Deasy insists Clonakilty are not fazed ahead of schools biggest football day

Clon captain:Eoghan Deasy.

BY TOM LYONS

CLONAKILTY Community College are not fazed by the task ahead of them this Saturday.

Taking on four-in-a-row Munster chasing Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne, also the reigning All-Ireland champions, this will be Clonakilty’s greatest challenge in the Corn Uí Mhuirí to date.

‘We know we’ll have a tough one against Dingle as they are the All-Ireland champions and have a lot of last year’s team in action,’ captain Eoin Deasy said.

‘We’ve beaten two Kerry sides so far so we won’t be afraid of their reputation. We won’t be turning up just to put in a performance. We want to win this one, to show we’re as good as the best in the Corn Uí Mhuirí. We’re all looking forward to it.’

In just their second season in the competition, Clonakilty CC have made great strides and they are now on the cusp of qualifying for their first Corn Uí Mhuirí final.

Explaining the secret behind this success, Deasy said: ‘The real secret of the team’s success is that we are very united as a team. There are no stars as such, it’s 15 good players on the pitch, all battling for each other, all fighting hard for the team.

‘The lads are from a lot of different clubs but we get on very well together and enjoy playing with each other. There’s no club rivalry between us when it comes to playing for the school.’

He added: ‘Most of our team are actually fifth years, there are only two of us in Leaving Cert.’

It’s been a great adventure so far for Clonakilty CC, and while this might just be only their second year in the competition they have found their feet quite quickly.

‘It has been a big step up for the school to play in the Corn Uí Mhuiri,’ the captain said.

‘The standard is very high but we found it improved our game to be playing good teams every time we went out. It was a case of improving or losing.

‘All the lads were determined to show we’re good enough to be here and that created a great bond between the players.

‘We lost our first game against Coláiste Choilm but we learned from that and got back into the competition with a win over DLS Macroom. Tralee were winning the group but we beat them well to top our group. Then we played Killorglin and got a great start in the quarter-final. We fell asleep for a while but finished well.’