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*Kildysart’s Fergal Ginnane. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
EVEN THOUGH they are heading to training in the darkness, there’s brightness emanating from the Kildysart senior footballers as they gear up for a first Clare SFC semi-final in thirty nine years.
Unbeaten in all four outings of this year’s championship, Kildysart have overcome Ennistymon, Kilmihil and Lissycasey to advance to the last four after drawing with St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield in the second round.
Kildysart manager Niall Ginnane said a strong team bond has led to his side reaching the a first senior semi-final in thirty nine years. “We set out our stall at the start of the year and we set out our expectations, we’re where we planned to be, we’re taking it one game at a time from here on, the lads are really enjoying going down training in the dark as I said to them it is a good sign to be going training in the dark and putting the lights on, it means we’re doing something right and they know that too, there’s a great team bond there all year and they are all looking forward to putting their best foot forward on Sunday with no fears”.
There was a darkness twelve months ago as Kildysart had to fight for their status when coming from behind at the death to defeat Kilmihil in the relegation semi-final.
According to Ginnane, this brought a determination from the players to show what level of the competition they should be competing in. “They knew themselves that last year wasn’t a reflection of where they are at. Subconsciously they were eager to set the record straight this year, it has been a good year for us, we got to the Garry Cup final, we got to the O’Gorman Cup final, we secured league promotion and got a good run in the O’Gorman Cup to get plenty of game time into lads that may not have had got it in the league, then we had lads returning from injuries and travels that we gave game time to and then we’re straight into championship and into our fifth game of the championship, we’re happy that things are going well”.
Finalists in the Garry Cup and O’Gorman Cup, Kildysart are keen to line out in another final before the year is out. “That would be the ticket alright, we’ll see how things go and focus on every minute on Sunday and not take the eye off the game for any minute”.
He told The Clare Echo, “Preparations are going well, we have no injury worries and lads are training well, they’re all looking forward to another day out in the Park on Sunday”. He continued, “For sure, we’ve used the squad well, we’ve brought on four or five subs in every game, we’re making it a twenty man game not just fifteen, we’re happy enough that we have twenty for the day”.
Sunday will be the first time that Kildysart and Kilmurry Ibrickane have faced off in the Clare SFC semi-finals. “They have the pedigree, they have a lot of county finals won, they know how to win county finals, for us it is new territory and it is fifteen versus fifteen, we’ve had a look at them and a look at ourselves, we’re happy that we have prepared as well as we can so we will give it our best shot on Sunday”.
