All-Ireland Intermediate final: Castlelyons primed for toughest test

IT’S a curiosity of the All-Ireland club championships that clubs are going into what is a massive game in their histories with little knowledge of what they are facing.

For Castlelyons, tomorrow’s intermediate decider pits them against Kilkenny’s Thomastown (7pm). Having managed to put years of frustration behind them by winning the Co-op SuperStores Cork Premier IHC in October, the Imokilly side have pushed on impressively, collecting the Munster crown and then beating Mayo’s Tooreen in the All-Ireland semi-final before Christmas.

Since then, the focus has been on collating knowledge around Thomastown and Castlelyons selector Brendan Hoare has learned enough to know that it will be tough but, equally, it’s not a task beyond his side.

“You’ve no pre-conceived notions or no historical information to go on,” he says.

“In that way, maybe it’s a small bit easier in that you’re just taking them on their merit.

“Every game, we do our homework and we look at the opposition, try to get our matchups right and look at their key guys.

We’ve had a few weeks to prepare but Thomastown are going to be a huge challenge and they’ll be raging-hot favourites.

“They’ve won every game convincingly, in Kilkenny and in Leinster and then in the All-Ireland semi-final too. They’re obviously a very impressive team but, in the last three Cork-Kilkenny finals in the intermediate, there’s only been a point in it either way.

“They’re going to be a huge, huge challenge, our biggest one to date, but we’ll do our homework and hope for a big, big performance from our lads.”

FOCUSED

There certainly hasn’t been any let-up during the winter part of the season.

“It’s surreal, I suppose,” Hoare says.

“The training part of it feels normal enough, you’re just showing up and going out as normal, but it almost didn’t feel like Christmas at all because we were so focused on the match.

“It’s great to extend the year and have such a run. Winning the county was the big aim at the start of the year and then, once we got over that hurdle, we just regrouped and made a decision to give it a right crack.

“Saying it was the easy part but, in fairness, the lads have followed through and the effort and application have been brilliant.

We’ve been just taking it game by game after that. It’s been a great journey and we’re just enjoying it.”

That journey has brought them to Croke Park. It will be a new experience for many but Hoare has full conviction in the ability of the squad to rise to the occasion.

“A few lads would have played there, so it’s good to have that bit of experience,” he says.

“We’re lucky as well that we have Páirc Uí Chaoimh here in Cork. It’s a big stadium in itself and the pitch would be quite similar too, so that’s a good thing to have after playing some big games there.

“This year, we’ve had loads of challenges along the way, like going down to Mountcoal in Kerry to play Crotta O’Neills. That was a huge challenge in its own way, so was the fog in the Gaelic Grounds for the Munster final, and Croke Park is a different kind of challenge.

“We’ll try to embrace it.”