Kilmaley Hoping To Continue Push For Silverware

Conor Cleary is no stranger to lining out in finals for Kilmaley.

It could even be argued that the Miltown Malbay native already has something of a storied history on big days for the club. His sideline cut to win the Minor A title against Clarecastle is still being spoken about while he was also the captain when they went on to win the U-21 title for just their second time in 2015.

He went on to play a pivotal role as the club fought back from relegation to win the Clare intermediate title before going on to contest the Munster final with that one ending in the narrowest of defeats.

2018 saw them lose out in the Clare Cup final to Newmarket but now John Carmody’s side have a chance to make amends when they square off with neighbours Inagh-Kilnamona. The county star is hopeful they come out on the right side of the result.

“The last few years we have been featuring in semi-finals and final and just haven’t really managed to get over the line. This group has been very fortunate to have won a lot at underage but the next step now is to put a senior title on the table and we have a chance this weekend to do that and that is our aim. We have a really good management team and since the start of the year they have laid out the plans for us and we have been working off that whether it is the strength and conditioning or the hurling side of it. A lot of the reason of why we are going so well is down to them and they have managed the dual player’s aspect really well too. Last weekend a few of us had games on the Saturday and Sunday and we were able to play in both and come through unscathed and it is really managed very well by the lads at the moment” said Cleary.

Cleary lined out alongside Aidan McGuane for last weekend’s Cusack Cup final win over Clondegad while the likes of Joe Carmody and Bryan O’Loughlin were also part of David O’Brien’s squad for that win. All those players will feature once more this weekend for Kilmaley as they look for a domestic league double and Cleary is praising the managements on both sides for working together to ensure that can happen.

He said: “It is very important as a player that the co-operation is there because you don’t want to be contacting the two managers all the time to know where you are supposed to be. Last year Michael Neylon and John Carmody worked really well together and it is the same this year with David O’Brien and John. If it is hurling weekend we focus mostly on that and the same then for the football weekends. It makes it very easy for the players because we can then focus on our training and putting in the performances at the weekend”.

With plenty recent rivalry at underage level between the two clubs including in minor and U-21 finals, Cleary is expecting another tough encounter with their neighbours.

“I have played against them and played with a lot of them for the county and they have some serious hurlers. In the last few years both clubs have been fortunate enough to have had a lot of underage success but both will be looking to push on now to win one at senior level too. That is what makes the game so intriguing really. It is not like any of the two teams have done much at senior level in the last few years and both will be really hungry to correct that. That is what will make it a really competitive game” he concluded.