Newmarket manager Brian Enright is no stranger to working out how to prepare for big games, but he is the first to admit that 2020 has provided unique challenges.
His cryotherapy business is among those that has taken a hit with the pause button that was pressed on sport during the Covid-19 lockdown meaning the rush for recovery in the traditional busy intercounty summer was absent this year.
It also meant that teams had to face into their club championship campaigns without any league form behind them, and Enright outlined that not having those games to try out new players was not ideal.
“It was tough because the plan at the start of the year would have been to blood in a few players. We have been in the last few finals and the team probably needed a bit of a shake up. We have not had the opportunity to do much of that so we are relying on a core group of players who have been fantastic for us and they have brought us back to the final. It was huge not having a league to bed in new players but one thing that did work in our advantage was that we had huge numbers at training this year. We just had no chance to try players out but that being said, one or two have made the breakthrough and are going well which is a positive and to be honest, it is probably one of the reasons we are in the final” he noted.
It is a Newmarket team filled with experience, while Enright’s stint with the team 10 years ago along with last year means he has first hand knowledge of both ends of the experience spectrum. He says the players themselves are the ones who take on the responsibility of making sure they are ready for the challenges to come.
“They mainly drive it themselves because they are such an experienced team. There is a group of players there who have been around for nearly a decade now at this stage and it makes our job so much easier. They are the ones driving it on and pushing the pace at training so we have very little to do outside of setting up the sessions and explaining what to do. They are the ones pushing it from there and making sure that everyone is brought along so it makes it easier for management. There is no need for us to question the character of some of our players because they have been around too long and they just know what needs to be done. They know the game inside out and they are very ambitious so hopefully they will bring that through again to Saturday”, he stated.
A strong closing period saw them overturn Scariff-Ogonnelloe last time out and Enright feels the battling qualities they showed right up to the final whistle that day will be needed once more if they are to regain the McMahon Cup.
“That semi-final could have gone any way. We had a good first quarter and we finished very well. The strong finish was good to see because we had not been doing it in our games prior to that. It was a real battle but we got the goal at the right time and drove on from there. Once they had the bit between their teeth, they really went for it and got us over the line. We didn’t have a chance to Inagh-Kilnamona over the last two years but prior to that, we had met in the last four finals. We won the first and they won the next three. There will be nothing in the game because we know each other so well. Tactics and formations will go out the window as soon as the ball is thrown in because both teams will just go at it and hopefully it will provide a real quality game”, he concluded.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.