NORMALLY the prospect of facing the likes of Belvedere in a national cup final would unsettle a side, but not Kilmallock United.
On Sunday afternoon Kilmallock take on Belvedere in the FAI Under-17 Challenge Cup final at Tolka Park in Dublin (kick-off 3pm) and, amazingly, the Limerick lads can’t wait to get at their Dublin counterparts.
Although Belvedere, a club founded in 1971 which draws its players from Fairview, have won more than one hundred major trophies and have seen 166 of their players capped for the Republic of Ireland, they don’t bother Kilmallock, not one bit in fact.
“There has always been this fear in teams from outside of Dublin. It’s as if only Dublin clubs are allowed to win national trophies. Our lads knocked that fear aside a long time ago,” explained John Webb-O’Rourke who manages Kilmallock United alongside James Mulcahy and coach Ger Finn.
“Our lads know no fear.
“I mean we have three or four players who are real match winners.
“What I mean by that is that this team is just never beaten.
“If we fall behind, since our defence is so good, we can risk three at the back and just throw caution to the wind. We’re good enough to be able to take risks like that and that makes all the difference in cup competitions.
“You’ve got to be brave and these lads are as brave as they come.”
During their extraordinary run to the final Kilmallock have accounted for Geraldines (3-0), Park AFC (2-1), Fairview Rangers (3-2), Greenwood (4-1), Salthill Devon (2-1) and Monaghan United (3-2) at the semi-final stage.
But it’s the defeats that stand out in John Webb-O’Rourke’s mind and drive his side forward. Kilmallock were incredibly unlucky to lose an FAI Youths Cup quarter-final 2-1 to Cork City this season (Cork City beat Salthill Devon in last weekend’s national final 2-1) while Kilmallock United also lost last year’s Barry Cup (under-16) last 16 clash (4-3) to Louth’s Muirhevnamore.
“We really felt that we left that under-16 title behind us,” John Webb O’Rourke told Leader Sport.
“But it’s no surprise to us that these guys have gone so far. They’re all in the same class in school, they play soccer together, they play hurling together and they play rugby together with Bruff.
“That’s the fantastic thing about it. They’ve been together since they were nine years of age and the only time they lost a cup final in domestic competition was against St. David’s at under-15 level. Everything else they’ve won and won well.”
Despite John Webb-O’Rourke’s positive outlook, he also has his homework done on a Belvedere side which includes Tom O’Halloran and Sean Skelly who both featured against Poland for the Republic of Ireland under-17 side in April.
“I haven’t seen Belvedere play,” added John Webb-O’Rourke, “but I have spoken at length to the Mervue United manager who Belvedere beat in the semi-finals.
“Over the last few years Mervue and Belvedere have swapped titles in the various age groups and he knows the Belvedere players very well. Mervue actually felt that they left that semi-final behind them. They lost 3-1, but finished with nine players. They fell behind early on and even though they had a man sent off they got an equaliser. But what really killed them was that they conceded an own goal after that and then Belvedere scored a third goal late in the game. So when you think about it Belvedere’s win doesn’t sound all that impressive.
“If we go out and play a bit of football and then lose our shape we will get beaten. We need to hold our shape and not let them in behind us. We know we have the speed to break up the field and that our counter-attacks can hurt any team.”
Besides highlighting the work of Mike Collins, life president of the club, and Donal Hayes (chairman) John Webb-O’Rourke has this week found himself overwhelmed by the public support shown for his side.
“We recognise the fact of the generous support from the local community,” John Webb-Rourke said.
“The good will directed at the team locally has been fantastic.
“Kilmallock is very much a GAA town, but the soccer club gets great support and so does Bruff rugby club.
“If there’s a town in this country with as much sporting activity going on I’d be very surprised. We have something special out here.
“I believe there are in excess of 200 people heading to Dublin, all the senior hurlers are going up to support the team and I hear as well that the Skylon Hotel in Dromcondra is booked out. To give you an idea of the support we have let me tell you this: both the Manchester United supporters club and the rugby supporters club in Kilmallock have made contributions to our campaign. That gives you an idea of the kind of the spirit that is in this town. It’s just fantastic and a pleasure to be part of.”
Even though Kilmallock are blessed with gifted players like goalkeeper Robert Egan, left-back Jake Mulcahy, Cian Burchill and Chris Todd in midfield and the outstanding Paul Doona up front it’s absolutely extraordinary to note that 12 of the 16-man squad for next Sunday’s final are underage again next season.
John Webb-O’Rourke however isn’t interested in waiting another year to bring a national title back to Limerick.
His side, who have already won the District League and cup double, desperately want to emulate Wembley Rovers who won the Under-17 Challenge Cup twice in the last five years.
“My job is to make sure that we bring that cup back to Kilmallock,” said a determined John Webb-O’Rourke.
“That’s our job. We know the lads have the ability to win it so all we have to do is instil the belief in them to do it. If we can do that the result will look after itself.
“And, I can tell you one thing if Belvedere beat us they’ll be a very good side. We’ve got the most committed bunch of players you could ever experience and I can’t see them being beaten.”
Brian McDonnell
Posts
