Clonmel face Kerry giants with midfield battle crucial 

On the outside, Saturday's Corn Uí Mhuirí final might have a touch of the David v Goliath about it.

Eoin O'Flaherty of Tralee CBS in action. Pic: Domnick Walsh © Eye Focus LTD.

Whether it’s new rules or old rules, the midfield battle will always play a key role in the end result of any football confrontation. 

Such will be the case in Mallow this afternoon when Tralee CBS and CBS High School Clonmel meet in the Corn Uí Mhuirí decider.

On the outside, this Munster Colleges SFC final (1.30pm) might have a touch of the David v Goliath about it, with the Tipperary school going up against the Kingdom’s 16-time champions, but Clonmel joint-captain Mikey McGuire is having none of that.

“It’s a great occasion for the school. We haven’t been here for ten years, but we’re really looking forward to it now,” he said.

“Everyone knows that Kerry are a traditional footballing county, with very good footballers down through the years, and it was good to get over the line against those teams (Kenmare and Milltown).

“Tipperary have been getting better over the last few years in the football, and we had to build the belief together as a group.

“We had to believe in each other first, before we could go up against any team. We knew the Kerry teams are top sides, so we just had to put it together against them on the day.”

In the ‘Green engine room is one of their joint-captains in Mairtín McKivergan. He and his midfield partner Cian McKenna, will be prepared for a titanic clash with McGuire and Luke Foley. The Ballymac youngster is not underestimating Clonmel.

“We’re relatively happy, but I hope there’s more to come from us. We still haven’t reached where we can reach, and show up as well in a final,” he said.

“We can’t be good in one half, and then bad in the other half. Especially against a side as good as Clonmel, we’ll have to be good for 60 minutes, or else we’ll be going out the gate.

“Clonmel are a very good team, especially on the club side as well. They were junior winners in their county (Clonmel Óg), and senior champions (Clonmel Commercials), so we’ve seen what they can do.

“We’ll have to give it 100 per cent. Everybody will have to be on top of their game. If not, we probably won’t get the result.”

CBS High School Clonmel have already taken big scalps in their passage to the decider. Pobalscoil Inbhear Scéine Kenmare, Clonakilty CS and Presentation Milltown have all been overcome. Now McGuire is ready for the Tralee CBS challenge.

“When we got knocked out of the Harty Cup, we realised that we had a very good Corn Uí Mhuirí team. The management just built the belief into us that we were all top-class footballers, and it is getting us a long way so far anyway.

“Tralee are obviously a top-class team. They’re not in the final for no reason. They have very good players, who have had very good campaigns with clubs this year. We know that we’re going to be up against it. We’ll go out now, and hopefully bring it over the line.”

For McKivergan, and ‘Green full-back Eoin Moriarty, they already have a victory over CBS HS Clonmel duo Luke Hannigan and Jamal Yousif under their belts, when their respective clubs met in the Munster junior football championship semi-final in late November.

“After the All-Ireland final with Ballymac, we knew that we had to put our focus onto the Corn Uí Mhuirí. We knew that it was our last year, and the heartbreak that we felt two years ago, we were thinking of that. We didn’t want that to happen again,” stressed McKivergan.

“I just keep my head down, and look forward to the next game. It’s a great period. Where else would you want to be, playing games, being in finals. We know at the end of our career, we won’t have any of that, so enjoy it while you can.”

Will it be McKivergan or McGuire who enjoy today? Time will tell.