BY SEÁN HOLLAND
JOHN Evans hails the identity of the Cill na Martra area as a key factor in his club’s journey to the Munster club intermediate football final.
The Muskerry side will meet Mungret St Pauls of Limerick this Sunday, December 10th, at 1.30pm in Mallow.
Cill na Martra overcame Kerry champions Milltown/Castlemaine in the Munster semi-final and manager Evans was very proud of his team’s performance, lauding especially their ability to finish out the game.
‘We bucked the trend, I suppose, and you have to do that if you’re going to win, there’s no two ways about it. We rose to the task, the battle, and the standard that was required,’ Evans explained.
‘It was the titanic battle right up to the final whistle. There was only one between us with two minutes to go but we finished very strongly like we have been doing all year long, so we were delighted to get the win.’
Given the structure of the Kerry championship, with only eight senior clubs, Cill na Martra’s opponents from Mid Kerry were the ninth best team in the county, whereas the Muskerry side would be Cork’s 25th-ranked team. That factor was taken into consideration by the odds-makers but Evans noted that the intermediate grade is far different to senior.
‘Milltown/Castlemaine were heavy favourites with the bookies, but we knew that we were a lot closer to them than that. We know full well that any team can beat any team on the day in this competition. That’s what makes this grade so competitive,’ Evans said.
‘I’ve been involved with the senior teams through the years and it’s easy to pick out three or four teams that are going to be better than the rest. With intermediate, it’s a different kettle of fish. Intermediate teams don’t have the experience, they’re still developing, and the difference between the sides is very little. It’s kind of that sense of the unknown.’
Looking ahead to the Munster final, Evans has seen the ability of their Limerick opponents, speaks highly of their development, and is wary of the threat they pose.
‘They’re a fine, big and athletic team and well able to play football. They won their county final very easily and made short work of their Munster semi-final opponents. They’re very well coached, very well motivated, and talking to and listening to people from that area, they are the most progressive club in Limerick football at the moment,’ the Cill na Marta boss warned.
Cill na Martra’s success this year can’t be underestimated. For a small rural parish in Mid Cork to reach this stage is an incredible achievement. Evans speaks about the advantages of being from a rural area and the benefits of not being overawed by any occasion.
‘They’re country lads, there isn’t too much euphoria attached to them. They’re very well grounded with very good values and that’s down to their parents, teachers, and people in the locality,’ he explained.
‘It’s a very small community. There is no shop here. You’ve to go to Macroom to buy a loaf of bread. There are only two pubs, a church, and a football pitch but it’s a real country set-up. I don’t have to deal with the hyper expectations that you would have to deal with in a big town and bigger clubs. It’s a very tight-knit community and everyone works together and that aspect of it has helped the lads up to now.’
This is his second season with Cill na Martra, and his time here has helped him reminisce of his early success at club level back home in Kerry.
‘The first club I ever trained was Knocknagoshel and they were exactly the same. They were very successful by keeping their identity, staying grounded, and that helped that team. I can see a lot of similarities between the two,’ he added.
Heading into the final Cill na Martra will be able to call upon their captain Gearóid Ó Goillidhe, who had received a red card in the later stages of their semi-final win. That means it’s a full squad to pick from for Evans. So, as they have done up to now, there will once again be massive local support in Mallow for Cill na Martra on Sunday as the small rural parish looks to make history.
