Final loss will spur us on, says Kearney
The reason for the delayed appearance? Cork did not enter the Waterford Crystal Cup as the end of their team holiday overlapped with the beginning of the pre-season competition. And so they meet UCC in honour of Canon O’Brien on the first steps of their quest to claim Liam MacCarthy.
Rebels’ midfielder Daniel Kearney missed out on the trip to Orlando and the Dominican Republic. The trainee accountant with PwC opted to get some exams out of the way now rather than in the summer, when hurling commitments would eat into study time, and is looking forward to getting back on the pitch.
“With the All-Ireland going to a replay things were pushed back nearly a month,” he said. “It was into November when we played the county final with Sarsfields. You go back 12 months from that and it was nearly when we started training for 2013.
“A two-month break at that stage is good because you can run the risk of going back too early. It’s good to get going now. You can do all the running you want but match fitness is a different type of fitness.
“It’s going to be a tough first game but we should get up to speed fairly quickly. We’re a few weeks behind now but it’s a long season.
“Most of the lads are cute enough to have been tipping away even on the holiday. They know how important the league is and they’ll have looked after themselves.”
Reconvening the January after a final defeat is tough, but Kearney is keen to ensure the bad taste of defeat is retained in the memory, if for nothing else than to act as a deterrent to allowing it to happen again.
“I think losing a final makes us more determined to go one better,” he said.
“We went close but at the end of the day we accomplished nothing, we don’t have any trophies to show for the year.
“For me anyway, that’s the driving factor to go one better, getting back to where we were in 2013. That we got to a final gives us confidence, but the bottom line is that Clare were deserving winners. They’re being talked about now and that’s the difference between winning and losing, the margins are very fine.”
Kearney is not listed to start today, as Lorcán McLoughlin partners newcomer Paul Haughney in the Cork midfield. While likely seen by most as a first-choice, he still has the hunger to continue to establish himself.
“I suppose sport is a lot about how you’re feeling mentally,” he said.
“Your self-belief and confidence can change very quickly. You might go into a game feeling confident and then an hour later you’re beating yourself up. After 2013, I had more confidence and it’s the case that the more you play and more experience you have, you believe that you can compete with the best.
“You go from being in and out of the team to wanting to nail down a spot and I feel that that’s what I’m looking to do still. It’s what everyone else is trying to do too so. That’s the best possible way to have it, we’re all pushing each other on.”
As an alumnus of UCC – unfortunately, injury prevented him from playing at the business end of the 2012 Fitzgibbon win – Kearney knows the level of challenge awaiting today in the Mardyke and welcomes it.
“UCC will be coming towards their peak, they’ll have been working hard since before Christmas and the Fitzgibbon is just around the corner,” he said.
“They’re obviously going to be focused but I think that makes them good opposition.
“They’ve won the last two Fitzes and the league in December too so they’re obviously one of the best college teams around.
“They’ll have some Cork players with them too so it’ll be very competitive, everybody will want to take the chance to prove themselves.”
Meanwhile Shane O’Donnell could be set for his first appearance of the academic year for UCC in tomorrow’s Waterford Crystal Cup semi-final against his native county, Clare. in Sixmilebridge (2pm).
O’Donnell, scorer of a hat-trick of goals in last September’s All-Ireland hurling final replay win over Cork, missed UCC’s successful Higher Education HL Division 1 campaign and last week’s Waterford Crystal win against Mary Immaculate College. He is named as a sub for tomorrow’s clash however, his return is timely as UCC begin their Fitzgibbon Cup defence against Waterford IT next Thursday.
UCC have named two separate sides so as to give opportunities to as many players as possible. For today’s clash in the Mardyke, Cork panellists Darren McCarthy, Rob O’Shea and Conor Lehane all feature. Barry Lawton will be in opposition to his brother Brian, who makes his Rebels debut.
UCC (Canon O’Brien Cup v Cork, Cork unless stated): D McCarthy; S Maher (Tipperary), D Glynn (Kilkenny), P O’Sullivan; J Barry (Tipperary), P Prendergast (Waterford), K Bourke; B Murray, D Roche; B Lawton, D McCormack (Tipperary), R O’Shea; W Griffin (Limerick), C Lehane, J Ahern (Limerick).
UCC (Waterford Crystal Cup v Clare, Cork unless stated): D McCarthy; D Lester, P O’Sullivan, C Spillane; J Barry (Tipperary), P Prendergast (Waterford), D O’Mahony; S Roche (Waterford), D Roche; T Butler (Tipperary), M Sugrue, A Cadogan; B Hartnett, C Lehane, R O’Shea.
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