“We came into make a statement.”
So said Kilmallock manager Tony Considine, and a statement his team made. Having failed to beat top dogs Na Piarsaigh since their county title win in 2014, the South Limerick side had a point to prove on Friday night and they’re motoring along nicely now.
Central to the win was their county star Graeme Mulcahy who chipped in with a game-changing goal as well as four fine points from play and the lively forward spoke about the win to Colm Parkinson on Monday’s GAA Hour Show.
“It was great for us to get the win. It was lovely (to score 1-4) but having struggled to beat Na Piarsaigh over the last few years, it was a great buzz for the group in general.
“We haven’t won a county since 2014 and we knew that if we lost the game, we would be under pressure. We had to send out some sort of a marker and give ourselves the easiest route possible to a county final. It was always in our minds to lay down that marker. We’re not a team for having a lot of team meetings but when we did speak, we did speak about chasing down this game.
“To get Tony (Considine) back, with his knowledge of the group and the club, is huge for us. Just that understanding especially given the short timeframe that will be in it now.
“If we hadn’t Na Piarsaigh to contend with, we might have been a lot more successful in Limerick and maybe in Munster as well. The likes of ourselves, Patrickswell, Doon and Adare have been playing catch up trying to get to the level that they’re at. In fairness to Patrickswell, they’ve won two championships which is a huge achievement given the standard that’s in it.”
"If you could fit 1000 thousand into a shopping mall, surely you could put 500 into the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick.
"You could fit 5000 in here and they'd still be socially distanced." – Tony Considine pic.twitter.com/SYbi0R6HH6
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) July 25, 2020
A nippy inside forward on the county scence, Mulcahy was out on the half forward line on Friday night where he feels he can use his experience more.
“Number 11 is a nice change of scenery. I started in the full forward line the other night but came out. It’s a good position for me to be in, with my experience over the last few years. Just to try talk to the lads, try and organise things and work off the breaks. I won’t be contesting puck-outs or anything like that…”
One aspect of the game he didn’t particularly enjoy were the water-breaks which he feels are a momentum stopper for teams.
“The water breaks are difficult to manage. Certainly we felt with the water break in the second half, we had a lot of momentum going and it just seemed to kill that. We never really picked up then after. Lucky enough, we tacked on another point but it definitely killed some of our momentum…From the amount of back-room staff you’re allowed with a team, it might be tough to have lads own individual water bottles but I don’t see the real need for it. I didn’t really look into it that much, just go with it…”
You can listen to Graeme Mulcahy’s GAA Hour interview here.
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