Under no illusions as to the coming threat
LUKE MALONEY has already experienced heartbreak in the championship and he has no intentions of rekindling those emotions on Sunday.
He was forced to sit out the 2014 final through injury but this Sunday, instead of sitting on the sideline, he’ll be leading Bray Emmets out at Joule Park.
The Emmets captain completely disregards any merits that the four-in-a-row might carry, he is just grateful to be lining out on Sunday following his side’s epic tussle with St. Patrick’s in their semi-final and he is not fazed by who he’ll come up against this weekend.
“We were on the ropes for sure. Pat’s are one of those teams that will always give us trouble and they absolutely did. It was testament to the lads that we came back and we definitely rode our luck but a lot of other teams would have rolled over and died in those last 10 minutes – credit to the lads for having the belief to come back and thank God we did.
“All year, we’ve been having ups and downs but everyone knew that we weren’t beaten yet. It would’ve been a bad way to hand things over.
“We didn’t know last week who we would be facing so this week we can focus on Glenealy but we’ve definitely got no preference who we’re playing.”
The number four cropped up again when discussing Bray’s opponents, Glenealy. That’s how many goals they conceded but, just like the notion of the four-in-a-row, Maloney is quick to detach any significance.
“We’re conceding a lot ourselves these days! Everyone wants to score as much as they can and concede as little as they can.
“There’s been absolutely no talk of it in our camp. There’s been so much turnover in our camp with players and the management team that there hasn’t been much continuity. It’s all about winning but not the four-in-a-row especially because there’s not much novelty to it – it was done as recently as 2013.”
The Glens were the side to do just that in 2013. They were toppled the following year by a Maloney-less Bray who have claimed the crown in every year since but no matter how much the form book might favour his side, Maloney won’t be underestimating Glenealy for a millisecond and he believes their mixture of experience and youth is a danger.
“There’s plenty to lose. We’re quietly confident but they gave us a hiding earlier in the year and we’re under no illusions as to the threat that’s coming on Sunday.
“There’ll be a few of them (facing their first final) but it’s nice to have a blend of the experienced lads that have medals coming out of their ears and the younger lads who are dying for their first final – that’s a nice recipe and that’s what we had ourselves for years. They’ll have the wise old heads to give the younger lads a few words of advice.”
Bray and Glenealy are no strangers to each other and Maloney is hoping it will add to the occasion on Sunday but any potential friendships will be flung out the window with a championship to be won.
“That’s the way Wicklow hurling is. Everyone knows each other. There’s not many rabbits that you can pull out of the hat but there’s a healthy relationship. We’d be friends off the pitch and it’ll be a nice, healthy rivalry next Sunday.