Fintan O'Connor: Proud of Kilmallock 'togetherness' ahead of Limerick club hurling final

“I think they are in a really good place and they have some really good young lads coming in. It might be good for them as well to have someone new in after two years. They go in as county champions and I would give them a very good chance of retaining it.”

The words of Tony Considine as he departed as Kilmallock manager last March. The former Clare hurling manager served in the role for the last two years - helping The Baalbec to their first Daly Cup title since 2014 last October.

In the Spring, Kilmallock’s search for a successor brought them to Fintan O’Connor – a former Waterford senior hurling selector under Derek McGrath, who stepped down last year after five years as Kerry senior hurling manager.

“Coming into the lads and they having won the county title last year there was a little bit of pressure on me to try and get them back to that level again. They rang about March/April and I was obviously very happy to get that call. When I went and met with the lads I was even happier because I was at ease straight away. Sometime it can be fairly daunting going into a team that have been so successful but in fairness to the group I couldn’t speak highly enough of them in how they have treated me and the way they made me feel very comfortable,” explained Fintan O’Connor.

“On a personal level I know Eoin Ryan (selector) through work in schools GAA. I would have talked with him on schools GAA matters so it was nice to have a little-in before coming down cold to the place. Nice to be offered a nice job and the quality they have speaks for itself.”

This Sunday October 30 at 4.15 Kilmallock play Na Piarsaigh in the Bon Secours Limerick SHC final live on TG4.

Fintan O’Connor is full of praise for the collective effort of his panel of which he has used just 19 players to-date.

“In fairness they have two teams in the club and the 15 that represent Kilmallock on any day can change but the 30-35 lads training never changes and the lads that are available and allow us play matches when the Limerick lads are away are nearly more important that the lads playing in the county final. Sometimes it can be very hard to be that person that plays all the challenge matches and games and then the likes of Oisin (O’Reilly) and them come back and you are pushed down the pecker order a little bit. But the way they celebrated the last day (semi final v Doon) would put your mind at ease that they are all buying into whole process and there is a togetherness there to be proud of,” explained the Kilmallock coach, who has selectors in Eoin Ryan and Paul Tobin.

“Every team sets out with the goal of getting to a county final and the lads were no different and it’s nice to be there. Hopefully we can raise our performance a little bit the next day - every team would like to put in their best performance in the last game of the year and that’s what we will be trying to do.”

When Kilmallock and Na Piarsaigh met in round two, the city side were one point winners.

“I don’t think there will be any secrets between the two teams - when we played in the group game earlier in the year there was very little in it. Na Piarsaigh are a serious team and I suppose they have set the bar for everyone in Limerick when winning that All-Ireland. They are a serious team and we will just have to plan to see how we can try take them down as best we can.”

He continued: “You would be hoping that you can improve in every game. The semi final was just a real grind in the conditions and I don’t think we played unbelievable stuff or anything were near our best but I think that was down to Doon and the ferocity they brought to the match. We were just happy to get over the line and to get back to a final”.