That’s how you look at it – you want to pit yourselves against the best teams in the county.
“We’re going with a few injuries but we’re ticking along. The championship will be run off in a tight enough space with the two groups and with a bit of momentum and a bit of luck you’ll get a few wins early on and build on that.
“We’re looking at that group thinking that we could beat any team on our day but any team could beat us if we’re not on our day. You could win four of five games in that group and end up struggling.”
Last year’s last four appearance may have come too soon for Avondale but should the opportunity arise again, they’ll be ready this time. And they’ll have Conor McGraynor back to aid their cause.
“It was a big step for us. Looking back, we were probably a little bit in awe of the semi-final and we got caught in the first half but it’s hard just to go there once. You have to keep getting there to get over the line.
“It’s a big boost for us to have Conor back. All the McGraynors (are excellent though), we’ve Conor Byrne, we’ve Saoirse Kearnon who came out of nowhere onto the county team this year – there’s lots of talent there. We just have do our job. Names won’t win championships.”
PADDY O’CONNOR BLESSINGTON
Paddy O’Connor doesn’t want to be a bridesmaid again this year. Blessington may have made the first final last year for the first time in a long, long time but ultimately it was all for nothing as Rathnew bested them.
In 2018, they want the gold and O’Connor is hoping that the defeat in the 2017 showdown could provide the perfect motivation to go all the way this time around.
“It is the aim at this stage to win Miley after such a long time.
“It probably will spur them on but there’s such big teams around Wicklow with Pat’s, Rathnew and Baltinglass and you’ve seen so many other teams get so close and there’s no guarantee you’ll get back there again. You still have to work hard and get a bit of the rub of the green to get there.”
Not all of Blessington’s ducks appear to be in a row ahead of their opener but injuries or no injuries – they’ll be ready when the time comes.
“Preparations are going well. We got into the league final and like every other club in Wicklow we’ve a couple of guys gone away for the summer. We’ve three or four lads injured as well so it’ll be a test for the panel but I’m not making
any excuses - we’ll have 15 players out on the pitch ready to play against anyone in the county and hopefully they’ll be back later on in the year if we got to the knockout stages as we did last year. We picked up a couple of injuries early on but when it came to the business end, the lads were able to play a part in it which was good.
“This year is quite different. In our group, there’s three very strong teams and if you drop points against some of the other teams (you could be in trouble). Our last two games are against Pat’s and Baltinglass and you could going into those games struggling to even get out of the group whereas last year, we lost two of our games and had to win our last game to even get to the quarter-final and then we beat one of the favourites in Pat’s. That was probably the turning (point) of the year for us. It made things all the sweeter.”
Having reached the final last
year, O’Connor expects Blessington to have a target on their backs but he is relishing the challenge.
“Arklow are in our group again and they beat us in the championship last year. A lot of teams will look at Blessington and think they can turn Blessington - we don’t have the same championship pedigree that Pat’s and Baltinglass would have so a lot of teams will look at us and think they can sneak points off us.
“I can’t wait for it. The league has been good but it was great to get the league final played so once your club goes out of the championship, your year is over instead of trying to train for nothing.”
CASEY O’BRIEN – ST PATRICK’S
Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free. St. Patrick’s are about to go into another championship with their expectant fans hoping that they’ll bring Miley
home for the first time in 12 years but their manager Casey O’Brien can’t help but wonder if that optimism is misplaced.
“There’s an expectation there but I don’t know where it comes from really because we’ve only won one championship since 2006.
“There is an expectation there but that’s the facts. Every year, we go out to win it. We’ve lost a good few finals so that’s the thing but we do go out to win it every year. We’re finding it hard to cross that border at the moment.”
His side are going through a transitional phase and the burden of expectancy is falling on the shoulders of youth but O’Brien gives them his full backing.
They know that they’re not far off the mark and can’t help but wonder what might have happened if it was them – and not Blessington – that won their last eight duel in 2017.
“It’s a pretty young side at the moment. We’ve had a lot of new blood come in in the last few years and even more so this year. It is a relatively young team with a couple of experienced lads as well.
“Normally the teams that are going to do well - the likes of Rathnew and Baltinglass and Blessington there’s three to come out of each group so you can expect them to come out of the groups along with a surprise package or two.
“Blessington had a superb year last year and they beat us in the quarter-final. There wasn’t much in that game - only the kick of a ball. If we had’ve beaten Blessington then maybe it would’ve been us in the county final instead but we didn’t do too badly last year. We were in a tough group and we beat Rathnew so after beating them and not beating Blesso, god knows what would’ve happened if we had’ve beaten Blessington. I don’t think we’re too far away. There’s only the kick of a ball between the top five/six teams. I think anybody on any given day can beat the other - look at Annacurra drawing with Rathnew last year. It’s all on the day.”
