Kilcormac - Killoughey manager salutes “bottle” of young guns and auld stagers

KILCORMAC-Killoughey manager Shane Hand was fulsome in his praise for his young side after they edge out Westmeath champions Castletown Geoghgan in a frantic Leinster Club Senior Hurling Championship semi-final in Mullingar on Saturday.

A late Adam Screeney goal gave K-K a 2-13 to 1-13 win but Hand knew that they went very close to the wire and would have had no complaints if the result was reversed.

“In fairness to Alan Mangan, the Castletown manager, he was the first man beside me when the final whistle went and I said that to him, that it would very easily have been three points the other way. I am tired saying it and there is so much being written about K-K and these young lads but for us to go out with six or seven 19 year olds, a 20 and 21 year old, I know we have a few elder statesmen but two thirds of our team is nearly under 20. So to come here and play a very seasoned and very good hurling team in Castletown in these conditions, it shows that for all the hurling those young lads have, they have serious bottle.”

He talked about the maturity and fighting spirit their young players showed on a day when a percentage of things went wrong, using Adam Screeney as an example of this.

“We are saying that the whole time, if you run over it the first time, you go for the second one. If you run over it a second time, you go for the third one. In fairness, it is the biggest compliment I can give all those so called skilful hurlers. You can talk about Adam (Screeney) but his biggest quality is that he is full of guts. It doesn't matter if it is going against him or what punishment he is taking, he is full of guts. His hurling comes second in my eyes. His belly and his bravery comes above all else.

“Castletown are a serious team. Any day you beat the Kilkenny champions by eleven points and you come over to a tight pitch that probably doesn't suit us and soft ground, there is serious bottle in all those young lads.

“But in fairness, we said 'just cool, calm, composed when things are going against us just keep the heads, if you make a mistake just pat the lad on the back and get him going again.

“It's great to win a game like that, because there's games we've won this year and probably won by 14, 15 points, but you look at the supporters and the crowd out there, this is real hard work.”

In his third year as K-K manager, Hand was quick to include their elder statesmen in his praise.

“And when I am talking about young lads, I am talking about Damian Kilmartin, Conor Mahon, Conor Slevin, Oisin Mahon. James Gorman coming on, who went through ankle surgery at the start of the year. Young lads are young lads but what about James Gorman coming on. What a man. Peter Geraghty. All the subs made a huge contribution.

“Coming over here was always going to be a serious battle. We are absolutely thrilled. Picking the team is a nightmare. There are four, five, six lads disappointed the whole time but we are all the time telling them we are going to need the bench. Damian Kilmartin went for fifty minutes there and we just needed fresh legs. We brought Peter Geraghty on, James Gorman and Cathal Kiely. It mightn't look much but in the context of the game, Cathal won a ball over the far side and left it down on the edge of the square. Territory was as important as good hurling today, territory was huge. All the subs made a big impression and we are telling all the boys that. We are just relieved. You can see what it means to the supporters. The support that came today from K-K and Offaly in general is just huge. It's November so look if we weren't here, the woman would be bringing us to Liffey Valley shopping. This is great times.”

Full back Oisin Mahon was an example of a player who flourished, recovering superbly from the odd error.

“Oisin is hurling great since I came in here three years ago. Oisin was on and off the team and we sat down and had a chat. I said Oisin, you have to get yourself right, don't worry about what went on the last ten years. Damian Kilmartin, what can you say about him, Conor Mahon, the work he is going through. James Gorman. Enda Grogan was doing nothing wrong when he was taken off but we wanted to get Cillian Kiely into the game. There was no whinging or giving out.

“For lads to be going on 36 years of age at this stage of their careers and they have done it all. I can't talk highly enough about Conor Mahon. Even talking to Diggy (his son Daniel Hand) at home, he says the way James Gorman pulls him to one side at training, talks to him, advices him and encourages him. I remember the day Diggy hit all the wides up in Rath, the first fellow over to him was James Gorman to tell him not to worry about it. They are fantastic lads. We have a lot of young lads, we have a lot of auld lads and they all get the middle ground.”

They face Na Fianna in the Leinster final on Saturday in Croke Park and Hand will be telling the players that the opportunity to win is now, not down the road.

“We came in after winning a county title in 2017 and we had to wait six years later to win another one. You have to enjoy these lads when they come.”

The only fly in the honey jar is the late evening throw in on Saturday evening and the manager hit out at this.

“I am going to give out that there is a Leinster final on Saturday at 10 to 8(the game is now at 7.40pm). There is young supporters and families with very small kids. I am not happy about that aspect of it. I never spoke out it before because we never looked past the next match but everything was taken into consideration, television but the only ones not taken into consideration were the players and supporters. The GAA in general need to have a look at that one.”

He was also asked about playing three weekends in a row.

“The only criticism I have is that we played a county final and then we waited four weeks to play the Carlow champions. We played them last week, we played Castletown this week and we're out again in six days, it's not even a week. But it's hard to complain, this shortens the winter and keeps you busy, otherwise I'd be up in Liffey Valley with the wife or something so I'll take it regardless of the quick turnaround.”

The manager has also seen the way a county wide support is getting behind them.

“Yeah look, we've serious support, we've seen over the years, the following we've got even in Offaly, when we were getting to Leinster, in fairness the Offaly crowd in general, they get behind whoever wins the Offaly Championship, you look around there today, they're from everywhere. But it's great buzz and shortens of winter, and we're back in the field now Tuesday evening in Mountbolus, and a cup of soup after training, it's brilliant, I just love this time of year, it shortens the winter, and it's great to see all the kids and everyone out there, it's fantastic.”