Signs are good for Lynch’s Clonakilty

WHEN the celebrations finally died down after Clonakilty CC’s maiden All-Ireland triumph last April, thoughts turned to what to do with the signs and bunting dotted around the west Cork town.

The temptation was to bin the lot but after the school and town council consulted, they decided to store them away.

The foresight has been rewarded. The school’s progress to a second successive All-Ireland final this afternoon has seen the placards being hauled out of storage. “We really weren’t expecting this,” said Clonakilty CC coach Val Lynch.

For a school that had never reached an All-Ireland senior showpiece before last April, it is a stunning achievement.

“I think the big difference is that we now have a six-year cycle in the school as we have a Transition Year programme available to students,” he said. “Beforehand most of our players doing the Leaving Cert were only 17 whereas now they are all around 18. That makes a big difference on the football field.”

The fruits of that labour have been seen by the development of players when they left the school.

“The success we’ve had has been an amazing fillip for all the clubs around here.

“From last year’s team Tomás Clancy went on to play in an All-Ireland minor final with Cork last September and with the U21s in the Munster final on Wednesday night.

“If it wasn’t for injury Rory O’Sullivan, who was one of our stars last year, would have been on that U21 team as well. Another past pupil, Denis O’Sullivan from Ballinascarthy, made progress with the Cork senior footballers,” added Lynch.

Clonakilty have also tapped into traditional hurling strongholds for their players.

“It’s possible to combine both. Jeremy Ryan and Cillian Cullinane are involved with the Cork minor hurlers this season, while Gearóid Barry and Kevin Cormican have been looked at by the minor footballers.”

Lynch, who coaches the side along with former Cork football and Carbery Rangers player Michéal O’Sullivan, is wary of the final challenge posed by Offaly’s Gallen CS.

He said: “We won our semi-final comfortably as Athenry were very understrength which meant it wasn’t really the best preparation.

“In contrast Ferbane had a far tougher semi-final against Cookstown. They’ve come under the radar and are backboned by a lot of Offaly county minors.”