Newtown' benefit from early county exit

GAELIC GAMES NEWS:THIS WEEKEND'S Munster club hurling semi-finals feature a couple of familiar names in Waterford's Ballygunner and Cork's Newtownshandrum. The latter are the most recent (2004) club from the province to win an All-Ireland. It represents an achievement for a small parish to refit a successful side and come back a few seasons later.

Also back is selector Patsy Morrissey, who managed the club to its All-Ireland of six seasons ago as well as being involved with Cork’s MacCarthy Cup wins in 2005 and ’06. With Ger Morrissey and manager Phil Noonan, he helped engineer an unexpected county success against defending champions Sarsfields.

“The spine of the team goes back to 2004 – Ben and Jerry O’Connor, Pat Mulcahy, JP King who’s back from Australia and Paul Morrissey – but we have a lot of younger players coming through,” says Morrissey.

He says the team’s familiar style, with its short passing and fast running, is intact, even if it seldom operates to optimum effect at this time of the year.

“We still have our trademark style and that’s the way we play when the weather is conducive. But the last day out against Thurles we had to dig out a result and the weather this weekend is unlikely to be helping us.”

In the past – Newtown also reached the 2006 All-Ireland which they lost to Portumna – the constant merry-go-round of club and county fixtures at a time when Cork were annually contending for honours took its toll on players. This season has been different.

“In a kind of perverse way we’ve benefited from having county players this season,” says Morrissey, “because with Cork out earlier than expected our intercounty players have been able to train with the team a lot more – and they’ve brought their intercounty form.”

He also pays tribute to the input of Tipperary trainer Cian O’Neill – ironically, in that Newtown eliminated Tipp champions Thurles in a shoot-out – who has helped with the club’s fitness regime.

“I work in UL, and Dr Cian O’Neill and his assistant Will McCormack, who’s a post-grad, deserve great credit. I’d say they’ve dragged an extra 10 or 15 per cent out of the team’s fitness and that’s a factor this time of the year when managing conditions is so important.”

It turns out this isn’t the only Tipperary influence on the side. Newtownshandrum’s former coach Raymie Ryan, who played for Tipperary in the 1990s and who took Clough Ballacolla to the Laois title last month, also had an influence on the current side, according to Morrissey.

“Raymie Ryan did super hurling work with the younger players and they benefited greatly, because they had been slow to get on the team and gel with the side.”

On Sunday they take the next step against experienced Limerick campaigners Adare, who lost last season’s Munster final to De La Salle. Newtown are favourites, but Morrissey is predictably cautious.

“Last year Toomevara would have been many people’s tip to go all the way to the All-Ireland final but Adare beat them. They’re a strong side.”