BY GER McCARTHY
BANTRY Blues captain Sean O’Leary hopes lessons learned from last year’s county final defeat will spur his side to Bon Secours Premier IFC glory at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday.
The 27-year-old secondary school teacher has been a vital part of the Carbery club returning to another county decider.
Sean O’Leary believes Bantry will benefit from experiencing last year’s county final buildup not to mention the pain of experiencing defeat in the most important championship game of the year.
‘Last year’s preparation was new to us,’ the Bantry Blues captain admitted to The Southern Star. ‘So, I suppose we have a baseline to go off of this time around and try to improve upon which is a positive. Obviously, being beaten by Kanturk in last year’s final, we weren’t happy with our overall performance.
‘Ahead of this year’s final, we have had plenty of time to set out our stall with a three-week build-up. Having that amount of time to prepare for a county final is brilliant. Preparations, so far, have been great. We are very happy with where we are, want to implement our own game plan and put our own stamp on the county final.’
The Cork Premier IFC is regarded as one of the toughest competitions to emerge from, such is the quality of clubs involved.
Since being relegated from the county’s top tier, Bantry have utilised a young panel alongside some experienced campaigners to become serious contenders during the past two championships.
‘Local rivalries are the heart and soul of the GAA and, for us, we had three derbies against Iveleary, Naomh Abán, and Macroom in this year’s group stage,’ O’Leary stated.
‘Coming through those games was of huge benefit to us. You could the benefits by the time we played Nemo Rangers in the quarter-finals. We were really motoring at that stage and even more so to overcome a really good Kilshannig team in the semi-finals.’
As well as overcoming quality opponents, the Blues have had to deal with every possible weather condition en route to facing Cill na Marta in the IFC decider. Each time, no matter the weather or opponent, Bantry have found a way to win.
Even more impressively, the West Cork club no longer rely on Cork senior Ruairí Deane for the bulk of their scores. Make no mistake, this is a Bantry team with quality, depth and no shortage of match winners. Deane remains a vital cog, of course, but Arthur Coakley and Paddy Cronin are shouldering the bulk of their team’s scoring, something Bantry’s club captain appreciates.
‘Everyone knows Ruairí Deane is a very good footballer and would be the heart and soul of any team,’ Sean O’Leary commented.
‘We have a lot more players standing up and being counted now which is great to see. Look, Bantry are winning games we maybe wouldn’t have in the past. Our county semi-final win over Kilshannig is a good example of a tight game we hadn’t been winning in previous years.
‘We got over the line that day and it was because a lot of our younger players making the difference.
‘They have become the driving force, putting their hands up for selection and setting the tone in training. Fellas like myself, Ruairí, Stephen Coughlan, and Kevin Casey have been on the panel for a number of years.
‘We know what things were like in the past but the younger fellas have no baggage and don’t know anything about some of Bantry’s bad times. They have only experienced, the last few years, more positive times playing for Bantry and it is showing.
‘The young players on this year’s Bantry football panel have been a breath of fresh air.’ Sean O’Leary acknowledges, for all his team’s positive vibes in 2023, that a battle-hardened Cill na Martra will pose Bantry’s toughest test in Sunday’s Premier IFC county final.
‘I know a good few of the Cill na Martra lads from various squads down through the years and they know all about what it takes to compete at this grade,’ the Bantry Blues captain added.
‘Cill na Martra is a very good team and have been playing Division 1 Kelleher Shield football as well this year. They will be well drilled and we are expecting nothing less than a cracker of a county final to be honest.
‘Both teams have bags of talent and it is a county final to look forward to. These are the kind of games you relish and the reason you play football.’
Possessing a settled panel, Bantry Blues know what it takes to reach a county final but must learn from the lessons of last year’s loss to Kanturk if Cill na Martra are to be overcome.
‘You are measured on your success,’ O’Leary concluded. ‘We said at the start of the year that success was going one better than we did last year. That’s the way we measure ourselves.
‘You want to do your town proud, that’s why we play football. As a team, at the start of the year, we gave ourselves the challenge of going one better than we did in 2022.’
