Morrissey loving ‘extraordinary’ era

CHRIS MORRISSEY was there back in the days when Newtownshandrum were fighting for respectability at junior level in North Cork.

He watched as his older brothers won the club’s first junior county in 1946, then again as they followed that up with the club’s first intermediate in 1953. He was there himself from 1955 to 1980, won junior in 1968, intermediate 10 years later, over a quarter century of playing service.

Fast forward again, and in 1996, Newtown having been in the doldrums for three seasons, beaten in the first round of the intermediate championship in 93/94/95, he was chosen as trainer, and from out of nowhere, guided the team to another intermediate title.

On that team were four youngsters, 21-year-old Pat Mulcahy and three minor stars – Phillip Noonan and the twin O’Connors, Jerry and Ben. Last Sunday, all four were there again as Newtownshandrum beat Thurles Sars in Semple Stadium in a magnificent contest, qualified to meet Limerick champions Adare in the Munster Club SHC semi-final on Sunday week.

For Morrissey, patriarch not just of the most renowned hurling family in the parish, but of Newtownshandrum hurling itself, it was another proud day in an era that has brought more than its share.

“The O’Connors were as good as at any time in their career,” he said yesterday. “I was impressed with Thurles Sarsfields, all over the field they had great hurlers, and we saw some fantastic scores. The shooting was outstanding, very few wides on a wet and windy day, slippery conditions – that tells you of the quality of the forwards, on both sides, it was great accuracy. I’d love to have seen it on a dry day but it was fine anyway, all the skills you’d ever wish to see, and I think credit has to go to the ref (Ger Hoey from Clare) for that too, he did a fine job letting the game flow.”

More quality than in his own playing days? “Well, you go back to the Cork county finals of the 60’s, the big three of the Glen, the Barrs, the Rockies, those were some fantastic games, but they were played at a different pace, in a different style. It’s all changed now.”

The amazing thing about Newtownshandrum is that, for a club so small – one national school in what is actually a half-parish, fewer than 150 pupils in total, boys and girls – not alone have they managed to produce a senior team to compete with the very best nationwide over the last decade, they are also competitive at every grade up along through underage, and even their third team this year made inroads in the North Cork Junior B league and championship. Phenomenal. “We would be scraping for 15 for almost every underage team that leaves here,” said Morrissey. “But that can be an advantage too, there’s an onus on everyone to perform, not to be letting down the fella beside you.”

It’s a golden period for the famous green-and-gold, and given the supply of young talent such as played last Sunday, the likes of Seán O’Riordan, Ryan Clifford, Michael Bowles, Jack Herlihy, Jamie Coughlan, it doesn’t look like ending any time soon.

“You need lads coming through that are above the normal level. That’s a fierce advantage when the pressure comes on, and we saw that yesterday – who were the lads who turned the game Newtown’s way at the end?

“Every club has the ordinary – you need the few extraordinary, and that’s what makes this era so precious for us. We have those lads and they are still so committed, the appetite is still there, the love of the parish fantastic. It would be so easy for them to say – ‘we’ve had enough, time for others to step in,’ but every time they go out they give it 100% – the younger fellas take their example from that.”

Next up now for Newtown is Adare, three-in-a-row champions in Limerick – another tough opponent, one that Newtown will be treating with utmost respect.

“It’s Cork v Limerick, this is the game Adare wanted, they want to have a cut off Newtown, it’s going to be a real struggle again.”