St Michael’s can take heart from a tough league campaign

On the surface, St Michael’s McCarthy Insurance Group Division 1 Football League campaign might look like a failure: one win, seven defeats, and a scoring difference of -32.

But manager Pa Doyle has plenty of reasons to be optimistic.

Their heaviest loss was an 11-point defeat to Castlehaven, followed by a seven-point reversal to St Finbarr’s last weekend. However, the margins in their other five losses were much narrower: four points against Cill na Martra, one against Newcestown, five against Éire Óg, three against Douglas, and five against Clonakilty.

They’ve been competitive — and that counts for a lot in Division 1.

“We were competitive in every game, to be honest,” Doyle began. “ [We] probably left two or three games behind us, just down to game management in the last 10 minutes.” Doyle also points to the development within the squad as a major plus.

“We’ve blooded a lot of guys this year, all playing Division 1 football, so we’re in a good shape for championship, I’m happy enough. I know we lost a number of games, but we’ll be back.” 

The St Finbarr’s challenge was always going to be a tough one. Not only were the Barrs at near full strength, including Steven Sherlock, but Michael’s were without a host of key players.

“Eleven [players missing]. So it’s kind of a lot – hence why I’m togged out!” he laughed. “But look, fellas need to have a life too – so they’re on holidays these couple of weeks.

We’ll have everyone back now for a good six or seven week stretch ahead of championship, and we’ll be ready.

“I was the only togged sub [that didn’t come on]. Thank God – for all involved! It is what it is. We got enough out of the league for what we were looking for, we’ve got another game against Nemo, then we’re all systems go for championship.” 

TWO-POINT PROWESS

What St Michael’s can be pleased with is their two-point shooting. They’ve managed a very impressive 16 orange flags so far in this campaign. That’s as many as Newcestown, and more than every other Division 1 side except St Finbarr’s and Cill na Martra.

It may not mean much for their league – given they’re on the cusp of relegation. It hasn’t translated into wins, it’s a promising indicator heading into the championship.

Leading the charge in that department is Luke O’Herlihy, who has ed for 12 of those 16 scores. Even though he had an off night by his own standards against St Finbarr’s, he’s proven beyond doubt in the league this year that he is one of the best two-point shooters in Cork.

“Luke’s just one of the team, one of 15,” Doyle explained. “He still played well tonight, just a couple of kicks probably didn’t go the right for him, but overall it was a good performance.

“We worked hard, we were missing a lot of guys at the moment, so overall I’d be very happy with that performance.” 

When asked if he’s confident ahead of St Michael’s championship campaign, Doyle’s message was simple; “Always.” 

That confidence is certainly merited. St Michael’s don’t have an easy group by any means – no one does – but it’s an open one. Nemo Rangers will be the top dog to take down, but Ballincollig and Douglas are teams they’ll certainly be able to go toe-to-toe with.

The new rules are going to make this year’s championship, and given that St Michael’s are one of the teams to have taken the orange flag in their stride, they could surprise a few.

With the likes of Luke O’Herlihy and Adam Hennessy in form, they’ll be a tough side to contain.