Kilmurry prepare to banish bad memories

NEWLY-crowned Clare senior football champions Kilmurry-Ilbrickane have had to put celebrations on hold to plan for their clash with Nemo Rangers in next Sunday’s Munster Club quarter-final at Quilty.

It will only be the second time these two sides have met in the championship and Kilmurry don’t have too many happy memories of the first meeting.

Killarney, December 12, 1993 saw the teams meet in the final, and after impressive victories over Fethard and Dungarvan, Kilmurry were quietly confident they could cause an upset.

However, they felt the full force of a Nemo Rangers side who had been taken to a replay by Laune Rangers in the semi-final and the Cork champions ran out convincing winners on a 1-17 to 0-4 scoreline.

Kilmurry coach Pat O’Dwyer remembers that December day very well. “We received a bad beating that day, but are getting the chance on Sunday to atone for that defeat,” he said.

“We have nothing to lose on this occasion, and intend to have a right cut off it. I would regard Nemo as one of the three best club teams in the country. They have achieved so much it’s mind-boggling.

“Come what may, we are going to take Nemo on. I’ve spoken to a number of our players already about Sunday and they are looking forward to the challenge.

“From talking to people in Cork if we can close down the supply of ball to Colin Corkery we’ll be in with a chance. We’ll work on that in the coming days but we face a mammoth task.”

Kilmurry are concerned about the fitness of Brendan Moloney who limped out of last Sunday’s county final after 15 minutes.

Moloney went into the game having had a plaster cast removed earlier in the week for a foot problem, but picked up a fresh injury when he damaged his knee. He is considered extremely doubtful for Sunday’s provincial quarter-final.

Nemo Rangers, who are chasing their third consecutive Munster title, are likely to be without Joe Kavanagh for Sunday’s trip to Quilty.

Kavanagh is suffering from a reoccurrence of a back injury which kept him out of the game for six months, two years ago. “Had the game been fixed for last Sunday Joe would not have played,” said Nemo boss Billy Morgan.

“We’ll wait until the last moment for him, but it’s not looking good at this point in time. It’s an old injury which only time can heal.”

Like the professional he is, Morgan was at the Clare county final last Sunday to run the rule over his team’s opponents, and was given plenty of food for thought.

“Any time we’ve had to travel to west Clare to play, we’ve always found it very difficult to come away with a win. Sunday’s journey is about three hours and given the conditions of high winds and rain which are likely to prevail, it’s not going to be easy. We’re going to have to grind a result out here.”

Apart from Joe Kavanagh, Nemo have no other injury worries. Again, all the attention will be on Colin Corkery who is having a phenomenal season, but his forward colleagues will have to take some of the pressure off him with scores of their own if the Cork champions are to advance.

One Kilmurry player with an intimate knowledge of Nemo is team captain Aidan Moloney who was on the 1993 team which failed to beat the Cork champions.

Affectionately known as ‘The Horse’, Moloney came close to having his career cut short following a horrendous ankle injury in 1995, “but we love to play for as long as we can”, said the 38-year-old, who dispelled any notion of retiring after leading his side to their county victory.