*David Gough continues as joint captain of the Killaloe outfit. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
It’s eleven years since the last intermediate champion fell straight back down from senior and it’s that bounce of momentum that Tony Gleeson is hoping can fuel Smith O’Brien’s first taste of top flight championship action in nine years.
“There are only a handful of lads that have played senior before so for the new lads to senior, it’s going to require a major lift in intensity. It will definitely be a rude awakening in the first ten or 15 minutes of their first game of the sheer intensity of senior championship hurling. We’ve obviously played senior teams in the Clare Cup but it’s a completely different story when it comes to championship fare.
“The attitude has been brilliant though. The lads were mad for road from the start of the year and initially I wondered did I bring them back too early but less than two months after that Munster Quarter-Final, they were eager to go again because they knew that there was a lot of work to do before they were ready for the first round of a senior championship.
“We targeted specific games in the Clare Cup and it was the first year that we were down Mikey Gough and Cian Nolan for practically the entire Clare Cup so it was good to see the lads were well able to hold their own even without the two lads.”
Tipperary native Gleeson is quietly confident that Smith O’Brien’s have progressed sufficiently to be able to cope with anything that this group can throw at them. However, injuries worries regarding county senior Mikey Gough (ankle), John Cusack (groin), Cathal Stritch (knee) allied to their new surroundings just makes their initial start against Wolfe Tones that bit more anxious.
“Inagh-Kilnamona are the team on everyone’s lips as they performed so well last year and have a constant conveyor belt of talent so they are probably the one team in the group that the others will fear a bit. But we’ll all have a lash at each other and it could well come down to injuries or a bit of luck to decide things in this group.
“I just want the first quarter to go right for them because Wolfe Tones have been up a good few years so they obviously know what to expect. It will be interesting to see how it goes and hopefully our inexperience at senior level won’t count against us. But once they’re in the game and battling hard, they’ll be fine.”
Management: Alex Simpson (Manager); Tony Gleeson, Aaron Devane (Coaches); Brendan Foley (Selector); Danielle McInerney, Nicole Foley (Stats); Alex Lawlor (Physio)
Joint Captain: David Gough, Cian Nolan
Key Player: Cian Nolan
One to Watch: Eddie Bourke
Fresh Blood: Shane Geraghty, Ben Murnane
Departures Gate: None
Titles Won: 1
Most Recent Title: 1887
Last season’s run: They weren’t amongst the clear favourites but emerged as a powerful force to blitz chief rivals Tulla and St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield on their way to senior for the first time since 2013.
