O’Mahony promises Sarswarm welcome in Kilmallock
O’Mahony starred at centre-forward as Kilmallock stunned Munster kingpins Na Piarsaigh in Sunday’s Limerick decider at the Gaelic Grounds.
And O’Mahony, 27, now wants Kilmallock to make an impact on the AIB Munster Club Championship.
When Kilmallock were crowned county champions in 2010 and 2012, they bowed out of the Munster series on home soil against Thurles Sarsfields on both occasions.
But O’Mahony is confident Kilmallock will have learned from those previous experiences when they tackle Cork representatives Sars in the semi-finals.
He said: “There’s a few lads that we have lost – a couple of lads had to go abroad and long term injured.
“Bryan O’Sullivan’s brother Gavin is out permanently with a heart condition and those were probably the core fellas that always spoke of winning Munster clubs and winning All-Irelands.
“And we found that at the start of this year that was a huge void to fill. Fellas had to step up and you see a few younger lads there now, with real ambition for this team. The way our team operates, we can never look past one game. Any time we do that, we seem to get beaten. We’ll refocus again and hopefully we’ll give Sarsfields a good welcome.”
In May, Kilmallock lost by 12 points to Na Piarsaigh, who had also beaten them by a point in the 2013 county semi-final.
And O’Mahony, left half-back on the Limerick senior team, reflected: “It’s been not the most straightforward of years for us. We probably struggled earlier in the year.
“Understandably we had a lot of doubters – it was hard to keep the belief and keep the faith. There’s a great crew of belief and support around this team, close family and friends that come to training every night and all the matches. We put in some really poor performances and they stood by us.
“In the last week or two, as it was building, the pressure we put on ourselves to win this was huge, because we knew and we believed that it was in us.
“So when it comes off like that, it’s the best feeling in the world.”
Kilmallock were 5-2 outsiders with the bookies before throw-in and O’Mahony conceded: “There’s a reason Na Piarsaigh were favourites — they’re a brilliant hurling team, probably a more skilful, younger, more enthusiastic team. We just promised we’d match their enthusiasm and workrate and if we were beaten then fair and square.
“Even at half-time, we said that again. If we emptied ourselves and lost by a point or two, we’d be happy walking off the field.”
He added: “I’ve had a very busy couple of years, very enjoyable. Paudie O’Brien made a comment to me a couple of years ago that if you don’t win one medal every year, it’s a very hard thing to go back.
“But when you win one medal with the club or county, it makes it a whole lot easier to go back and train in January.”
And O’Mahony admitted that his third county SHC medal in five years is arguably the sweetest of the lot.
He said: “I would think so, pressure wise.
“Look, the first one is always sweet because it’s so hard to win but that’s huge, because we were written off so much.
“We were probably slight favourites going into the other two finals but in that one, we weren’t given a hope. It’s a great feeling.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
