Something special under the ’Bridge

Unfortunately there is a major injury concern for Sixmilebridge ahead of a crucial knock-out weekend as one of their main leaders is in a race against time to be fit and able to take his place in the starting line-up.
Friday night lights in O’Garney Park sees joint senior managers Tommy Liddy and Stiofan Fitzpatrick looking to justify their favorites tag for county Junior B hurling honours when Sixmilebridge welcome the old enemy Clarecastle for a Quarter-Final showdown (7pm). However, a leg injury suffered in a group match against Ruan has practically ruled out Liddy in what is a superb warm-up to Sunday’s showpiece event as Sixmilebridge and Feakle face-off for the prestigious Canon Hamilton trophy.
Considering the well documented experienced spine of their flagship side, the fact that the management team are still living the dream as well for the club’s fourth team is admirable but also begs the question, is there something in the water in the O’Garney river?
Stiofan Fitzpatrick (SF): “It’s funny, the older you get and the more you’re told you can’t have something, the more you want it.
“Look the main thing is that we’re fortunate in the club that there’s five adult teams so if you still want to tog out there’s a team there for you.
“We’ve a lot of players playing junior B that have been around a long time too so there’s a love for the game here and it has been fostered here since we were kids. And it’s lovely to be still playing in a team and great to be playing alongside sons of fellas that I played with.”
Tommy Liddy (TL): “The one thing that you can say without a shadow of a doubt is that we do love the club. It is a huge part of our lives so whether we’re playing or managing, we’re going to matches or supporting a fundraiser, it’s not just an on the field thing, it’s a whole club ethos and lifestyle we enjoy.
“Stefan’s parents are dyed in the wool ‘Bridge people so there is a huge family element to the club too and that’s what it’s all about.”
SF: “I was fortunate that I went everywhere with my father and he was always at the hurling field either training a team or watching matches. There was always hurling and hopefully there always will be. I’ve two girls myself so hopefully they’ll hurl too so the club his vital.
“It was here before us and it will be here after us too so we’re only passing through.”
That passion and pride goes a long way to also explaining why the pair decided to take on the role of senior managers in what seemed to some as a transitioning period of the senior squad following over a decade of success.
TL: “I had been doing a small bit of coaching outside of the club so when the job came up, I was approached by one or two and obviously the first person I thought of when I was taking it on was Stiofan as we had worked together at Under 21’s and had a good relationship.
“So we kind of teased it out over a number of weeks, it wasn’t something that we took on straight away but we obviously had a massive interest in the job.
“If you’re a ‘Bridge man, obviously it’s something you want to do when you’re not hurling so we eventually make it happen.”
So what were your expectations, to find new players or actually get back in the winner’s enclosure?
SF: “No we were very clear to be honest, our sole objective was to try and get as many lads back training so that when the championship came around, could we have a panel of players to get out of the group?
“That was it, just get out of the group and go one step further than last year and then take every game as it came and that’s what we’ve done.
“In the course of that, you’re going to have to find new players and whether they’re good enough or not, you’ve got to try and get players believing that this is something that we want to be involved in.
“Also you want the older lads to feel that there’s help coming and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. We’ve just been lucky that it all came together. There were a few young players around this squad for the last few years and we knew a lot of them with our involvement with the Under 21’s for four years.
“So we knew the talent available and that’s all lovely but you need the buy-in off the players and they have certainly proved themselves. I mean every hurdle that we put in front of them, they’ve jumped and they’ve shown their attitude, application and desire so it’s really about them.
TL: “When we did take the job, the first thing we wanted to do was to have every hurler available to us so we contacted every hurler and we ended up getting Jason [Loughnane] back from Australia and Paidi [Fitzpatrick] home from Toronto. Lads have put traveling and holidays aside so the commitment and buy-in has been there so we can’t say enough about this group of players.
