JAHC: Killeagh keen to build on divisional success

On Sunday, Killeagh will take on Whitechurch in what is the club’s first game in the county JAHC since 1995.

Carrigtwohill is the venue for a 2pm throw-in in the quarter-final, with Killeagh progressing after beating Carraig na bhFear in last week’s east Cork final replay. It is the first time since 1995 that Killeagh have been Imokilly kingpins, but of course that statistic needs some context – back then, it was the club’s first team progressing whereas now it is the second 15 that have claimed the Jamesy Kelleher Cup.

That means that the side is sprinkled with players who have valuable senior experience, which should be a help going into the county. One of those is Mikey Fitzgerald and he feels that the team of former seniors and future seniors have improved with every game, something underlined in how they earned a draw in the final before kicking on in the replay.

“We were getting better and better with every game,” he says.

“Against Sarsfields, we were four points down at half-time, made a few changes to the team and we won by ten.

“That was probably the day that summed it up about finding the balance of the team and finding what worked. Changes like that helped us to get to where we are.”

“We had been playing well all year but in the drawn game, we went to another level again of fellas improving and gelling together.

“Seán Meade got that point at the end – for fella still playing minor to get that score, with the last puck, just showed how he has come on and the whole team has come on.

“We’re finishing strongly the whole time and when you do that, you never think it’s gone at all, you know you’re going to hang in there.”

Thirty-two-year-old Fitzgerald, a teacher at Clonpriest NS in Gortroe, knows all about the value of hanging in there in his other passion, National Hunt racing. Fitzgerald’s father Pat is a trainer and he provides assistance on that front.

“After school every day, I’d be at home,” he says, “riding out a horse or two, getting them ready for the track and galloping at the weekends.

“I love doing it in the mornings too but it depends on the light, really – November, December, January, I wouldn’t have time to do that before school.

“Traditionally, we would have been doing point-to-points but we had a good mare and she brought us to the track. She won at Roscommon and Wexford, so we’ve had a few good days out.

“You get your experience and learn the dos and don’ts with the point-to-point and that stands to you.”

In a similar fashion, Killeagh will hope that their divisional championship campaign can stand to them. They have certainly been primed by the tough divisional championship and further inspiration was provided by the four clubs involved in county final at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh last Sunday.

Russell Rovers, who won the divisional and county titles in 2019, beat St Catherine’s – winners of both in 2017 – in the Premier JHC decider, while the drawn intermediate A final was contested by junior champions of even more recent vintage, Lisgoold (2020) and Erin’s Own (2022).

“The two east Cork semi-finals were ourselves beating Cobh by a point and Carraig na bhFear beating St Ita’s by a point,” Fitzgerald says.

“You know going out into the county that you’ve good games under your belt and that you’re ready for what challenges lie ahead.

“On Sunday, we were looking at the county finals and they were all east Cork teams and all winners of the junior A in the last few years.

“It just shows that teams aren’t just winning the east Cork and resting on their laurels, you know that you’re well-set going into the county.”