Inagh/Kilnamona have been hardened by disappointments of recent seasons and comments regarding their inability to see out games, joint captain Kevin Hehir has said.
Having the captaincy doesn’t bring with it extra pressure, the environmental consultant based in Dublin admitted. “In that role I just go up for the toss. We have leaders throughout the field. Of course it would be a huge honour for myself and my family if we get to go up the steps of the stand to receive the Canon Hamilton Cup but we know that we are in for a huge challenge if that is to be achieved”.
“From once the draw was made the target has been to win the next match. We haven’t had the comfort of been able to look ahead with the quality of the opposition in the group. Being battle hardened from day one has helped us. We would be notoriously known for not being able to see out games and for falling apart in the last fifteen minutes. This year we had to get it right from the start or else we wouldn’t have even made it to the quarter finals”, he told The Clare Echo.
Players have not felt pressure to deliver success at senior level having done so at underage level, Hehir maintained. “What we felt was a certain degree of disappointment at not bringing it through. We had the hurlers, it was just making that next step, making that next big step, underage and senior are completely different”.
Having three teams competing in adult competitions is “a huge help” to the club, Kevin felt. “It has fellas pushing each other. We are able to play fifteen a side games at most of our training sessions and that is great as it helps set you up for championship games”.
A huge challenge awaits Inagh/Kilnamona on Sunday when they face Ballyea. “Ballyea have fifteen phenomenal hurlers and anyone that says they don’t have a chance without Tony Kelly doesn’t know hurling. The winning culture they have developed in their club is something every club should strive for. They have always beaten us in recent times. They have always had that little edge in the last fifteen minutes and they have set the benchmark really high”.
“We have ten or eleven of the squad based outside the parish but we know there is huge interest in the game throughout the parish. We know we are in for a serious challenge but that’s where our focus is, it is on the next game and that’s Ballyea this week”.
Hehir concluded, “the disappointment of recent years has hardened us. We know that the game of hurling takes its own life on any given day. Just because we have lost before doesn’t mean that we won’t lose again. We just have to steel our minds and get ready for the huge task that is ahead of us”.
