Graeme Mulcahy: ‘We had plenty of ammunition taking on Ballybrown’
Kilmallock were 14-point winners against Ballybrown on Saturday - after the Clarina side defeated the Balbec by 19 in the league
RECENT defeats to Ballybrown were very much in the minds of Kilmallock as they struck five goals past the Clarina side in an emphatic win in the Whitebox Senior Hurling Championship.
Ballybrown were 10-point winners when the sides met in last year’s championship and had a resounding 3-24 to 0-14 win when the sides met in the County Hurling League back in May.
But the Balbec have really upped it to another level in recent weeks, and eased to victory last Saturday, despite having Shane O’Brien sent off in the first half. This win added to impressive victories over Na Piarsaigh and Doon earlier in the championship.
“They beat us here by 10 points last year in a similar circumstance as we were down to 14 and they beat us in the league as well this year,” reflected former Limerick forward Graeme Mulcahy.
“They gave us a nice beating in their home ground to relegate us in the league so we had plenty of ammunition coming into today but really it was about putting in another performance.
“We had good performances against Doon and against Na Piarsaigh previously so we were just trying to build on that really and I think we did that especially in the second half.”
The Balbec forward line were in top form in Newcastle West with the returning Gearoid Enright scoring two goals - both set up by Pierce Connery, before he found the net himself in the second half.
“Gearoid, he had a tough injury last year with the cruciate, him being back and the form Pierce is in, it's like having two inter-county forwards joining your team,” Mulcahy said,
“They're young, they're full of energy, they're driving on the standards in training so I think the performances speak for themselves.”
The young-guns leading the charge has meant that five-time All-Ireland winner Mulcahy has had a deeper role for James Hickey’s side.
“Yeah, it's slightly different,” Mulcahy admitted. “I'd like to be getting forward a bit more than I am maybe but I think with the way the game has gone, teams are shifting players here and there and you end up filling gaps.
“But it seems to be working and it's going to give us a bit of a platform going forward out the field and it's freeing up some other lads to get scores so I'm happy to do that job for the team.” Kilmallock can confirm a top-two finish in Group 1 with victory over Ahane on Saturday. The game takes place in Bruff at 6pm.
The other Group 1 games see Na Piarsaigh meet Doon on Thursday (Kilmallock, 6pm) and Ballybrown clash with Mungret on Saturday (Childers Road, 3pm).
In Group 2, there are two games on Friday - Kildimo-Pallaskenry meet Garryspillane in a crucial bottom-of-the-table game in Ballyagran (6.30pm) while in Mick Neville Park at 7.30pm, Newcastle West are looking for back-to-back wins when they play high-flying Mungret-St Paul’s.
The third game in the group is on Saturday in Kilmallock as Patrickswell take on Adare at 5pm. All games will be streamed live via Limerick GAA TV.