Naomh Bríd needed a reset
Aaron Amond in action for Naomh Bríd in this season's Championship
When Naomh Bríd trot out onto the Netwatch Cullen Park pitch on Saturday next one would be forgiven for feeling there is somewhat of a Lazarus touch to what their supporters are witnessing.
Last season the club could have only been embarrassed when they didn’t field an intermediate side and while they won a replayed junior shield final this was surely not a green shoots offering?
As it turned out this was exactly what it was. The first step to redemption. They are back in the intermediate final and look every part of a side that is on a mission.
“I put it this way to you. Sometimes a club has to come back and reset,” says manager, Rob Sheehan.
“We had to reflect on what we are about. Basically a whole new understanding and a whole new culture had to be changed within the club,” he added.
The club won the senior hurling championship the first year of its foundation in 1996. There were further senior successes in 2004 and 2008.
“The club is going 30 years. Sometimes a bit of staleness happens. The club needed a different point of view, a different perspective and the club from the top down, the committee, the chairman decided to put a plan in place. A five year plan. They decided to start with nurseries and improve that end of it from underage. Have all the adult teams going as well,” Sheehan explained.
Grandiose plans are of little use if the work is not put in. That means all hands working and not just from one person. Naomh Bríd seem to have found something.
“A lot of work behind the scenes has been put into place,” says Sheehan.
“It couldn’t stay going the way it was going especially after last year. Everybody upped their game. It wasn’t ideal for any club not to field. There had to be a whole revival in the Naomh Bríd club. Players took it on board as well. We created a whole leadership in the club and in the teams. Communication improved dramatically during the year. It is being driven by the committee.” The club have applied for planning permission at their Superbowl pitch in Leighlinbridge.
“Maybe sometimes you have to fail before you realise you have to change, revive and revisit what they were doing and that is what happened,” agreed Sheehan.
“If you had said to us at the start of the year that we would have got to a semi-final, lads would have been happy. As the year progressed there was a sense that there was something going on here. Players bought in.” It is always dangerous to mention individuals as you can leave someone out. Sheehan takes a chance with this one.
“Probably one of the unsung heroes is Kieran Delaney, the coach. He has been exceptional. Everyone brought into his coaching. He was very direct. He is a players’ player. He played in an All-Ireland club final (with Ballyragget). He understands what it takes to be successful. He was able to get it across. The young lads bought into him very quickly and that is probably a big reason if the truth be known,” notes Sheehan.
Then there are others who have been in the club for years and have taken the blows and still come back for more.
“Aidan O’Toole has also been an integral part of the revival and his experience and involvement with the players at underage level has been invaluable.
There are a lot of lads. The Chairman. The committee. Alan Brennan did a lot of work as secretary.” The six year olds playing mini-games on match day in the Superbowl is working. That meant the parents were there as well and they could see what was going on. Sheehan says it took a bit of work to get it going but this has paid off.
The club also won under 15 Feile in Carlow.
So on Saturday can Naomh Bríd go the whole way and carry on with the revival?
“It is a formidable task ahead,” says Sheehan.
“Without a doubt. Mount Leinster Rangers and St Mullins are the two stalwarts of Carlow at the moment. Every team they put out has a standard that everyone has to match up to whether it is junior, intermediate or senior. A rising tide will lift all boats and hurling will be the real winner. They are not coming back to the bunch. They are driving on and everyone else has to reach that standard,” says Sheehan.
“There are some very good hurlers on that team. Robert Stafford at centre back. Paul Coady scored five points in the semi-final. They are a very good team. You saw the effect Paul had in the semi-final. He was probably the difference between Rangers and Carlow Town. Not just him. They have a good balance. They can hurl either left-handed or right-handed the way their seniors do. That means they are training with their seniors. Their touch will improve to that standard as well. On paper, we are probably favourites but a favourite tag means nothing,” suggests Sheehan.
The Leighlinbridge based club know they will not have Conor Carew available. He picked up a quad injury in an earlier game which has kept him out of action. After that they have a big and ambitious panel to pick from as they go on the next step of their journey.
