Owens dares to dream of glory in Leinster

In his role as Offaly Council chairman, Kilcormac-Killoughey manager Danny Owens had the opportunity to meet Barack Obama on the US president’s visit to Moneygall last year.

But ask him to hold it up against a first Leinster title this Sunday and there is little comparison.

“Well, that’s a six-marker,” he chuckled. “I thought we were only going to be asked twomarkers!

“Meeting Barack Obama was a great thrill and a great honour indeed at the time but that was then and this is now, and we’re in a Leinster final.

“If we were to win on Sunday, it would be fairytale stuff. It would be a dream come true. But I wouldn’t like to compare the two!”

Amalgamated in the 1970s under the name Na Piarsaigh before becoming Kilcormac-Killoughey in 1986, there are plenty still pinching themselves in the parishes after their first county title.

In his first year as manager, Owens has worked the oracle but it’s been on the back of a few hard luck stories.

“We’ve won a lot of underage titles over the years, we’ve been beaten in three finals and six semi-finals in the last 10 years at senior level, so they have a lot of pain built up over the years.

“Thankfully, we channelled all that in the right direction this year and got the result we were looking for.”

They may have had to wait an extra week to discover Oulart-the-Ballagh as their final opponents, but it’s been a busy autumn for several of the panel.

Eleven of them lined out for the club’s junior footballers who also won a county title before losing to Ratoath in Leinster.

“I suppose you wouldn’t think it at the time because we’re all there on the sideline hoping that they’d win on the day because it’s your club and you want to see them progress but on the other hand it probably did help us the fact that the guys didn’t have two teams to focus on at the end of a long season,” conceded Owens.

In the space of seven days, the 11 dual players won two county finals and lost the provincial football game.

Hectic if halcyon days for Kilcormac-Killoughey but at least in hurling they had been knocking on the door for quite some time. On taking over, Owens was determined to ensure they had the goods to break through it following mere moral victories over Birr and Tullamore in recent years.

“Our championship was won in the months of February, March and April really, when we set the groundwork to improve the areas that we were falling down in over the years and then it built from there and confidence built.

“Over the years we were found wanting when it came to the clinch, in the last 10 minutes of big games. There was a lack of confidence there.

“Confidence was there this year because they started doing things well and they corrected a lot of the problems that let us down in the past.”

Fellow Offaly club Coolderry surprised Oulart-the-Ballagh in last year’s final after they defeated the Kilkenny champions last year but Owens isn’t taking much from that.

“When we cross the line on Sunday, tradition and what’s gone before will mean nothing really.

“We’re facing a battle-hardened team in Oulart-The-Ballagh who have been in Leinster championships for the last number of years.

“This is their third final in a row. We understand, we know we’re up against a major challenge. We’ve prepared well, we’re in good shape and we’re looking forward to it.”