Driven Dungourney’s hi-tech edge to help against Fenor

The magic of modern technology has played a key factor in helping the Dungourney junior hurling panel keep tabs on each other’s extra-curricular work this year.

The east Cork side face Waterford’s Fenor in the Munster Club JHC final in Mallow tomorrow. Manager Brian Ronayne cites the addition of coach Peter Coady and fitness coach Dave Fitzmaurice as key in 2015’s run to a provincial final. The latter has instigated a group text on the mobile application WhatsApp, so every piece of physical work is recorded.

“Dave has the lads in the shape of their lives,” Ronayne says. “Physically, we were maybe of the impression before that we were fit but, if you look back, we might have been codding ourselves, we weren’t anywhere like we are now. Our hurling coach Peter Coady has brought a lot of experience, the two lads coming on board together has been a huge factor. There has been a huge level of accountability from the lads to each other. Before, they thought if you trained two or three nights a week that was enough, but now they have gym work and core work too.

“We have a WhatsApp group, so every lad must account for every time he goes to the gym or any extra work, everyone is accountable to his team-mates. We have done fitness tests and you can’t fool the test. It’s about being true to one another, if you don’t do it then there’s a piece of the jigsaw missing.”

Dungourney were Cork senior champions in 1902, 1907 and 1909, winning the All-Ireland for Cork in the first of those years. The 1909 win remained the last county glory for the club’s first team until this year.In 2012, though, they did win the U21BHC and eight of that side will take to the field tomorrow.

“The lads have played underage with Kiltha Óg [an amalgamation with neighbours Castlemartyr],” Ronayne says, “Premier 1 minor hurling and they won a Premier 2 minor football a few years ago. They have been playing at a high standard underage so we would give a lot of credit to that. The first step was east Cork, when we won that we wanted to win the county and now there’s something that we probably won’t get a chance to win again. It’s one shot.

“Intermediate hurling was priority first and foremost but we’re getting greedy now, there’s a hunger there for more. We do feel it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we don’t want to let it go.”

It’s as much of an opportunity for Fenor too, who won the Waterford title in October, having lost 12 finals in the previous 130 years. Stephen Sullivan played on teams that endured six defeats between 2000 and 2008 but found himself on the other side of the whitewash when the famine ended. “I was captain for three of the losses,” he says. “I thought my chance had passed to be involved in winning one. To be in my first year as manager, after reluctantly agreeing to take it on at the start of the year, and to bring it home was extra special after all the losses that I suffered as a player.” They produced a spectacular finish to pip St Mary’s, as sub Seán Cheasty knocked over the winner in the third minute of injury time. It made victory all the sweeter.

“It was some feeling at the end,” Sullivan says. “It looked like it was slipping away from us again and to finally win it and the manner we won it as well. Somebody said to me if we were ever going to win it, we’d win it Fenor style, the same way we lost Fenor style which is in dramatic fashion to get two points in injury time and win it with the last puck of the game. We’ve been through a good number of battles this year and it’s a credit to this bunch of players that they never give up.” Fenor merged with neighbours Kill two years ago, operating under the Kill brand in football and Fenor in hurling. It proved a perfect match as Kill lifted the county junior football trophy.

“It’s a credit to Kill and Fenor and to the players, management, secretaries and chairmen involved in both clubs how smoothly it has run,” Sullivan says.

“For example, we have no lights on our pitch in Fenor and we’ve been training up in Kill. Ger Mooney has the pitch ready for us and there hasn’t been one complaint about the pitch getting cut up with us training on it. There’s no issue with the two clubs in that regard. Both sets of players came together and they will be friends for life after what they have achieved over the last couple of years.”