Between hurling and football, St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield are contesting their fourth Intermediate Championship Final in six seasons in Cusack Park on Sunday when taking on Smith O’Brien’s for the Paddy Browne Cup. With two senior sides dropping down next year, promotion is almost a necessity for the club’s development according to manager Michael Guilfoyle who spoke with Eoin Brennan this week.

Michael Guilfoyle has been down this road before. Part of the management team that ensured that his native Feakle bounced straight back up to senior level in 2018 following a shock relegation the previous summer, the former county star sees a similar unquenchable thirst in his current crop of players and of course the entire St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield club.
“A club this size has to be up senior but have found it hard to get back there. For example [my son] Brian has been playing adult since 2013 and he has played four years at intermediate and four years at senior so when I got the opportunity to try and help out, I was only too happy to chip in.
“After all, there’s a big push to get up this year especially with two teams going down so it’s really important for the club to get promoted this year.”
So what are the key ingredients that have been imparted from that 2018 promotion with Feakle?
“You just have to set out your goal of winning the championship from the outset and then every game is a step up that ladder. The next day is no different, I mean you’re at the top rung but you have to look out over the top at this stage. I feel that the players have the bit between their teeth now and know what is required. The preparation is done as far as I’m concerned, it’s just a matter of producing on the day.
“I would see it the same way as Feakle in 2018, in that after being relegated in ’17 guys had to decide to knuckle down, get in shape and have one singular aim to win that intermediate championship. So there are plenty of similarities but there are also notables differences between Doora/Barefield and Feakle too in terms of panel sizes and strength-in-depth.”
That was most evident by being able to sustain the loss through injury of talisman Davy Conroy to a broken collarbone that saw the former county senior only return as a substitute in the semi-final victory over Ruan.
“It was a huge blow, he was out for eight weeks and we had a lot of other injuries as well. But it’s much different to Feakle in that I was used to not having numbers and needing every player to be fit all of the time to a situation now where the strength of the squad is paramount as when one players gets injured, there are others ready to take a claim for his place and a few new players have done that this year so far.
“That said, Kevin [Meaney] is out for the final as is Darragh O’Shea while Eoghan Thynne and Mossy Hehir have had limited time on the training field so with a full pick, all would be in the mix for starting places.”
The strength of the pack allied to their prior final experience in Cusack Park and motivation to redress the balance from last year’s humbling semi-final defeat to Tubber all combine to hopefully produce a strong final performance on Sunday for new manager Guilfoyle.
“For some, this is their fourth intermediate final between hurling and football since 2016 so that’ll stand to them on Sunday. Even the experience of playing in underage finals in Cusack Park will all be a help so from that front so we’ve no fears whatsoever ahead of Sunday.
“The players clearly don’t lack hunger either after last year’s championship exit at the hands of Tubber.
“It’s ironic. It’s a match that I’ve never seen to be honest, even on video since as we [Feakle] were preparing for our own quarter-final last year. But there’s no doubt that it hurt bad and it hurt deep to get such a hiding that day.
“So players don’t lack motivation but until we bring the cup home, it’s only another reference point as the final judgement will be saved for this Sunday as a measurement of what happened since last year.”
What of opponents Smith O’Brien’s?
“They have been very good this year. They probably have the most solid backline we’ve come across all year and I’ve watched their progress up along this year and they had a number of good victories even without their county man Cian Nolan.
“I’d know some of the lads through developments squads as well, the likes of Mikey O’Shea etc so these guys are seasoned campaigners. So they“I checked what team had in 2019 as opposed to today and there is something like 13 of the same team in place so they hare seasoned campaigners and while they might not have played in a final before, they’ll be definitely ready to battle and will bring a huge challenge on the day.”
Finally, Guilfoyle saves special mention for his fellow backroom team and in particular the influence of the Limerick duo Darragh Droog (S&C) and Shane Dowling (Coach) in altering the mindset on and off the field.
“We didn’t meet Darragh for a long time due to COVID but his programmes have been excellent and coming from the background of the Limerick development squads, it as been a huge help.
“It was the same with Shane but the stuff that he is doing is top class and it has brought a level of intensity and physicality that he had been accustomed to at club and inter-county that is needed and we’ve no doubts that we have the homework done and it’s just a matter of producing now next Sunday.
“I’ve great time for him, he’s obviously had his own disappointment because of his own injury and losing out in both club and county but he has turned to this and he’s the same age as some of the guys we have. Player can therefore relate to him and he has gotten a huge amount of respect from the lads and a great effort comes out of the guys for the effort that he puts into the training sessions.
“He’s a top man and we really want this to work out on Sunday because he deserves it and the club deserves but only if we produce it on the day.”

Path to the Final

St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield

Round 1 at Broadford
(Sunday, August 15th)
St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield 7-23 Clonlara 1-12

Round 2 at Shannon
(Saturday, September 4th)
St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield 1-19 Parteen 0-11

Round 3 at Cusack Park
(Sunday, September 19th)
Corofin 1-22 St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield 3-14

Quarter-Final at O’Garney Park, Sixmilebridge
(Sunday, October 3rd)
St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield 2-18 Bodyke 1-10

Semi-Final at O’Garney Park, Sixmilebridge
(Sunday, October 17th)
St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield 5-14 Ruan 2-10

by Eoin Brennan