Aidan O'Reilly: Running in December was torture but the best thing for us

Should Nemo secure an eighth All-Ireland crown this Saturday, there’ll be much stock placed on what the players endured during the month of December.

After dethroning Dr Crokes in the Munster final in late November, Nemo Rangers manager Larry Kavanagh wanted to give his players most of December off.

His thinking was that if they returned on January 1, they’d still have eight weeks to prepare for their All-Ireland semi-final against Slaughtneil.