CARBERY manager Gene O'Donovan believes not knowing what to expect from their opponents allows his team to play with freedom.

The south-west division beat Duhallow and then Muskerry to win the Derry McGowan Cup, and set up a preliminary quarter-final against UCC as Carbery move a step closer to the knock-out stages of the county premier senior football championship.

Without knowing how teams play or which players are available for selection, it has allowed O’Donovan’s side to express themselves.

‘The lovely thing about these games is that you are going into the unknown against the divisions and colleges. You have no idea who is going to play for them on the day,’ he told The Southern Star.

‘You don’t know their forward line or back line or goalkeepers. You can’t study their kick-outs. The mystery of all that helps the boys. They go out and play with freedom.

‘We were analysing other teams and throwing video up in front of them. But doing that can hamper natural talent sometimes. There is a place for it but it can be overdone.’

Carbery’s attacking talents, such as Ryan O’Donovan, Ruairí Deane and Damien Gore, were key in their latest win but their defence gave them a great foundation.

Let’s not forget, Muskerry hit seven goals past the south-west division last year in a 7-11 to 1-18 defeat in Castletownkenneigh. That was one part of the game the players wanted to improve on.

‘I wasn’t involved then but Haulie (O’Sullivan), Seán (O’Donovan) and John (Dineen) were. The players were hurting from that defeat, to be quite honest. It was one game they kept bringing up. They wanted a defensive structure. We gave it to them and they are playing it,’ O’Donovan explained.

‘We don’t get much time to practise it. As a group, they want to defend that goal. Maybe not in the second half against Duhallow. We got a few things wrong there but the crazy thing was we learned from it. We were much tighter against Muskerry.’

The key to playing for a divisional side is the desire to go out on the field. This group of footballers want to play for Carbery.

‘They are very talented lads but also very humble. Ruairí (Deane) would play seven days a week if he got away with it but the rest of the panel have the same attitude. They want to be there,’ O’Donovan noted.

‘They’d love to train a bit together too but we can’t pressure clubs. They are club players at the end of the day. We had around 45 to 50 players originally but we had to cut that down.

‘Beating Muskerry is an important win for the group, considering at the start of the season we were looking to enter the unseeded section because of how wrong it went for them last year. But this year worked out fine.

‘Having a few games under our belt is a big benefit. It pushes us on. A lot of people believe Carbery trains once a week, but that’s not happening. We see the boys from match to match – that’s the way it is.

‘But the boys are eager to play for Carbery.’