Eire Óg will show no fear, says Fox
Not that the other three clubs are the ugly sisters — Thurles Sars, whom Eire Óg meet in their semi-final (2pm), and both Loughmore-Castleiney and Drom-and-Inch, who meet in the other semi-final (3.30pm), are all worthy teams in their own right. But Eire Óg? Who saw this coming? Certainly not club stalwart and former Hurler of the Year (1991) Pat Fox.
“No one really would have picked us out to make the last four, that’s for sure. The furthest we went when I was playing was that after a divisional final we got into a county quarter-final but that was always it. We never reached a semi-final in our lives.
“If you go back to 1943 we won a county title all right and that’s been talked of since, but I don’t know how far we ever went before that.”
In Fox’s own playing days in the ’80s and ’90s, the target was set a little lower.
“Winning the West was the big thing for us. We’re a small, little rural club, a population of only around 1200, so for us to have done what they’ve done this year is a major achievement already. This is the fruition of all the work that’s gone into the club at underage over the years. A lot of very good people have been working tirelessly – my own brother Kevin is heavily involved for years with the juveniles, Vinny Ryan, Liam O’Brien and all the O’Brien family — they’ve all been involved for a long time.”
Now running his own pub in Cashel, a popular stopping-off point for hurling followers heading to and from Dublin, Fox has no direct involvement with the current team but the blood link remains strong. “I have three nephews on the team. Brian and Kevin are sons of Kevin who used to play on the county team with me, and another brother, Michael, his son Tom is there — Tom was on the county minor team this year, will be minor again next year. We have a county U21 sub-goalie on our team also, young Darragh Mooney, he’s a fine player.
“We have Paudie Dwyer who was on the All-Ireland-winning intermediate team, and of course we have Conor O’Brien from the senior team. This is the first time we’ve ever had so many players who have been on county teams, the nucleus of a good side.”
The problem for Eire Óg Annacarty, however — the Thurles Sars All Stars. Where Eire Óg have a sprinkling of inter-county players from the various grades, Sars have a veritable torrent, which means that from a strictly objective viewpoint there’s only one prospective winner of this semi-final.
“Ah sure we’re not given any chance, the bookies have us at 1/16 or something. We’re hopeful, but Thurles Sars are an outstanding team and an outstanding club. Sure every player they have has been on the county team at some level or another, a tremendous outfit. They’ve been operating at a different level to us for years.”
Perhaps, then, the Cinderella team is the wrong analogy – more David v Goliath? But of course we all know the outcome of that particular duel!
“These lads have a lot of belief in themselves, they’re going with a lot of confidence, full intentions of making the county final and I have no doubt they’ll give it a lash,” Fox adds. “They’re young, they’re enthusiastic, they don’t know fear — they’ll definitely have a cut at it. With that kind of attitude anything is possible.”
What of the other semi-final, how does Fox see that going?
“A difficult one to call. Drom-and-Inch are the form side but Loughmore-Castleiney are a bit of a hoodoo team for them. Overall though you’d expect Drom-and-Inch to shade it.
“It’s going to be an great afternoon, two interesting games, but we’ll probably need a bit of luck in our game. But we’re going full of hope anyway, that’s for sure.”
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