Kilcormac-Killoughey captain Slevin back on familiar territory in more ways than one

CONOR Slevin is on very familiar ground this week as he prepares for Sunday's Senior Hurling Championship final against Shinrone.

The Kilcormac-Killoughey man is aiming to captain them to three in a row and complete his second hat-trick of titles, having been in goals when they won their first in 2014.

Slevin has been there every step of the way during a golden era for Kilcormac-Killoughey. He is hoping to collect his seventh medal on Sunday and it will be his tenth final to play in. Their 2012 win was K-K's first title and they have effectively built two teams but with a hardcore of players from 2012-2014 still contributing powerfully, helping their outstanding young talent bed in.

“We are delighted to be back in the final,” Slevin remarked last week. “It is what you set out at the start of the year to do.”

It will be their third final in four years against Shinrone. “They really over powered us in 2022 in Tullamore. They got on top early and we couldn't get back at them. We turned it around the year after so it will be an exciting game. We are definitely looking forward to it.”

How hard was that 2022 defeat to take?

“That was a hard one to take. A defeat is always going to be hard. We were after losing in 2018 and 2020 as well so that was our third one to lose in a few years. On the day, we couldn't have any complaints, especially with the way Shinrone performed that day. I know people said we were favourites coming in but we didn't hurl well. We weren't let hurl that day and weren't good enough on the day.”

With outstanding young talent emerging every year, the wheel had to turn for K-K but Slevin stressed that they had to introduce them at the right time.
“It is hard to blood young lads and give them game time at the right time. We are delighted to have them. Every club in the country would love to have the lads that we have had coming through over the last couple of years.”

While O'Connor Park is K-K's natural habitat, they are also conscious of the fact that they beat Shinrone in a final in Birr but lost to them in Tullamore. Slevin doesn't mind where it is played. “It doesn't really make any difference. Every team will say, as long as you are in a county final it doesn't matter where you play. We have done a lot of hurling in Tullamore. We played a lot of group games here and got used to it but there hasn't been as many matches in Tullamore the last few years, especially in the group stages. It doesn't seem to make any difference.”

Slevin was glad to see K-K making progress last year and make the Leinster club final.

“You start out every year do win a county title and we take great pride in representing Offaly when we do. We give it as good a shot as we can. We have lads that were there playing in Leinster finals in 2012 and '14 and we have younger lads coming in who are used to playing for Offaly in big games. Their hunger and the older lads' hunger is what drives it on. At the start of every year, all you ever worry about is the county final. You can't think about outside the county and if you win your county final, you go from there.”

33 years of age, Slevin has another few years left in him and doesn't consider the commitment a grind. “Oh no, we have been lucky. It is never a grind when you are getting to the latter stages of the championship. Every club would love to be in our position at the latter stages of the championship. We are going for three in a row, we have done it before and there is an opportunity to do it again this year but it is never easy to get over that hurdle.

“This club have seen that all down the years. All the times we thought we were going to win a championship and didn't. It is just great to get back to have the chance. Whether it is one, two or three in a row doesn't make a difference. We just want to win and play whatever game is in front of us.”

As captain, Slevin was very aware of what was going on when Shane Hand was replaced by Declan Laffan as manager at the start of the season. How did players insulate themselves from the fallout from that?
“Players just go back at the start of every year to train and whoever is in charge is there. We just go with that. We went back in February with Sean Sweeney in the gym. Sean was there last year and he is there this year. As players we have to get on with it. If questions have to be answered, the club has to answer them.”

There was a gap of a few weeks after it emerged that Shane Hand was being replaced before the services of Declan Laffan were secured. Was that a difficult period?

“You just leave it to the people who are in charge. It happened soon enough after the Leinster final so lads were just trying to get away from the training field for a while. You will hear rumours and all that in small towns but as players, we just have to stand back and let rumours be rumours. Just deal with whatever comes to us.”

He spoke about the positive impact Shane Hand has had on the club.

“Shane had a very positive impact on us for the two or three years but also in the club over all the years, he has been very involved at underage level. He played for Kilcormac-Killoughey, supports us and has lads playing hurling.”

Slevin is used to the talk about K-K's ability to win both inside and outside Offaly.

“I would be aware of it. I suppose at the start of every year, people in the media and outside would say Kilcormac-Killoughey are favourites for the championship. As players you can't listen to that. It is just what the media or outsiders say. It is not the players talking. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

“Inside the dressing room, we know how hard it is to win the Offaly championship and this has been proven over the last fifteen years. We have been lucky enough to win a few but we have also been on the receiving end of a few beatings. As a group, we are doing our best. We try to keep ourselves grounded and at the start of the year, we train for the championship and hopefully it will get us over the line.”

He is also under no illusions that every team can be beaten.

“There is no team that is impossible to beat. Belmont were as tough as anything in the first game. We met Shinrone in Birr a few weeks ago and drew with them. No game is a handy one. We saw how tough it was to get over Birr in the semi-final. Anytime we win, we are just delighted.”

It was suggested that for all K-K's depth in strength, they were stretched by injuries at the start of the year.

“The panel was stretched all year. The senior Bs felt the blunt of that because a lot of lads had o be used. There was never any complaints from the senior B team or senior B management over that. The senior team is the one that everyone wants to be on and everyone has to chip in but our panel was pushed to the collar, especially early in the championship. We had an awful lot of injuries but lucky enough, we don't have too many now.”

Slevin first played senior in 2010 and has noticed a difference in what they had to do then and what they have to do.

“It would have been three nights a week back then and it's three times a week now but you would always be thinking and working on how you can improve your game outside of that, doing stuff like that. The county lads bring that back to their clubs as well. They are probably doing a bit more with county teams and it is hard not to do that with them when they come back to the clubs. That drives the standards in clubs.”

He expects a fierce challenge from Shinrone.

“They are going well. We saw against Belmont how good they are going. They have some savage hurlers. Killian Sampson scoring 1-1 from centre back. He could be classed as the best hurler in Offaly, a fantastic hurler. It will be a savage battle. We played them in Birr a few weeks ago and there was nothing in it, a draw match.

“We played them in the league final earlier in the year and there was only a couple of points in it as well. We know how hard we are going to get it. You never get anything easy against Shinrone and they have a good bit of momentum behind them but we are going to try and keep a bit of momentum behind us as well.”

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K-K have lads on the sideline who would make every other team in the county. How hard is it to keep a happy camp and stop things from erupting?

“It is very hard. There is also lads who won a couple of senior Bs and some of them didn't get the chance to play senior hurling. It just shows how good they are and how good of club lads they are. They stay coming back every year and stay committed to it. Even now, the senior “B” championship is over but they still turn up and train as hard as ever. They drive everyone else on, drive the standards on. It is a brilliant dressing room and we are lucky to have the players we have.”