Former coach says St Joseph’s capable of causing a big shock

IN 2006 and for part of 2007, former Kilmurry-Ibrickane player and mentor, Martin Keavey coached the St Joseph’s senior side. Among his backroom team was another Kilmurry-Ibrickane man, CJ Sexton, who is still coaching some of the juvenile players at the club.
At the time, Martin was residing in “The Parish” and answered the call when approached to get involved.
“They (St Joseph’s) have had a lot of young talent coming through in the past decade in particular. Some of the older fellas, who were playing when I was involved, are still playing and are as good as ever.
“With the underage talent that has been coming through, there is huge potential there. If they could win one senior championship they would be around for a while and they are certainly a huge threat,” he said at his home in Quilty.
Martin suffered a broken leg in 2007 and this led to him stepping down from his role as coach to the Doora-Barefield outfit. Shortly after this, he returned to live in his native parish. He is not at all surprised that St Joseph’s are contesting the final.
“They are as good as any of the senior clubs. Their win over Doonbeg was a big break and is sure to have given them huge confidence. It was a question of the right man in the right place in that game when the ball fell to Colm Mullen and he scored the winning point,” according to Keavey.
“One match can turn a season for you and the match against Doonbeg was the one for St Joseph’s. They believe in themselves now and it will be hard to win against them. Kilmurry will have to be on their guard. They can’t go in expecting a handy county final, as Barefield won’t give it to them,” he warned.
The Kilmurry-Ibrickane man believes, “St Josephs will be very hard to beat and I have no doubt but that they are capable of pulling off a big shock. Kilmurry will have to be on their guard if they are to justify favouritism and win the title.”
He said, “It is very difficult to win when there are so many dual players involved. There is a lot involved to play both codes. It takes a lot of commitment on both sides but it appears to be working well for them this year,” said Martin, who is not involved in management currently. “I am working a lot of the time away from home and I just couldn’t give the commitment. I could have to leave the country at a moment’s notice.”
Players like Cathal O’Sullivan, Mark Raftery, Colm Mullen, Paul Dullaghan are just some who were part of the St Joseph’s squad when Keavey was in charge.
“It takes a few years to get hardened up for senior championship and the bulk of this St Joseph’s squad have been there for that time and any opposition must take them seriously,” he concluded.