“There’s obviously a hunger to try and see could we get back to where they’ve been in past glories so the sole focus has been on maximising the panel available to us and see where that takes us and we’re now lucky enough to be only one step away but it’s a huge hurdle ahead of us on Sunday.”
Their journey hasn’t been shy on drama either as a delicately poised group decider against neighbours Newmarket finally ended in a draw that put the Blues out by the slenderest of margins. Then they toppled champions Clonlara in another nail-biter before relievedly prevailing in an unprecedented semi-final marathon against Inagh-Kilnamona that had to go all the way to sudden death penalties.
SF: “Luck is huge and if you don’t have luck you’re not going to win. We saw that most famously with Clare in 1995 with Seanie McMahon injuring his shoulder and winning a sideline ball that ended up in the winning goal so you definitely need luck.
“Now you can create your own luck too but you might have to work very hard for a very long time and it still doesn’t guarantee you success but if you don’t work hard you won’t be successful.
“So then you’re not giving yourself the opportunity to be in the game in those tight battles but we’ve come out the end of them so far and hopefully we haven’t used up all our luck and that’s there’s a small bit more for us.
“However, it’s a testament to these players that they were able to come through in the last few matches as they’ve shown a serious amount of resilience.”
Is experience another key factor as fundamentally for half of the team this will be their eighth county final whereas it’s all new territory for Feakle?
TL: “We’ve gone on record in saying that this is a new team, with new players and new faces throughout the team so there will be just as many nerves and jitters in our dressing room than there will in Feakle’s.
“Feakle have plenty of experience themselves, they’re not an exclusively young team so they’ll know how much it has taken to get this opportunity and certainly won’t want to let it slip so I think it’s the same for both teams.
“Listen, there’s no doubt about it, being in a final is easier when you have players that have been there before, we saw that even after the semi-final when they knew the drill for the individual final photos. But when it comes to the final itself, it’s not going have a huge bearing on things.
SF: “Look, Feakle are not going to be phased by this experience either. They’ve contested a lot of finals between intermediate and Under 21A in the last decade and added to that a lot of the Feakle lads are coming from homes in which their fathers have county medals so this isn’t going to phase them high up or low down.
“Physically they gave us a lesson in the Clare Cup this year so they’re big and all able to hurl and then they have the jewel in the crown in Shane McGrath so we’re going to need a huge performance on Sunday.”
A performance that can hopefully inspire the next generation too as the ever-evolving face of Sixmilebridge provides a whole new demographic that perhaps haven’t yet been infused with the same ‘Bridge spirit over past generations.
TL: “We are blessed in Sixmilebridge in that we aren’t struggling for numbers. I mean we’re fielding two teams at every age group and that sort of numbers breeds competition and competition is obviously going to help the club down the line.
“We’re just hoping that this buzz can follow into the schools and will bring an extra one or two from each class out hurling in the evenings or hurling down at the club. There has been a huge emphasis in that as we’re going into the schools trying to get as many boys and girls across as we can because the more hurlers you have, the more competition you have and therefore the more chances you have of winning the competitions.
SF: “Clare winning the All-Ireland is also huge too. I mean when the cup came here with Seadna, it was brilliant the amount of kids that came. It makes hurling relevant to a new generation as the fella they see over the fence or training in the local field is also the fella they see on the screen playing in front of 80,000 people. So it brings it all back home for them and hopefully sparks a dream that they too can fill those shoes in the future.
“So Clare’s win has made hurling popular and relevant and we have a diverse community here now, with different nationalities and ethnicities and we want to embrace that and cater for everybody.”
The mere mention of Clare’s success prompts the omen that in an All-Ireland winning year, Sixmilebridge have secured county senior championship silverware in 1995, 2013 and 2024?
TL: “Ah stop. I don’t believe in omens unless you mean the junior as the ‘Bridge have won the Junior B in 1995 and 2013 as well and are still standing this year too.”
A potential playing/managerial championship double would be the ultimate accolade in an already remarkable season so keep an eye out for that quarter-final result against the Magpies on Friday.