John Fintan Daly: 'Knocknagree don’t like being called a fairy-tale team'

Duhallow men are 60 minutes from the top tier of Cork football but face favourites Carrigaline in the final

Sun, 13 Oct, 2024 - 15:00

Stephen Barry, Pairc Ui Chaoimh

Cork SAFC semi-final: Knocknagree 1-18 Dohenys 0-10.

JOHN Fintan Daly says his Knocknagree side are out to dispel a few myths. Chief among them, fairy tales.

The Duhallow club that has risen through the ranks with a triple promotion and an All-Ireland Junior title to arrive within 60 minutes of Cork football’s top tier doesn’t like being referred to as a ‘fairy-tale team’.

“A lot of people have called us, over the last six years, a fairy-tale team and fairy tales usually end in disaster,” said Daly. “Max Baer in The Cinderella Man said that ‘People die in fairytales all the time’ to James J Braddock before he beat him for the heavyweight title.

"We don’t like being called a fairy-tale team. We think we have got here on merit.

“The secret of our team: We have three teams in a very small club. We’re playing the Duhallow Junior A Championship final next week, for the third year in a row, so every player is getting a game.

“There’s huge pressure from top to bottom and the other thing: Only six of the starting team played here three years ago in the county Premier Intermediate final against Kanturk.

“Only one player in our team is over 30 and nine of our team are under 25. And they tell us that we’re past it and they tell us that we’re a fairy-tale team and we don’t like hearing that. We think that we’re developing all the time.

“Everyone that can walk in Knocknagree is playing football and if you weren’t playing football or had no interest in it, you’d be better off to live somewhere else!”

So what did they learn from their defeat to Dohenys at the same stage last year?

First of all, they got their match-ups wrong. Fionn Herlihy took them for 0-8. All from play. This time, All-Star nominee Daniel O’Mahony was given his number and held Herlihy scoreless.

Secondly, they had a deeper pick available to them. Kealan Buckley and Gearóid Looney, two-thirds of their half-back line, were out injured last year. Goalkeeper Patrick Doyle was carrying a knock. Fintan O’Connor and John F Daly, the manager’s son, were in Australia. They paid their way back home for the 2024 championship.

Last year, they started fast and faded. Here, they started fast, with 11 of the first 13 points, and finished stronger with a celebratory 1-6 streak against a Dunmanway side reduced to 14 men for the final 20 minutes. Anthony O’Connor top-scored with 1-5, comprised of five points from play and a penalty.

A final factor was that Knocknagree received the quarter-final bye this time rather than Dohenys. They had conserved energy and fitness, staying sharp through their internal games.

“They’re as good as any championship game. They’d rip the heads off of one another inside in those games,” said Daly. "Even Daniel O’Mahony got a hard time last week in the game. I won’t say who was on him but he got a bit of a run-around for a while. So Daniel has no assumptions either. He knows these are tough games.

“I like going the front-door route all the time. It’s not always possible but for once in our lives, we have come through here with a fully-fit, fully-available panel at the moment.”

Whether the delay had any effect, Knocknagree came fizzing with energy and Dohenys arrived flat. By the 25th minute, the gap was nine; 0-11 to 0-2. Dohenys looked down and out but struck six in a row either side of half-time, with Keith White and Mark Buckley finding their range. By the 40th minute, it was a two-point game; 0-12 to 0-10.

They wouldn’t score again after being reduced to 14 men due to a second yellow card for Eoin Lavers.

Carrigaline await Knocknagree in the final.

“It’s great for a small place like Knocknagree to be competing. Now we have to play Carrigaline,” said Daly.

“At the start of the season, and rightly so, they were the ante-post favourites for the championship. They’re in the final now and they won the Kelleher Shield. They’re a top team with top players, they’ve a huge population, so it is a David-and-Goliath game, there’s no doubt about it.”

If David wins, don’t call it a fairy tale.

Scorers for Knocknagree: A O’Connor (1-5, 1-0 pen); Denis R O’Connor (0-4, 1 mark, 1 free); E McSweeney, M McSweeney, N O’Connor (1M), 0-2 each); M Mahoney, G Looney, M Dilworth (0-1 each).

Scorers for Dohenys: K White (0-4, 3 frees); M Buckley (0-2); C Barry (mark), C Daly, R Coakley, S Barry (0-1 each).

KNOCKNAGREE: P Doyle; M Mahoney (capt), D O’Mahony, G O’Connor; G Looney, K Buckley, T O’Connor; T O’Mahony, David O’Connor; K Cronin, E McSweeney, M McSweeney; Denis R O’Connor, N O’Connor, A O’Connor.

Subs: M Dilworth for T O’Mahony (40), F O’Connor for M McSweeney (50), D Mahoney for T O’Connor (52), J Dennehy for N O’Connor (59), D Moynihan for Cronin (59).

DOHENYS: S Daly; E Lavers, J Farrell, D Rice; C Daly, C Barry, B O’Donovan; A Mannix, R Coakley; S Barry, B Murphy, A O’Donovan; K White (capt), F Herlihy, M Buckley.

Subs: D Collins for Murphy (47), G Farr for B O’Donovan (50), C O’Donovan for Mannix (52), Colm O’Shea for S Barry (56).

Referee: R Whelan (Gleann na Laoi).