O’Connell feels best might yet be to come from Dromid Pearses
NOT every team getting set for an All Ireland junior championship semifinal gets to prepare for the game with a very tasty domestic championship game with the reigning All Ireland champions. Well that’s exactly the position Dromid Pearses found themselves in, in recent weeks.
Surely it doesn’t get much better than that? Well they might have won the South Kerry final last month for one thing, but there is a possibility that winning that game would have or, at least, could have led to complacency. By losing out by a a single point after one hell of a battle they’re arguably in the best possible position – they know they’re good, good enough to win this All Ireland championship, but the defeat gave them warning against any notions of complacency.
“Okay nobody likes losing, but at the same time there was just a kick of a ball in it,” Dromid boss Michael Anthony O’connell says. “I thought it was as good a performance as I’ve seen from any team to be five points down and to get back and level it.
“It could have gone either way in the end, but I’m very proud of them really. Obviously we were down after losing that, but I think they still showed they had fierce talent. We took a week’s break, we went back training on New Year’s Eve and since we’ve had a couple of challenge games.
“There’s great banter and camaraderie in the club at the moment. Heading into Sunday I’d be cautiously optimistic. They’re in great shape and we’re looking forward to it anyway.”
A game between the Munster and Ulster champs (and particuarly between the Kerry and Tyrone champs) is one to be relished by the neutral and, while O’connell is looking forward to the game, he’s well aware of the threat they face. “I’ve had a look at Derrytresk in the Ulster final,” he says.
“They’re a tough, hard, young Tryone team, who play typical Tyrone football. They play in packs, they defend in packs, they’ve a Tyrone minor there Cathal O’neill at centre-back and they’ve a couple of very good corner forwards. They’re a very balanced team and we’ll certainly be up against it on Sunday.
“The one thing about the Derrytresk team in the Ulster Final is that they’re goal poachers. They got two goals when they were three points down. We’ll have to be very wary of that. I don’t know how many times this year we’ve stopped teams from scoring the second half, but occasionally we’ll give away a goal and as you know goals win matches. That would be one aspect against these guys the next day because they do have an eye for goal,” he commented.
In recent times teams from the Kingdom have had tough time against outfits from the Red Hand county and even though Finuge did win their All Ireland Junior title against a Tyrone side ( Stewartstown Harps) in 2005, Duagh’s defeat at the hands of Greencastle in the 2007 final should leave Dromid with plenty to think about.
“I don’t look at it as a Kerry Tyrone contest,” O’connell says. “I look at it as
Derrytresk against Dromid. Look this is our ninth game in this junior championship, it must nearly be a record. I think most teams up to this year have played about seven games to win it and if we beat these crowd the next day we’ll be playing ten games to get to the championship.
“If somebody asked me what was our best performance of the year I would say against St Marys against the gale with five points down. We know about the Kanturk comeback, but I’ll tell you something not many teams would come back against St Marys in the South Kerry final. I’m upbeat, optimistic, proud of them and confident. I think it’s a fair comment that they’re getting better and maybe the best is yet to come.”
The return to the fold of Aidan ‘Shine’ O’sullivan, one of the top wing backs in the county, has certainly boosted Dromid and would tend to lend credence to O’connell’s belief that the best might yet be to come. “Aidan has been involved since he came on as a sub in the Cú Chullains game in Birmingham and he’s scored in every game. Even in challenge matches he has been scoring. We’ve also DJ O’sullivan who played in the first two rounds of it at the start of the year, he’s back with us since last week. He’s one of our cornerforwards as well,” he commented.