Kerins O’Rahillys’ Cormac Coffey feeding off Kilmoyley’s winning habit

Kerins O’Rahillys’ corner-back Coffey will be tasked with shutting down one of Austin Stacks' 'ballers'

READY TO RUMBLE: Kerins O’Rahillys trio Cormac Coffey, Ross O’Callaghan, and Conor Hayes focus on ‘huge task on Sunday’. Picture: Domnick Walsh

Cormac Coffey is immersed in a winning environment every day of his working life. Each weekday morning, he sets out on the journey from Tralee to the North Kerry hurling stronghold of Kilmoyley for his job as a primary teacher in the local school, Scoil Naoimh Eirc.

Earlier this year, Kilmoyley moved above Ballyduff in the county championship roll of honour by annexing their 26th title, their second in succession. As the Kerins O’Rahillys’ corner-back finalises his preparations for Sunday’s county football final against Austin Stacks (3pm), Coffey is hoping that some of that trophy-lifting pedigree can rub off on his Strand Road side.

“It’s a great school, the principal Áine Crowe is very proactive out there, it’s a fierce hurling stronghold. They won the championship this year, all the kids are mad into their sports, especially their hurling, it’s a breath of fresh air to be out there,” he said.

“I have learned in Kilmoyley that winning is a habit, and when you look back at our past, the last time we were in a county final was 2008, the last time we won it was 2002, they don’t come around too often. It has clicked for us this year, the hard work, but again we’ve won nothing yet. We have a huge, huge task on Sunday and we’ll focus on that.”

In their path to the decider against their arch local rivals, Coffey has been entrusted, by manager William Harmon, with the major man-marking defensive task, Dingle’s Conor Geaney and Tony Brosnan of Dr Crokes among the forwards to cross swords with him. The 25-year-old relishes those personal assignments.

“I do. Being in the corner is much different to being out in the half-back line. For me, it is intense, you’re always on your toes. Whenever you switch off, you concede a goal, or the winning point. I think what makes my life easier is when the midfield and the forwards work hard.”

Against Austin Stacks, it is almost certain that Coffey will be designated with picking up the Rockies’ top scorer, Darragh O’Brien, who has notched 14 points in his last two outings. Regardless of which one-on-one battle he is confronted with, the Strand Road corner-back is expecting a ferocious challenge, as he is fully aware of what the opposition can bring to the party.

“Many of the guys I have marked on the Stacks team, we get on well, they’re great players, very talented, they have worn the Kerry jersey on many occasions, so it’s always a difficult battle. All of their six forwards are highly clinical and very sharp. They are all ballers,” he added.

“They have a lot of experience, and it’s a very difficult day when you’re marking any one of them, but at the same time, it’s enjoyable. That’s why I like to play in the backs. Some might say that I can’t kick a point, and that’s why I’m in the backs. It’s good, but it’s also tough and enjoyable too.

“Whenever you’re in the quarter-final or semi-final or final of a championship, you never know what can happen. You go out with the intention of playing your best on the field. Most games ebb and flow, it just depends on the games. You never go into them thinking that I’m going to go forward multiple times, you just go with whatever way the game is flowing.”

Kerins O’Rahillys won the last of their six county championships in 2002, with a team that was managed by Eoin ‘Bomber’ Liston, and backboned by the likes of the O’Shea brothers, Barry and Morgan, Micheál Quirke, Declan Quill, and current selector John O’Connor. As a child, Coffey used to gaze at a photograph of those champions in his grandmother’s house. Now he wants this team to make their own memories.

“Everyone in the Strand Road community are very proud to live in the area, and proud to put on that jersey. County finals are few and far between, it is great looking at that growing up, which was really an incentive to drive on, so it’s exciting to be in the final this year. Let’s see how it goes, and hopefully we can bring it back.”

Talk of a possible call-up to Jack O’Connor’s Kerry squad for 2022 will have to wait. Cormac Coffey only has one focus right now — trying to bring the Bishop Moynihan Cup to Strand Road on Sunday evening.

“There is always a burning desire to play for Kerry, even at that, to be involved with like-minded guys, hoping to win an All-Ireland. But my main focus right now is the game against Austin Stacks. That’s very important at the moment, that’s all I can say about that.”