David Breen quickly deflects any immediate presumption of favouritism which comes with being Munster club hurling champions against opposition who by location alone qualify as outsiders.
Even with three Munster titles in the last five years, Limerick champions Na Piarsaigh, he says, cannot and will not take Cushendall for granted in any way in tomorrow’s AIB All-Ireland club hurling final: the Antrim champions are also contesting their first final, although Na Piarsaigh have been tripped by so-called lesser opposition twice before.
So Breen’s assessment is entirely justified: in 2012, they lost the All-Ireland semi-final to similar Antrim outsiders Loughgiel Shamrocks; and likewise in 2014, when they lost to Carlow’s Mount Leinster Rangers.
With that however comes an invaluable experience which Breen believes can stand to them. They already showed some of that by overcoming Oulart-the-Ballagh in last month’s semi-final, after extra-time, and Breen certainly believes there is an extra maturity about the team which wasn’t there before
“Well back in 2012 we were after winning our first county title and then we went on to win Munster, before we lost out to Loughgiel Shamrocks in the semi-final.
“But we were on a crest of a wave really. Our big ambition was just to win the county. It was the first time in the club’s history. So then the shackles were off so to speak . . . Winning Munster was a dream come true.
“Probably our biggest downfall back then was managing the layoff of nine or 10 weeks between winning Munster and preparing for the semi-final. But Loughgiel were 100 per cent the better team than us on the day . . .
Dangers and talent
“So we’ve had firsthand experience of all this, Loughgiel beating us and going on to win the final. And Cushendall and Loughgiel would have had a fierce rivalry there for a long time. The fact Cushendall beat (Galway champions) Sarsfields was no surprise. And if any team should know the dangers and the talent that there is in Antrim hurling then it’s us.”
For Breen, a central part of Na Piarsaigh attack and former Limerick captain, there is already ample evidence that they’ve been putting that experience to good use, as far back as the Limerick county championship.
“When we drew Kilmallock, in the semi-final, that was our final. You had to pretty much do everything you could do to win that game and as it turns out we’d a very tough game as well against Patrickswell in the final.
“Then against Oulart, when you see it going to extra-time, you’re just thinking it over in your head, all over again you’re thinking back to Loughgiel. But we’re a very different team to the team that was there in 2012, so we’d the stuff to come through it.
“Hopefully that kind of mental test will stand to us. But all we can do is look after ourselves and try and be aware of the of game they play. But if we perform to our level, we’re quite confident in our own ability.”
Peak again
An important part of the experience, Breen adds, is learning how to handle the long break over Christmas and then peak again as close to St Patrick’s Day as possible: “It’s a challenge, the way that the championship format is structured. At least you know you have that ahead of you.
“But I think our management has handled it very well because they’ve given us time off mentally as much as anything else to start again and prepare for the semi-final. It’s a bit like a boxing match, you nearly go into camp for four or five weeks, then after the game you go back into camp and prepare for your next game.”
And whatever about it being Na Piarsaigh’s first big game in Croke Park, Breen is certainly not bothered by the poor record of Limerick hurling teams there in recent years: “That’s irrelevant to me, and it’s irrelevant to a lot of the players as well. Limerick people love to go on about history and voodoo and spells and all the rest, but that’s nonsense. Our club has a history of 48 years old and that doesn’t stand up to a lot of other clubs in Limerick but that’s history, that’s not now. We’ve got a good team and we’re trying to achieve something and that’s all that matters.”
