Mick Kiely: Aghada’s young guns ready to build on semi‑final run

Aghada may have surprised a few by reaching the last four of the McCarthy Insurance Group PIFC last year. 

They were beaten by a strong Uibh Laoire side on the day in Páirc Uí Rinn. It showed, though, that league and championship are two very different ball games. 

Aghada had lost eight of their nine games as they suffered relegation from the McCarthy Insurance Group Division 3 Football League. Their Division 4 campaign hasn’t got off to the best of starts either, but the Imokilly men won’t be panicking.

For Aghada manager Mick Kiely, the margins have been fine.

“We didn’t get out of the group in 2024, but we were only a kick of a ball away from Aghabullogue, who got into a county final,” he says. 

“We lost three, maybe four players off that team, then last year a couple of the younger lads came in, and those younger lads sort of refreshed the panel a small bit.

“We got on a bit of a run, came out of the group, had a very good win against Glanmire in the quarter-final and then just got well beaten against Uibh Laoire. 

"Maybe we got things wrong from a management point of view. On a tactical level, we were maybe too defensive and maybe we should have pushed up a bit more and, look, that’s a bit of a learning curve for us.

“There is a young group there and the experience they would have got from last year alone will bring them on an awful lot. I think they’ll benefit from it. They’ll benefit from playing inside in Páirc Uí Rinn.” 

Kiely is in his third season at the helm. There has been gradual improvement over that period, with the aim now to build on reaching the semi-final stage.

“There has been a lot of work done on the physical aspect between the gym and the running, trying to get lads up to the speed of playing at the Premier Intermediate grade,” the Aghada boss said.

“It has taken time to get things together and we believe we have made progress. Rome wasn’t built in a day. We’re a rural club. We have plenty of players and they’re very, very committed.” 

Aghada will face Kiskeam, Macroom and Castletownbere in their McCarthy Insurance Group PIFC group later this year.

“We know that we need to be ready when the championship gets going. It’s very tight from top to bottom in every championship now. We have Kiskeam, who came down from playing Senior A in recent years, a highly experienced team. 

"Macroom had a very good game against Uibh Laoire and pushed them very hard in the championship last year, and Castletownbere are always tough to beat.

“We just have to look after ourselves rather than anybody else.”