AT about 3.15 or thereabouts on Sunday afternoon next in Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney, a Waterford man will get his hands on the coveted Munster Club senior football championship cup. That my friends is a guarantee.
No I have not lost the plot and am not totally writing off the chances of the redhot favourites, Nemo Rangers, it is in fact a very logical statement.
The reason for this is that if Ballinacourty win the title then John Hurney will lift the cup and if Nemo Rangers claim their 14th Munster Club triumph, then their captain, Niall Geary from Tramore, will lift the cup, so either way it will be a Waterford man getting his hands on the cup.
For the past ten years now, Geary, has been an ever-present in the Nemo rearguard. There have many changes in personnel in the famous black and greens over that period but the former Waterford defender has been one constant.
Having gone to college in Cork, Geary then found employment on Leeside with Motorolla and shortly after taking up residency in the Rebel County he was enticed to join his new local team, Nemo Rangers, a decision that he has never regretted.
At the beginning Niall continued to commute up and down to Waterford to continue playing inter-county football with the Déise but after a number of years he decided to throw in his lot with Cork and has gone on to represent them at Inter-county level in the past.
GOLDEN PERIOD
His ten years as a Nemo player could hardly have come at a better time in terms of success of the Cork Kingpins. When Niall captained Nemo to a Cork county final win over Illen Rovers last month it was his sixth county senior medal with the club. On top of that he has to date won five Munster Club titles and one All-Ireland club medal (as well as losing two All-Ireland club finals). Some record I think you’ll agree.
But 2007 will go down as an extra-special one for Geary as this was the year that he was chosen as captain of Nemo for the first time. “It was a brilliant honour for me to be given the chance to captain such a great club as this and it is something that I have really enjoyed this year. When one looks at the names who have captained this club in the past it gives you great pride to be amongst that group.”
Despite the complaints that most teams in most counties have about massive delays in their championships, Niall feels that they have been very fortunate with the way the Cork championship was run off in 2007, despite the fact that Cork contested the All-Ireland final.
“As we have been so successful over the past seven or eight seasons, we really prepare like an inter-county team in that we usually train around ten months of the year. The big difference is that we don’t peak for the summer months like they do. Ok, June and July, were quiet with Cork taking precedence but once we got into August the games have flowed really well and regular intervals so really cant complain. We played between Cork’s All-Ireland semi-final and final and were out again a week after the All-Ireland final.”
NOT ALL PLAIN SAILING
Despite winning through the county semi-final and final comfortably enough, Nemo came within seconds of championship elimination against Clonakilty in the quarter-finals of the chamionship.
“We were a point down eight (yes EIGHT) minutes into injury-time when we got a penalty. James Masters stood up and kicked it over the bar to earn us a draw, and thankfully we beat them in the replay, but it was a very close shave.”
Having sealed their third county final win in as many years their focus then switched back to regaining the Munster title, having bowed out early last year to Dr Crokes.
“There was a time ten to fifteen years ago when the bigger clubs like Nemo used to walk through the provincial championships but those days are very much gone and these days there’s little if anything to choose between the teams and on their day anyone can beat anyone.
“That’s why I just couldn’t believe it when I saw that Ballinacourty were 5/1 to beat Kilcummin in their semi-final. They were just stupid odds and so it proved. Over the past few years Stradbally and Nire have had great runs in the Munster Club so I can’t under-stand how the bookmakers came up with those odds.”
LITTLE TO CHOOSE
So what does the Nemo captain make of the Waterford champions?
“They are a very good side but then they would have to be to get out of Waterford, with teams like Stradbally, Nire, Ardmore and so on. It’s a tough championship and whoever comes out of it will always be a good team.
“I wouldn’t know a lot of the younger lads but I would have played with the Hurneys, Shane Briggs and a few more and they are real-ly good players and we know we will have to be at our best to win.”
So will it be John Hurney or Niall Geary with his hands on the Munster Club SFC cup on Sunday evening?
“To be honest I can’t see there being very much between the teams on Sunday and I expect the game to go right down to the wire. There never is more than a couple of points between teams at this level and I expect no difference on Sunday. As with all big games it will be all down to who plays better on the day, who gets that slice of luck etc....who knows what will happen.”
Well I suppose if it can’t be a Waterford team winning, then a Waterford man as captain is the next best thing. All will be revealed on Sunday.
