*O’Callaghans Mills manager, Seán Doyle stands for the national anthem. Photograph: Ruth Griffin.
FITNESS levels were “through the roof” which helped them to glory in the Clare Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship (PIHC) their victorious manager maintained.
Bodyke’s Seán Doyle oversaw The Mills’ successful return to the senior ranks after they were six point winners over Clarecastle in Sunday’s decider in Cusack Park.
Outlining that one game at a time was the approach, Seán admitted they also kept one eye firmly on lifting the Paddy Browne Cup to bounce back to the top tier. “You can’t rush into it and you have to take it game by game but still we had one eye on this from the start because the Mills are a good outfit”.
He told The Clare Echo, “We started on January 11th and it shows because we were good and fit out there, we came up against a good team who will get better as the years go on, they have fantastic hurlers coming on but I thought our fitness levels were through the roof and really drove it on near the end. We controlled the game in the first half and really took control once we got the goal, we played the ball around and we tried not to panic, the guys at the back used the ball and put it in the right places, that is what got us over the line”.
Once Gary Cooney pulled on the sliotar to the back of the net, the Mills regained a lead which they would not relinquish for the remainder of the game. “Clarecastle had a couple of good spells but we went two points up and they came back to go 0-3 0-2, we got level and got a few more scores before Gary got the goal and it was a killer blow for them. Through the second half, I thought we were controlling the game well, then a penalty came and it was a great save, things could have changed if that penalty went in so we started to look around and make sure lads didn’t panic but these lads don’t panic. We had the experience of the Donnellan brothers to come on which saw us down the final furlong”.
Doyle who managed the Clare minor (2017 & 2018) and U20 hurlers (2019, 2020 & 2021) said improving on fitness levels was one of the items he focused on when becoming Mills manager at the beginning of the year. “When I went in I didn’t think they were fit enough but the players drove it, I only facilitated it, they drove it and once you have the players buying into you then you have a good chance of going somewhere”.
Seán added, “I thought the fitness levels needed to improve. I saw them last year, they have had great managements during the years but sometimes things don’t happen, we wanted to get the fitness up and you need athletic guys in the middle of the field who can go up and down, it does make a big difference to club teams if you have athletic players in the middle of the field, I think we had that and with our inside line they are always a threat, they left a bit behind them but they got some great scores, Seán Boyce, Gary Cooney and Colm Cleary are a fair threat”.
For the second game in a row, The Mills had eight different scorers over the hour, once again demonstrating their balance across the field. “Darragh Moroney was outstanding getting 0-4 from play, he was injured going into the game as was Aidan O’Gorman but they played through the injury, I thought Darragh was exceptional, his movement around the field was very good and to score four points from play was outstanding. Another man we introduced was Cathal Mc (Namara) at the back, he did really well and our other corner back Keith Donnellan, they are well able to play the position. We went with two young lads with a good temperament, good hurling who can bring the ball out and I thought they delivered on the day”.
There is depth within The East Clare panel, the ex Ardrahan coach outlined. “We’ll enjoy this but they have some very good hurlers. Our second team are playing at intermediate level which makes a huge difference because there are players there that will come on next year, to have them in-house games, we could have thirty six or thirty seven at training which makes a huge difference. We played A vs B games in training, that is how we did it and they gave it to us a good few nights, they had a great year too and were unlucky to Kilmaley but that is what makes training good and competitive”.
Munster Club has yet to enter the thoughts of the Clare PIHC champions. “I haven’t even thought about it, this was the main aim at the start. When I went to a house and they asked me to take the job, they said our aim is to get back senior, that is the first job done and we’ll worry about Munster club next week”.