O’Brien knows how important the opening fixture could be and they don’t come much tougher than Baltinglass.
To be the best, you have to beat the best and Pat’s really could lay down a marker with victory on opening day.
“We’re looking forward to it. Baltinglass in the first match is not going to be easy and whoever loses that game is under pressure straight away. It’d be good to win the first one and get off to a good start.”
JOHN HYNES – ANNACURRA
John Hynes does not want to be at the bottom of pile when all is said and done.
Annacurra’s squad have suffered in recent years with departures but Hynes wants his men to rise to the challenge and avoid the lower ends of the group.
“We’ve been in the Keating Cup for the last two years and we don’t want to end up back in that. You don’t want to be at the bottom of the pile. But look, it’s the senior championship, any club that’s going into the senior championship that doesn’t have some degree of ambition to win the thing is doing themselves a disservice. That’s where we’re at. We don’t want to be in the Keating Cup for sure. We’ve been in it twice and won it once and it’s not the greatest. It is a cup and all that but you don’t want to be in that bracket, you want to avoid that and with that comes the higher ground of qualifying from the group.”
Hynes’ side have a daunting fixture list with three of the big guns all in a row. It could make or break them but Hynes knows if his side have any hopes of making progress, they’ll have to upset the odds at least once.
“When you look at our group on paper, we’ve avoided Rathnew but we’ve got the second, third and fourth favourites and the fixture gods haven’t looked kindly on us. We’ve got Blessington on Saturday, Pat’s the following Friday and Baltinglass next. In 16 days, we’ve got the second, third and fourth favourites.
“We are bottom of the pile on form and on the betting and I suppose there is a reason for that so it’s a huge 16 days for us and anybody in that group, if we want to do anything, we have to take points off those three teams. That’s the reality and that’s what we’re concentrating. Can we take points off them? We think we can. We’re not living in a bubble, we’re not saying we’ll beat everybody by 10 points but if your ambition is to get out of that group, you have to take points off the big three and we have to believe we can. Those 16 days make it a fairly hectic schedule.”
Hynes is not in the business of making excuses but Annacurra have faced a large turnover since 2017 and it has hit them hard. Regardless of that, they’ll be ready and waiting for throw-in.
“We’ve lost six lads from last year. We are a small club and to lose six in a year is a huge problem for us. We got a couple of young lads in but they don’t replace the likes of Vinnie Flaherty or Ciaran Byrne. We had a horrible league campaign. We’re not looking for excuses though.”
JOHN LYNCH - NEWTOWN
It is unlikely that the name of Newtown will be engraved on Miley in 2018 admits manager John Lynch but he wants his players to give it their all nonetheless.
The Magpies manager is realistic about his side’s chances and he would be delighted if they sneak a top three finish and make it to the knock-out stages but he knows the odds will be against his charges.
“We’re more hopeful than anything else. We’re hopeful because in the last few championships we haven’t had that great a run so we’re hopeful that we’ll have a good championship and if things go right for us then you never know.
“It’d be a great achievement for us if we were to get out of the group and who knows then with a bit of luck in the play-off. If you’re not in it, you can’t win it. We would consider it a great achievement to get out of the group because we’re in a very tough group. We’re a Division 2 team and we’re playing Division 1 teams so we’re shifting up a few gears.”
A top three finish for Newtown would be a surprise but surprises go hand-in-hand with the championship. Newtown would have to claim a number of scalps to have any hopes of qualifying and if they did, nobody would be happier than Lynch.
“Championship football is totally different to the league and we have to go in on a positive note and if things went right for us and we got a lot of the rub of the green, we’ll try and prove ourselves against anyone. There’s a lot of teams in our group with great history in the championship whereas we haven’t had much success in the championship so we’d be the underdogs so to qualify out of the group even would be a surprise. It’d be a great achievement for us.
“We’ve a mountain to climb really to get out of the group.”
Newtown GAA is going through a tough time but there’d be nothing like a run in the championship to rejuvenate them.
“We’ve lads going out the door and lads coming to the end of their career and lads just starting their career so we’ve a blend. We lost a generation of footballers to other sports and the gaelic is kind of struggling at the minute. We’ve no junior team - we can only field the one team. It’s not great looking forward because GAA in Newtown is suffering at the moment but we’ll keep ticking over and keep it going. We’ll give it our best anyway and it won’t be for a lack of trying. We’ll give it a shot.”
TONY DENVER BRAY EMMETS
Having witnessed first hand the impact that the championship can have on Bray Emmets, Tony Denver wants to relight the fire in the sleeping giant of Wicklow GAA.
Denver played in a final himself and sees most years the scenes when their hurling counterparts contest the final so he hopes that a fine football campaign will relaunch Bray’s only Gaelic football club but Denver knows that Emmets have to walk before they can run.
