Clonakilty hope that step up at minor should stand to club in future 

Clonakilty minor football manager Neil Deasy feels that competing at Premier 1 can only be of long-term benefit to the club.

In the same way that a strong all-round performance laid the groundwork for a 1-14 to 0-8 win at home to Douglas in the opening round of the Cork ETB U18 Premier 1 FC last Wednesday, the progression to the top tier and exposure to better teams should help to bring out the best in those involved.

Two years ago, Clon won the Premier 2 title at U16 level, having enjoyed success in the third-tier Division 1 at U15 the season previous to that.

Making another step up will be a challenge – though they have certainly got off on the right foot – but ultimately the objective is to deliver players through to adult football, at whatever level that may be.

“It has been gradual,” Deasy said.

“This is the culmination of all the lads' hard work, in fairness, year on year.

“This team, at U13 they were Premier 1 but it was a big ask and they were regraded again.

“It’s what the club wants. It’s not about wining but it’s about delveoping fellas for adult.

“Not all of them will play senior football but they might play junior football and that’s what we have to be aiming for.”

Clonakilty lost four of their seven games in the league, while Douglas won seven from seven. On Wednesday, though, once they hit the front and buttressed their lead with a goal from Matthew Lyons, they remained on top and a 1-8 to 0-6 half-time lead was extended with three points on the restart.

“I suppose all we were focusing on was the performance,” Deasy said.

“We had an okay league, we were missing a lot of fellas, it was very disjointed with all of that.

“We had a couple of weeks to try to get the show on the road. We had a few lads back from Cork and injuries and Leaving Cert and the whole lot.

“Irrespective of the result, we were delighted with the performance.”

Tom Whooley, fresh from helping Cork to win the All-Ireland minor title, caught the eye with five points from play but it was very much a collective effort: Daniel Donovan scored four classy points, Lyons finished with 1-1 and Jack Byerley had three points from play.

Those doing the scoring were enabled by a raft of top performances around the field, though.

“Our three inside forwards, on any given day, they’re electric and that's it,” Deasy said, “we just try and play nice, quick football, get it into them as fast as we can.

“There’s no rocket science to it; let the ball do the work as much as possible.”

To that end, getting two points on the board early is a huge boost for Clonakilty, especially against a team such as Douglas.

Next up is a visit to Na Piarsaigh on Wednesday week, while Glanmire are in what is sure to be a keenly-contested group – they impressed in beating the city side in their first game.

For Deasy and his backroom team, there is pride in having got off the mark, giving them something to build on.

“Absolutely, a big boost,” he said.

“Look, we know they're a good side, we played them early in the league and they gave us a fair old lesson that night.

“As I said, delighted with the performance – we worked on a few things in training, they worked out. Now we’ll look to push on.”