Burren’s battle to turn tide on Cross
It could just be the Burren man wants to harness the pain of it as much as he can this week to motivate himself as they do battle once more with the reigning Ulster and All-Ireland champions in today’s provincial final.
But there doesn’t appear to be anything arbitrary about how he feels about the lost chance, following a season which saw him narrowly miss out on an All-Star and lose an All-Ireland final with Down.
It was a dollop of sour cream on a large piece of humble pie.
Ask him if the misjudged kick from 30 metres still hurts and he offers a “yeah” followed by an awkward silence.
After a bit of gentle prodding, the affable half-back provides more recollections.
“It was tough but at the end of the day my chance was the one at the end and we had other chances during the game.
“I was nearly glad it was me who took the last one because I wouldn’t have liked to have put it (pressure) on any of the younger guys’ shoulders. It’s one of those things and, yes, had if I had done it again, I would have carried it on a wee bit further. Once Down started up in January, you moved on. The way the game has gone you don’t have much time to rest so it was just a case of getting back into it.”
What with the club, county and country, McKernan’s had just three weeks off since that day in Casement Park.
He’s no complaints, certainly not after the Ulster Council gave him the opportunity to play in the International Rules series in Australia by delaying Burren’s quarter-final against Fermanagh champions Roslea.
Getting another cut off Crossmaglen, never mind reaching an Ulster final, means so much.
“It was disappointing the way we played,” he recalls of last year’s semi-final, which saw them trail by eight points at one stage in the first half. “We got off to a very bad start and left ourselves struggling. We turned on the style for the first 10 minutes of the second half which got us back into it but against Crossmaglen, you can’t afford slip-ups. When you look back and see how they went on and won the All-Ireland it just gives us the belief that we’re not that far away. It’s hard to get out of your county but even harder to get out of your province.
“Crossmaglen are Ulster and All-Ireland champions and we want a piece of that.
“It was 13 years since we last won a county title and we had a great deal of celebrating after that. Once we got over Coleraine all of a sudden we were up against Crossmaglen and maybe the preparations weren’t as good as they have been this year.”
Burren are known for being well able to find the back of the net while the majority of their team are under the age of 23. With a second successive county title, they are buzzing with confidence and are refusing to make excuses for the seven-day turnaround they’ve had since the semi-final win over Monaghan side Latton.
“We’ve managed to get through the games injury-free,” says McKernan.
“The four or five injuries we’ve had, which have happened to all major players for us, have come during the season; they haven’t been over the past few weeks.
“We’ve had three operations this week between ankle, knee and shoulder. But they had nothing to do with playing in successive games. We’d have good recovery sessions and we’re getting through the games and this week it’s just about taking each day as it comes.”
Having had two men sent off against Latton and Jamie Clarke dismissed in the game between the clubs last year, there’s the possibility of things getting hot and heated at the Athletic Grounds.
McKernan does his best to dissuade that argument, though, pointing out the high scoring rates of each side going into the game.
“The Crossmaglen team of old were made up of bigger, more physical men but their managers have spoken about them being a good footballing side and we’re no different.
“We have plenty of more quality footballers than physical players and I think you’ll see a more open game of football on Sunday than expected in an Ulster final.”
