Kirby fancies a few more trips to the 'Well

BACK to the well once too often that's what many people thought of Gary Kirby's decision to give it another season with Patrickswell this year.

Past it, over the hill, seemed to be the consensus, not just the multiple All-Star but the whole team reflected in the bookie's odds on them making any impression even on the Limerick championship. How people can jump to errant conclusions.

On Sunday, Patrickswell face Newtownshandrum of Cork in the Munster club hurling final, and according to a defiant Kirby, they have done so absolutely on merit.

"We couldn't believe people were writing us off so easily, and that has acted as a spur all year. Don't forget, we have 11 fellas who played in the Munster final in 1997 and most of those are still under 30 years of age. People talk about myself, Anthony Carmody and Ciaran Carey, but we're the only three over 30 on this team. There's a wealth of talent in Patrickswell, including five fellas from the three-in-a-row Limerick U21 teams, but people seem to ignore that.

"I'm not really a betting man, especially on matches, but I went into the bookies before the county semi-final and of the four teams left we were the rank outsiders, that was how little people thought of us. We played Ahane in the semi-final, who were hot favourites, beat them by two points, played Adare in the final (we were 3/1), won again by two points, played Clarecastle in the first round of the Munster championship, we were underdogs again, won by two points, and in the semi-final, played Mount Sion. They were reigning champions, we won again, and again, it was two points."

At this point he grins, mischievous. "That will do us fine again on Sunday. They've all been close games but we have this belief in ourselves, a very strong belief."

Does that belief extend to Sunday, that they can again upset the odds, beat the Cork champions? "Of course it does. Look, there's no point going into a Munster final saying you're going to be beaten, that you're not confident. We are. We've played Newtown before, we've seen them in action, we know they're good. We all know the kind of players they have, their ability, four players on the Cork panel that reached the All-Ireland final this year, two playing, two subs. That can't be a bad team. They play a very lively style of hurling, move the ball fast around the pitch, good hurlers, and they can take the belt as well as give it. We know we're up against it, but we believe we can do it."

Three times the teams have met in recent years, but Gary is certain Sunday's encounter will be nothing like their first meeting. "That was about five or six years ago, down in their own place. I don't remember the exact final score, but I DO remember that we only managed to score one point against them in the whole hour, and that was from a 21-yard free right in front of the posts, that I couldn't miss! It was a miserable night, a miserable result for us, but we can often do that, blow hot and cold. Whatever it was on the night, we just couldn't get going. We met them again in Charleville in 2000, in a special charity tournament, after they had won the Cork county title and we won in Limerick. That first game was still on our minds, and we won the watches that night. A great match, high-scoring, both of us more or less at full strength. Our last meeting was another challenge down in their place about three months ago, both of us missing a lot of players. They won it by a few points, but I wouldn't read anything into that. At this stage, we know what they're like, they know what we're like, and to be honest with you, despite what the bookies think, I don't think there will be too much in it."

IT is bad enough to be written off by the public, but another spur was the perceived snub of the club by the county selectors. "The Limerick set-up this year was a disgrace, as far as Patrickswell was concerned. No player on the team? Paul O'Grady, Paul O'Reilly, they are certainly good enough, and perhaps a few more. That was another major driving force for us. Ciaran [Carey] was brought on alright, but at wing-forward. Don't get me wrong, he'll give it his all up there, but that was a joke. He's a centre-back, that's his position, driving forward from there, and we've seen that down through the years. At 33, Ciaran still has a few good years left in him, he's not finished yet."

One man who will soon be finished however, is Gary himself. One of the finest finishers the game has ever seen, superb dead-ball striker, four-time Allstar, at 36, 20 years playing senior with the Well, he feels it's time. "Over the years, I've been extremely lucky with injuries, only missed one match ever, a week after breaking the finger after the All-Ireland final in '96 (he still came on for the last few minutes). Other than that I played every game, might have been strapped up for a lot of them, but I played. Overall I've had a great career, if you go through what Ciaran and myself have won, all we're missing is the All-Irelands at club and county, and we've played in the final of both. Other than that we've won everything else that was available to us. Okay, it would have been great to have won one, but the next best thing is to have played, and we've done that."

Golf next, work on that 9-handicap? "Don't say that to my wife! Carmel, from Kinsale, has been brilliant to me. Before the Clarecastle game, I was sick for about three weeks and she took the kids down to her mother's place in Cork, to give me a chance to recover. That's commitment too, the kind that never gets noticed. It's my family now for me; Jane is four, Patrick is 20 months, John is eight weeks.

They'll keep me busy, and I'm looking forward to that, to giving them more time. Even this year, I'd come in from work at half-five, six o'clock, and have to go out almost straight away to training. Even though I enjoyed it all, even the training, the craic, the slagging with the lads, when this run is over, that's it for me.