“Firstly, getting out of the group (is the aim). It is winnable but it’s also about making progress on last year when we barely survived. We kind of built from scratch again and we’d 12 senior debutants last year. Getting out of the group is our first priority this year.
“The Kiltegan game is a key game - that’s first up for us. Then we have Eire Og which is another tough one. We’ve played Kiltegan twice this year already - we drew two weeks ago and we beat them down there. For us, the Kiltegan game is the focus.
“We’ve played them (Kiltegan) over the years and it’s pretty much been 50-50. They’ve three or four key players that they’ve had over the years and if we don’t do a job on them, we run the risk of having an uphill battle and having to win the last four games.”
Bray are boosted by some returning stars but must still plan without a handful of important players who are committed to other things. With youth on their side, Denver wants to gatecrash the semi-finals and then hopes that the town of Bray will get behind his troops.
“We’ve got a couple of lads back as well, Adam Benson and Daire Lohan are back. Arran Murphy, Paul Cunningham, Ronan Cunningham are all away. We get a bit of experience back and the bright spark this year have been a few U-18’s who came through and inject something different. They hold no fear. They go out and try to play football and all these things are adding up to a very interesting game in two weeks.
“Our aim is to finish first or second in the group. That’s our sole focus.
“It was great the way it was planned out this year that you could focus on the league and get that over and done with and have a break and now focus on the championship.
“I was part of the 2003 team that got to the final and myself and Brian played in seven semi-finals so we know what it can do to the club. We know about the excitement. It’s a battle getting young lads to believe in football because they want to play hurling but if and when we win it, it’ll feed the juveniles and the 15/16 year olds. It’s building and I think we just need a bit of luck and confidence in ourselves to drive on. “
PHIL SMULLEN – EIRE OG
Phil Smullen hopes that Eire Og’s fine league performances will give them a head-start in the championship.
The Greystones men narrowly missed out on the final of Division 1A but he believes a few serious league tests will bode well for them as they prepare for a tough group stage but one he has challenged his side to conquer.
“Our first goal is to qualify for a semi final or quarter final. We’ve already suffered a blow because we’ve lost Chester to a broken hand and we’ve lost Craig Smullen to a bang on his shoulder. There’s a couple gone off to America for the summer. But our goal as always is to qualify for the semi or the quarter and hopefully with a clean bill of health we’ll try and push on from there.”
With only one of the big guns in their group, Eire Og know that a top three place is there to be won but they won’t be the only side bidding for them.
“In the group we’re in, Avondale will always give us a good game, Bray will always give us a good game, Hollywood are a typical senior club and they won’t be easy and then there’s Kiltegan and of course, Rathnew. Everything will be up in the air. We’ll have to just take every game as it comes and prepare properly for them but there’s no easy game in that group. There’s no doubt there’ll be no easy games in the other group either.”
Smullen knows how vital a good opener will be and with his side fresh from the league, he is hoping for a winning start.
“We qualified for the top four in Division 1A but we didn’t make the final because we drew with AGB down in Arklow. Those three games against Tinahely, Avondale and Arklow will have brought us on though and it would’ve been nice to beat Arklow and play Tinahely in the final but it didn’t pan out that way. That extra game would have been another boost to us.
“All eggs into the basket for the opener.
“We have to try and be positive and get two points out of it and then build for the next game which is Bray so that’ll be another tough one - they’re all going to be tough.
“Those lads will be in the right mindset. They’ll think they’ve every chance of winning every game that’s how their mindset will be.”
MICK MURRAY – HOLLYWOOD
This will not be Mick Murray’s first championship campaign and the Hollywood boss knows the score.
He may have guided Hollywood to intermediate championship glory recently but that will count for very little this time around and Murray is expecting a battle.
“If we can stay in the senior championship, I’d be delighted. That’d be a bonus for us and if we get anywhere near the last six, that’d be a good season for us.
“It’ll be very difficult and all league form will go out the window. There might be teams that did well in the league but it’ll count for nothing in the championship. We got the league trophy the other night but it doesn’t mean we’ll have a good championship. Then you have teams like Rathnew who only come into their own at this time of year.
“They’ll get better and it’s their tradition to know how to win championships and they have the footballers. Blessington did well last year and could push on this year. Pat’s will be there - no matter how you look at in Wicklow, you’re looking at the same four teams aren’t you? You’ve outsiders then and anybody on their day can do anything and if you get out of the group - I’d actually forgotton about the group - but if you get out of the group you’ve had a good season.”
Eire Og will be Hollywood’s first test. Murray has paid little attention to the whispers that they’ll be beatable but can’t wait to test his side in another championship. He is hoping to taste victory as it is that taste that persuades him to hold off on retirement every year.
“I don’t know much about them. People have said they’re not going as good this year but you can’t buy into that.
