Corn Uí Mhuirí: Liam Sheehan pleased with his 'strong' Rochestown squad ahead of opener

St Francis College Rochestown manager Liam Sheehan has admitted that preparation hasn’t been ideal ahead of the new Corn Uí Mhuirí campaign.

The city school take on Pobalscoil Inbhear Scéine Kenmare in their opening Group 1 game on Wednesday in Ballyvourney with throw-in at 12.30pm.

The 1950 winners of this competition reached the final in 2023, but have fallen at the quarter-final hurdle in the last two seasons.

Sheehan is the new man at the helm. He has replaced Eamonn Hennessy with the latter stepping down after a successful stint as boss.

“To be honest, it has been very disjointed,” Sheehan says with regards the preparation ahead of the opening Corn Uí Mhuirí game.

“I haven’t been with the seniors in a few years and I had forgotten how disjointed it is. The club minor season finishes and you're straight into the Simcox Cup. In some situations recently, players played a championship game and the following day they had to play a Simcox Cup match.

“We played two games alright in that competition, but we are out now. There’s no such thing as a school season really. There’s U21 hurling going on now with the clubs, the Cork U20s are doing gym sessions on Friday evenings and that’s an evening we train. It has been really disjointed.

“It has been very hard to get all the players together, but that’s the nature of it. You just have to get on with it.” 

Despite all the challenges, St Francis College Rochestown are looking forward to having a crack at the Corn Uí Mhuirí. They face a difficult test against Pobalscoil Inbhear Scéine Kenmare first up, semi-finalists in the last campaign.

“When you're playing Kerry schools, it’s always tough because they are just playing more football than us at the moment,” Sheehan said.

“Kenmare are a fine side. They lost narrowly to St Brendan’s recently in the O’Sullivan Cup in Kerry. Seán O’Shea, Kerry footballer, is in charge of Kenmare, so he will have them well drilled. 

"We are confident enough. We have a bit of work done, but not as much as we would have liked to have done, obviously. 

“It will be a good tussle. We will be hoping to give a good account of ourselves. It’s a tough group. St Flannan’s and Clonmel High School are also in the group.

“We are only taking it one game at a time, but the aim is to qualify out of the group. We have a strong squad and we are happy with that.” Sheehan concluded.