White: We know there is room for improvement

MARK White doesn’t have far to travel for Saturday’s Bon Secours Premier SFC quarter-final against Nemo Rangers (5pm throw-in).

Home in Clonakilty to the match venue in Bandon is a 25-minute trip. It’s a pitch he knows well, but the Clon captain also knows that they have had mixed results on this ground in recent visits.

Twice Clon played in Charlie Hurley Park during the group stage of this campaign – the win against Valley Rovers was followed by a loss to Castlehaven. Clon also played in Bandon twice in the 2022 campaign, drawing with Newcestown before a loss to this weekend’s opponents, Nemo Rangers, knocked the West Cork side out at the group stage.

In recent years the quarter-finals were played at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, but White insists it’s not the venue that influences the result, it will be their own performance.

‘We don’t look too much into where it’s being played. Obviously every players wants to play on the biggest stage and we played in Páirc Uí Chaoimh a few times two seasons ago and they were great occasions, but we’re not reading too much into where this game will be played because we’re focussed on the job we have to do,’ the Clon shot-stopper says, as their quarter-final with reigning champions Nemo moves closer.

Last season Nemo just edged out Clonakilty, 0-8 to 0-7, in Bandon, but Clon have regrouped from a disappointing 2022 campaign to position themselves back in the chasing pack this year. They finished runners-up in Group A, behind the Castlehaven team that beat them in the final group game, but there is enough to believe Martin O’Brien’s men have what it takes to cause Nemo serious problems on Saturday.

The availability of Sean White (hamstring) and Thomas Clancy (ankle) will be key, with White rated as 50-50, though Clancy is expected to figure, having missed Clon’s junior hurling quarter-final last weekend.

In goal for the footballers, Mark White lines out in attack for Clon’s hurlers, and he was man-of-the-match in the quarter-final win against Newcestown, scoring 1-2. It’s a busy schedule the club’s dual players are in the middle of.

‘It’s tough when you are out every weekend playing championship and still trying to make sure you get enough training in both codes, but I think we have handled it pretty well so far. The hope is that we have another few weeks of juggling both, too,’ White says.

‘Winning is great, no matter what code it is, and that leads to a winning mentality so as long as we keep winning that helps momentum and builds confidence.’

To keep that momentum building, Clon want to take Nemo down on Saturday. The city side topped their group with a 100 percent record after wins against Ballincollig, Éire Óg and Carrigaline, and this is a team that knows how to win championships. Mark Cronin, Luke Connolly, veteran Paul Kerrigan, these are all players that can hurt Clon, so they’ll need Clancy and Sean White back to help curb that threat. Add in Liam O’Donovan, Dan Peet and David Lowney, as well as Mark White in goal, and Clon have the foundation to blunt Nemo’s attack. The question is: can Clon get enough scores at the other end?

‘We were happy with the way we moved the ball against Castlehaven but at the same time we still lost by two points, we missed a few opportunities that could have swayed the game in our favour and we know there is room for improvement,’ White says.

‘We are in knock-out football now, the stakes are higher, the best teams are left so it gets harder from here on. We need to keep on doing what we have been doing to get this far, and we feel there is more to come too.’

Saturday would be a good time for Clon to take their game to the next level.