“He isn’t very good at reversing” – Meet the Dungourney men preparing for an All-Ireland semi-final

Cork versus Kilkenny.

What more could you ask for in an All-Ireland semi final than a clash of the county's two most successful hurling counties, and club's representing the pride of their parishes? The east Cork side Dungourney take on the Leinster champions Glenmore in the WIT Sports Grounds on Sunday afternoon in the AIB All-Ireland junior hurling semi-final at 2pm. Ahead of the clash we spoke to Dungourney veteran James Leahy to get the inside track on the club's preparations, their toughest opponent, and the pain of being part of a Whatsapp group in your 30s. Explain why this season was different?

"We started our preparations in 2014. We were in a county league competition and that ran until November and we just kept going. The training was mostly on our own or in the gym but we kept going last Christmas and got out on the field in January and haven't really stopped since."

https://twitter.com/DungourneyGAA/status/673517567575728129 How much time and effort has gone in to getting to this stage? 

"Well we must have put in 70 or 80 collective sessions but I think the key has been the individual effort put in outside of training by lads. I'm one of the older lads so I'm not going as hard as the younger guys but the young players in college post the training on Whatsapp and put the likes of me to shame. They train nearly everyday and it's the main reason for the change in the team."

Is Whatsapp a curse or a blessing for every GAA club?

"It depends. When you're told to put up your training sessions from my point of view it's one of the worst things as I'm struggling to get a few extra 15-20 mins of training in. But after a night out it's one of the best things for the craic so it has its pros and cons."

https://twitter.com/DungourneyGAA/status/673521598868144128 What was The Toughest moment for you in the championship?

"There is no way I'd be talking to you if the county final the first day had kept going the way it did. With two minutes to go we were five points down to Cloughduv "I was having a bad day and was taken off and watching from the sidelines when Shane Hegarty took the game by the neck, he got a point, then he made a great run for a goal, had a shot saved but we got a goal from it and then Jack Griffin got a crucial point. The replay then was about learning from the first day."

Who's The Toughest man to mark at training

"We've a full back called the 'Silent Assassin' so that doesn't need much expanding on. There is a few speedsters for me, but I'll give the nod to Mark Hegarty."

https://twitter.com/DungourneyGAA/status/661960467938746368 Who thinks they are the fittest?

"Cian Kelleher does the Ballycotton 10 so he likes to remind us of that. Bill Ahern as well loves posting on Whatsapp and his impressive gym work. Some of it I'd say is an act but it looks good!"

Who was The Toughest opponent outside of the club?

"A lot of the toughest games we played were in Cork. We met Seamus Harnedy with his side in the final, so there was few of us trying to mark him. Before that we met St Catherine's and we faced Seanie Farrell, an ex-Cork hurler, so we met plenty of good lads but Seamus was the pick of them."

Who's always late to training?

"Martin Wall used to always be late to training but this year he learned to drive so he can't use that excuse anymore. He's now the first one there and the last to leave as well and that's not cos he loves training, it's just that he isn't very good at reversing. He just can't get out of the carpark."

https://twitter.com/DungourneyGAA/status/660205827471646724 Use one word to describe the dressing room and the lads?

"Entertaining. There is a great mix, from lads under 18 to older lads like myself in our 30s. We've two of the finest singers around as well in Will Daly and Richie O'Neill. "Instead of sending Nicky Byrne to Eurovision we should maybe think of the two lads, they would be serious rivals to him. They're probably better looking than Nicky too."  

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