Carbery Rangers make it a family affair

On Sunday week last, Rosscarbery’s GAA family welcomed their newest member into the town with open arms. He goes by the name of Andy Scannell. The following Thursday, Maurice Moore’s family celebrated an addition of their own as his wife gave birth to a baby girl. For the Carbery Rangers fitness trainer, it was one hell of a week.

“It has been absolutely crazy,” said Moore.

“It was kinda funny because my other daughter was born on the afternoon of our first senior championship match back in 2006 and I had been playing for Carbery Rangers that day. I was thinking that the exact same thing was going to happen last Sunday week. It didn’t, thank God.

“My wife was in Páirc Uí Rinn looking after my son who was our mascot. She went into hospital then a few days after that.”

His daughter’s arrival, it’s fair to say, was somewhat more muted than the lone piper and pike-wielding gentlemen who greeted the history-making Carbery Rangers team when they landed back into West Cork on the Sunday evening after their win over Ballincollig.

Club chairman Mick Connolly describes it as the mother and father of all homecomings.

The team bus, by nothing more than pure chance, stumbled across the Bandon celebrations on their way home and after a brief stop there, they moved onto the Pike Bar in Lisavaird.

“Our final leg was coming across the causeway and there was a massive crowd outside the Celtic Ross waiting for us. We got a guard of honour into the hotel. Everyone was there, from 85 down to 8. We had arranged to go up to the square after the meal and it turned into a bit of a march.

“Walking up, we were surrounded by fellas with pikes carrying burning turf. It was a lovely touch. There was a piper too out in front of us.” Somewhat unusual, no?

“Someone had seen this over in Kerry and said it would be a great idea. It was the supporters who organised it. There were bonfires everywhere so it wasn’t that difficult to set the turf on fire. A few pikes were gathered and it was brilliant. The players were flanked by guys who had soldiered long and hard with the club.

“The place went mad. I’m 25 years down here and there are people here a lot longer than me waiting for a county title. There was an awful sense of jubilation. We’ve always known we’ve punched above our weight, but getting over the line was the hard thing. We were wondering was time running out for this particular bunch. It hasn’t.

“We finally got the monkey off and even though there are a lot of miles on the clock, the players want to give Munster a right go.”

Moore drew the same conclusion. “The lads, I believe, got caught up in the hype of the county final back in 2014 and even that night following the defeat to Ballincollig, the lads were avoiding talk of the match,” he said. “There was more singing done in 2014 than there was done this year because the lads realise there still is more to do.”

Their opponents tomorrow have had a busy few weeks of it between winning the Limerick senior football and premier intermediate hurling championships. The latter, just last week, was an extra-time win over St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield in the Munster club quarter-final.

Moore said: “I trained Newcestown last year and I got to see how a dual club operates. So I can understand what it is like for Monaleen and how hard it is to keep both going. It shows how dedicated their players are, training at such a high level in both hurling and football. The two titles that Monaleen have won is a credit to them.”

Having completed his master’s degree in sport science at Staffordshire University in 2014, which included a week-long placement at Ajax, Moore was keen to work with the team he had soldiered with for so long.

“Last year after losing to Nemo in the county semi-final, I just knew I had to get involved with my own club. Ronan [McCarthy] and I came on board and we have been combining our training methods. It has been fairly fresh and fairly new for the players,” said Moore.

“Our long-term ambition is to be competing for county senior titles on a consistent basis. This is our first year winning it so it hasn’t been consistent up to now. Yes, the structures have been there in that we’ve got to semis and finals, but what Ronan and I have brought has added to the great work that was done before we came in. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”