Moore says Nire won’t lack motivation against Stradbally

And so they meet again tomorrow.

The Nire and Stradbally, powerhouses of Waterford club football in recent years lock horns once more in the county senior final. But the Nire feel they have something to prove, having suffered their fair share of pain at the hands of Stradbally over the past decade. They remember the final defeats of 2002, 2004 and 2005, when Stradbally, remarkably, won three times after replays.

The Nire hit back in 2006 and went on to contest a Munster club final against Dr Crokes, giving a good account of themselves too at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. “We only really believed that we could take them at half-time,” current team manager JJ Moore recalls. 2006 was Moore’s first year as a selector and he remembers: “We couldn’t get back on level terms. We were missing Liam Lawlor too that day — he was a massive loss.”

Lawlor is one of two current county senior hurling stars in The Nire set-up, along with Shane Walsh, who is an injury doubt for tomorrow’s showpiece football decider at Fraher Field (3pm).

One of the famed twins, Thomas O’Gorman, is carrying a shoulder injury too. But in true club style, it could well be a case of strap them up and send them out to battle.

The Nire’s story continued in 2008 when they won the county title again, beating Ballinacourty in the final, but access to the Munster club championship was denied due to a fixtures backlog.

“My brother was captain that year,” Moore says. “But we didn’t get to play in the Munster club.” With Waterford reaching the All-Ireland senior hurling final, club fixtures were put on the back burner and The Nire bore the brunt more than most. Since then, the pain, and Stradbally, returned with a vengeance. In 2009, Stradbally beat The Nire in the county final. A year later, they won the quarter-final meeting between the sides. Last year, Stradbally won the semi-final clash. It’s a clear pattern and not surprisingly, Stradbally will start as 4/5 favourites, with The Nire on offer at 11/8.

“I don’t know the odds,” Moore admits. “I wouldn’t even look at them. I never do. But Stradbally won’t fear The Nire at all.”

Last week, Moore’s brother Michael returned from Australia and is in the squad for tomorrow’s game. Another brother, John, is in his 18th year as a senior footballer for the club. “I played a bit up along until 22 or 23,” JJ adds. “I got a bit of a knockout then and was advised not to play any more. I had a tumour in a rib and got that taken out. It took a bit of the rib and if I got a clatter there was a danger of a punctured lung.”

With playing ruled out, JJ, now 31, opted for a role on the other side of the whitewash. “I came on board as a selector with Sean Guiry and then with Ger Walsh, who stepped down after last year due to work commitments. For me then, it was a case of step up or step out.”

The journey has brought The Nire to another county final, against familiar foes. Hoodoo smashed or the status quo? All will be revealed tomorrow evening.