*Denis O’Callaghan. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
AN ELEMENT of continuity exists despite a change of management for St Breckan’s but they will hope that their status as contenders transpires to reality.
Since winning the intermediate title in 2019 and reaching the provincial final that year, St Breckan’s have acquitted themselves well in the fare of senior football. It’s evident by the fact they have reached successive semi-finals in 2020 and 2021 along with making the quarter-finals last season.
Donie Garrihy was central to making the North Clare outfit such a force, the man is a giant within the community and certainly leaves big boots to fill. Two-time All Star Declan O’Keeffe was never afraid to put his body on the line when manning the goals for Kerry, he had been coach of the side under Garrihy’s tenure but now steps up to the role of manager with former Clare great Odran O’Dwyer joining him as coach.
Becoming manager was never part of the plan, Declan revealed. “Donie stepping down was a surprise to us all. To be honest I didn’t have to mull over it for too long when the opportunity came up, I spoke to a few people close to me, I’ve a lot of work done with the group and they are a great group of lads and have fierce time for them. It is great that the club gave me the opportunity to become the manager of the team and I’m very grateful for the opportunity”.
He hasn’t fully transitioned from coach to manager, just yet. “I’m still coaching, Odran is doing the coaching with me but I dip in and out of the coaching bucket. It is very difficult and a different role being the manager, it has its own difficulties with its own administration on top of the coaching role, you are dealing with the Club Executive, the County Board, communicating with the panel in general, it is a different role but I love it, I went into it knowing it would be busier”.
High standards have already been in place which meant that Declan and his crew were not starting from a low base. “It’s just to continue what has been done, Donie did absolutely fabulous work before me, he brought great organisation and a culture around the group, I’m just continuing the great work done before me. The lads have been a fabulous support to me”.
What differs is the personnel available, Tristan O’Callaghan was first choice goalkeeper for Clare never mind his club before he jetted off to Australia, corner forward Aiden Davidson and the Flanagans Ciaran and Micheal are also Down Under. “Those guys were all nailed starters so it has been a job of work trying to replace them and get the standard up with the rest of the panel,” the two-time All-Ireland SFC winner admitted.
Undoubtedly St Breckan’s are viewed as one of the top teams in the county but a chink in their armour has emerged when it came to their showdowns in the semi-finals of 2020 and 2021 versus Cratloe and Éire Óg while the quarter-final loss to Ennistymon last season saw them outfought.
Producing more consistent displays is key to rectifying this, O’Keeffe maintained. “They are a very young group who are learning all the time. We are trying to get a level of consistency, we have had some good performance followed by poor performances. In those defeats, we felt we didn’t perform on the day but on any given day it can go right or wrong, that is football and that is sport but we are just trying to get more consistency in our performances”.
Their most recent setback was losing out in the FutureTicketing Cusack Cup final to neighbours Ennistymon on a score of 0-10 0-08, their return of 0-02 from play proving costly over the hour. “We very disappointed, it was a local derby which added more spice to it. Ennistymon were down players and so were we but we were disappointed to come up short in the final. Overall, the league was very positive, we tried a couple of things, we used the league for what it is there for, we were very disappointed with the final but overall happy enough with the league”.
Both Jack Sheedy and Padraig Kelly, two pillars of the Breckan’s side missed that Cusack Cup final and are expected to be back in contention for starting roles this weekend. Their presence will certainly be needed as they kick off against the experienced men from Kilmurry Ibrickane.
Proper championship football is expected by O’Keeffe for this opening encounter. “You can play all the nice football you like in the league but there is a big difference in championship. Kilmurry Ibrickane have been the standard bearers in the county, winning the Munster club and getting to an All-Ireland club final, beating teams from all over the province. We are under no illusions that we face a tough challenge. We have been training since February, we are hoping the lads will embrace the challenge of facing an experienced side with plenty of quality, we have been knocking on the door but we’re under no illusion as to the challenge that’s ahead”.
Three teams will qualify from Group 1, the easiest route of advancing to the knockout stages is by winning every game, the Quin based Garda flagged. “We can only take every day as it comes, if you go down the road in the sense to be happy with third place or trying to judge things like that it doesn’t work out in my book, we’re going to try win on Friday and try win every game”.
St Breckan’s
Management: Declan O’Keeffe (manager), Odran O’Dwyer (selector/coach), Pat Haugh (selector), Jersey O’Loughlin (selector), John Mooney (selector), John Petty (selector), John Earls (medical)
Captain: Cian Burke
Key Player: Joe McGann
One to Watch: Denis O’Callaghan
Fresh Blood: Padraig Dwyer, Macdara Garrihy, Aidan O’Loughlin, Paddy Haugh
Departures Gate: Tristan O’Callaghan (emigrated), Aiden Davidson (emigrated), Ciaran Flanagan (emigrated), Michael Flanagan (emigrated), Dale Masterson (ACL injury)
Titles won: None
Last season’s run: Defeated by one point in the quarter-final by Ennistymon
Schedule:
Round 1 vs Kilmurry Ibrickane in Cusack Park on August 4th at 7pm
Round 2 vs St Joseph’s Doora/Barefield on August 18th/19th/20th
Round 3 vs Corofin on September 1st/2nd/3rd
