Tinahely within reach of Leinster glory
ON a cold, dark night in Tinahely recently Rory Stokes and his management team are putting the senior members of their squad through their paces under the pale lights of the local GAA pitch.
At that stage the Leinster final was set for Ashbourne the following weekend against Offaly’s Naomh Ciarán but as we are all aware that fixture didn’t come to pass due to the administrative nightmare that unfolded from the Old Leighlin debacle, so another two weeks has passed since we sat down with the Tinahely manager to get his thoughts on the provincial decider.
Stokes is a driven man. Utterly focused on the job at hand. On the night we arrive there are low numbers, but the Minors are contesting a county final against archrivals St Patrick’s the following morning in Aughrim (they won) and a few players are away at work but any hopes that this might be a handy session for the core group who are there are quickly dispelled as Rory Stokes puts them through their paces with all the energy and enthusiasm of a drill sergeant on a mission to win the war.
Training over, the girls repair to the stand at St Kevin’s Park and Rory Stokes explains to them that there is media work to be done and that it will be quick and painless and that it’s on to ‘step 3’ then. Down in the shelter of the kitchen we ask him about his ‘step 3’.
‘We try and take every game as it comes. We try not to make big things out of big events, to keep the girls focused. It’s another game, it’s a green football pitch, white lines, we just try and go out, win the game and do our best. So, we’ve tended to break the season down into steps. Step 3 is the next game we play; the other two steps were the first two games in
Leinster. That’s the way we break it up. We find it works, no big fuss, keep to the same plan, warm up drill every day so the players know what to expect from the time they arrive in the ground until the time we take to the pitch,’ said the Tinahely boss.
There’s a real air of leadership off Stokes. Things seem measured when he’s around, controlled. There’s a feeling of security, safety. He’s got your back. He’s done the homework; he’s made the calculations. It’s a feeling that doesn’t happen by accident.
‘I work in the QA IT department in MSD in Carlow, I’m a contractor there. The plant is very automated, all the systems need to be maintained on an ongoing basis. I’d be involved to review QA documentation for new systems going in or upgrade to the systems, so I suppose it helps that I do a lot of meticulous work on paper, not physical, it requires high standards, you need to abide by regulations and so on, but I find it’s very good for me to transfer that on to the football pitch, try and keep that meticulous planning and effort going, and I think it helps,’ he said.
The first step for the Co. Wicklow champions outside the county following their magical five-in-a-row of county crowns following their defeat of St Patrick’s in Blessington was a trip to Louth to face Geraldines. A bad day weather wise didn’t stop the Tinahely women from carving out a narrow victory.
‘The first step, there was a lot of planning went into it. It’s 165 kilometers up, and obviously back down from Geraldines in Louth. We had gone and looked at them in their county final in Louth so we knew their marquee players, we knew where we needed to snuff out the danger. But the day went against both teams. It was a very bad, rainy day, and it was one of those games where you just have to dig in and dig a result out. The end result was 10 scores to nine.
‘I think overall we were in control of the game but on a day like that, you know yourself, a slippy ball, into the back of the net, suddenly your two points down and game over. But it was good. It was heartening to come out of that with the win because having a tight game like that is better than going out and winning a game by six or seven points,’ said Rory.
Then it was the visit of the Dublin champions, Clanna Gael Fontenoy to Tinahely. This was going to be a massive test for this talented Tinahely side and so it turned out with the game going to extra-time.
‘Again, we had done a bit of research on the Dublin champions. We went to see them playing Ashbourne on the Tuesday before we played them ourselves. We knew what to expect. We put great solace into the fact that the game was