Daly: 'We are at our wits end just to keep a fit team on the field' 

“Danny Cooper and Michael Doyle are injured. Gearóid Looney, one of our best young players, did his cruciate three months ago. These are all a loss.” 

HIGH ALTITUDE: Knocknagree manager John Fintan Daly Snr it is high altitude, and when you are in high altitude you make any mistake, you get punished. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Knocknagree’s meteoric rise to Cork's senior A football ranks brings its own demands, and on Saturday in Newmarket, last year’s finalists faced a must-win scenario.

“The year gets very rarified when you get to senior level,” manager John Fintan Daly explains. “It is high altitude, and when you are in high altitude you make any mistake, you get punished. O’Donovan Rossa were better than us the first day. That is the quality we are talking about. “This was a vital win because it is our third year in senior A, it means we stay in the championship. We have to win the next one, that is knockout. We have three teams in the club, building from the bottom and bringing younger players in. That is the lifeblood of the development of any team. We used 18 players today, 11 are under 23. Four of our possible first 15 are in Australia. We are not going to complain. Every club has that. Fermoy have fellas in Australia too.