“We’ve lost a couple of players to emigration that would’ve been on the county team last year yet we’re playing better football this year than we were last year! We won an intermiediate championship last year but there’s a massive difference between that and the senior.
“It’s a great buzz when you win and I think that’s what makes you keep coming back. Why do Rathnew come back every year? Because they’re champions. It’s easy to get yourself up for training when you start thinking of that trophy again whereas if you’re losing and not getting there (trophies), it is more difficult. When you have that buzz and things are going well, everything is easier.
“I’m happy with our preparation but it’s only when you get out onto that pitch on your first championship game that you know how well you’ve done or not!”
HARRY MURPHY – RATHNEW
If Harry Murphy doesn’t already play – he should take up poker.
The Rathnew supremo doesn’t plan on loosening his grip on Miley but was extremely modest and coy about his side’s chances. One thing he was certain on was the fact that teams will be out to beat his side.
“We’ll be doing our best. If you’re not trying, you’re wasting your time.
“I don’t think it’s anything to do with Rathnew, I think the defending champions will always be marked men. It’s always harder to defend it than to win it we’ve found. You won’t get away with what you did the previous year so you have to step it up. We’ll be hoping to do that but whether we’re good enough to do it, I don’t know. We’ll certainly try.”
Rathnew will have to adapt to the new championship format – a format Murphy hasn’t fallen head over heels with – but his side will let their football do the talking as they set out for what they hope will be the perfect campaign.
“Iwouldn’tbeabigfanofitbut you have to do what you have to do. We have to just get on with it. There’s no point whinging about it. I didn’t see anything wrong with the previous format but the powers-that-be have gone with this new format so we’ll roll along with it and I’m just looking forward to the football actually starting now. The lads have trained hard and we’re looking forward to getting out on Friday night week.
“We’ll be trying to win every game. Whether we’re good enough to do that, we don’t know yet. Our attitude though will be that we want to win every game.”
There has been little change in the Rathnew squad that claimed victory in 2017 and there is little change in Murphy’s desire for Miley. He knows that anything but victory will not be good enough.
“Nobody has retired and we’re trying to blood a few young lads coming through.
“We’re trying to introduce new footballers and we had a decent enough campaign in the league so we’re happy enough with our stock. We’re doing okay.
“Everybody is trying to peak for championship football and hopefully get out of the group stage and into the knock-out and that’s real championship football.
“Championship football comes around every year and I’ve certainly never lost my appetite for it and thanks be to god our older players haven’t lost any of it either. We’re all shoulders to the wheel and looking forward to getting started - same as every year. We want to get going.
“We’re county champions so anything other than winning it would be a disappointment. That’s the way it is in Rathnew - you win or you’re a failure. There’s no in-between. If you win, everyone will slap you on the back but if you lose everyone will stab you in the back. That’s life!”.
CIARAN WALSHE BALTINGLASS
Boxers tend to start their careers with an easy fight. It gets confidence up and eases the nerves. Ciaran Walshe does not want that – he cannot wait to truly test himself against St. Patrick’s in his side’s opener.
The Baltinglass man wants glory in 2018 and what better way to announce yourselves as contenders than with the scalp of Pat’s on opening day?
“That’s the main goal at the start of the year (winning the championship) and we’re coming in now into the new structure which is fantastic from a players’ point of view because there’ll be constant games and I think that’s what players love. We’ve a tough group and we start with Pat’s on Saturday who are a very experienced team but we’re really looking forward to it.
“Baltinglass are traditionally a championship team. The league was a bit Jekyyl and Hyde for us with our performances and results but once our status was secured the attention quickly switched to the championship and that’s where everyone wants to cut their cloth. From our point of view, we want to really focus on our own performance this year and that starts on Saturday at 5 o’clock. We’re really looking forward to it.
“It’s fantastic because if you’re ever looking for something to focus the mind, this is it. Pat’s are flying this year and they put in a really good performance against Blessington in the league final so from our perspective, it’s great to go in and pit ourselves against a real form team and a real rival. We’re delighted to start with a tough game and hopefully we start as mean to go on.”
While defeat on Saturday certainly wouldn’t mean the end for either side, Walshe knows how vital victory is for the mind and he is backing his side to prove themselves this year.
“Momentum is a really big thing in sport and football and you can’t beat winning. Winning breeds the winning mentality and that was a disappointing element for us from the league where we were in good positions in games but we couldn’t close them out and we didn’t follow through. We want to hit the ground running on Saturday but it’s a 50-50 game. If we get our own performance right, we won’t be far away.
“We’re learning all the time. This is my third year involved with the group but we’re learning all the time. Even from our 2016 team that won the championship and from last year as well, we’re down five or six of our starters through retirement and injury but we’ve a strong panel so there’s opportunities there for our conveyor belt of minors coming through and some of the young lads are really putting their hands up.”
Defending champions will always be marked men. It’s always harder to defend it than towinit