Loughmore-Castleiney have a mindset beyond what Éamonn Kelly has experienced before

The club face Clonmel Commercials in next weekend's Tipperary senior football final.

Sun, 13 Oct, 2024 - 18:48

John Fogarty

From Offaly to Kerry, Éamonn Kelly has experienced all sorts of team mindsets but Loughmore-Castleiney’s he classes as one apart.

It wasn’t until last Wednesday that Kelly saw the team after they saw off Moyle Rovers in the senior football semi-final last weekend.

He reconciled with their dual status early in his tenure. “That's how it played out, yeah. It is what it is. To be fair to them, from talking to (hurling coach) Aidan Stakelum, there are fellas calling to his house looking for sliotars and they'd do a bit of ball work on their own.

“They focus very much on their recovery. They'll go down to the cryotherapy this evening and get their recovery done. They'll probably recover with a few pints as well later on, which they deserve. But they'll focus on next Sunday (v Clonmel Commercials) because they'd like to do back-to-back.

"They love both codes so there was no point in me going in there if I was going to try and push against that. They're like no one I've managed before. They're just an absolute dream. Five subs came on today and we probably have five more who could have come on as well. They won't have any long faces. They'll just come back to the field and drive on the rest of the guys."

Noel McGrath had spoken to the group about how much he wanted to win the Dan Breen Cup to have a photograph with his infant son.

“Listen, Noel is a class act and that meant as much to him as any medal that he has won,” said Kelly.

“He really wanted this one today. He's here with his son Sam and he was talking about wanting to get that picture with the Dan Breen and his son. I'm so happy that he's going to get that."

For the second successive game, his brother John claim the man-of-the-match award.

“Hats off to him,” said his manager. “Another top-class guy. All those fellas are. We have 36 fellas on the panel and every one of them are just really sound fellas. They're a dream to be involved with and I'm fortunate that I got the opportunity to do that."

In Toomevara’s fighting display, there is plenty to be hopeful about in the seasons ahead but manager Ken Dunne underlined how difficult it will be to return to the final.

"To win a trophy. It won't be easy. The Tipperary championship is very open. There are a lot of good teams in it.

“Seven or eight teams believe they can win it every year. We're at the bottom of the hill again at the start of next year but we'll get over this disappointment and start back afresh next year."

Loughmore-Castleiney face the winners of Ballygunner and the Limerick champions in a Munster semi-final next month. Kelly hadn’t look that far ahead.

"I don't even know what the draw is. It doesn't really bother me. We'll look at that later. We have 10 days anyway now by the time we're training again. We'll go on and try to represent Tipperary the best we can. I know that's what the lads will want to do."