The red and green bunting is still up around the village of Rathgormack ahead of Sunday’s Munster semi final against Castlehaven.
Captain Willie Hahessy and his team mates are familiar with the Cork champions. “We actually played them in the past so we know what they’re like. They have some inter county players both hurling and football. They’re coming up to get victory on Sunday but we’re not there to make up the numbers. We’re not there to fill a semi final spot. We’ve put in great work with Ross Browne in the last two weeks. I actually think we’re fitter than we were heading into the county final. I think we’re in a great position. We’re delighted to be there but we’ll be there to put in a performance and get a result on Sunday.”
Rathgormack regained the Conway Cup with a six point win over The Nire four weeks ago. After losing three county finals in a row, they were hungry to get back up the steps. "I know it’s very cliched but I think that hurt was bottled in us. We talked about it. We had team meetings back in January and February just to bottle that hurt.”
Between football with Rathgormack and hurling with Clonea, they have been on the go for the past ten months. “We were down in Peter Kirwan’s gym every Monday night since February. We had collective sessions with Ross Browne our S&C coach. It was a ten month process to get the Conway Cup back.”
Kenny Hassett's men will take the field without star forward Conor Murray, who is away in New Zealand, and county midfielder Michael Curry who received a straight red card against The Nire. Rathgormack versus Castlehaven will be the George Corbett Skoda Big Match on Sunday. Join Kieran O'Connor and Gary Hurney for live coverage from 1.15.
Listen back to the full interview with Rathgormack captain Willie Hahessy and manager Kenny Hassett from Friday's Lár Na Páirce show.
