Putting the finishing touches to preparations for the upcoming Ulster minor hurling club competition, Kevin Lynch’s manager, Ryan O’Neill, speaks to DerryGAA.ie.
As thoughts turn to AGMs and dinner dances, the concept of hurling through November nights won't hold great appeal for many. However, when you're winning – like Kevin Lynch's minors have been doing under manager Ryan O'Neill – the turkey and ham can wait a while longer.
"We have been training two or three nights a week now over the past couple of months. Some of the lads, and myself, have also been involved with the U21s so between that and in-house games, we're going well. I'm pleased with preparations to date."
Having beaten Slaughtneil in the county final, O'Neill reveals that they "took a few weeks off", but "were back out again for the first week of September".
Covering such duration without competitive games is a challenge, but it's one the management team have been keen to address through their preparations from the very start. Variety is the spice of life as O'Neill explains:
"We've been training under the lights at Owenbeg and at our own Garvagh Road base on weekends. Craigbane have also been very good in letting us train indoors at their 3G; so we've had a good variety of locations with different types of training mixed in. That's important to keep the lads engaged and interested."
Schools hurling has also helped, with three of O'Neill's players also featuring on the St Pat's Maghera team which went agonisingly close to a Mageean Cup win only weeks ago.
"Ciaran Steele played for Maghera as did Eoin and Niall Smith," says O'Neill.
Having watched Steele collect the U16 county title at Owenbeg as captain back in August, O'Neill reckons he is one for the future:
"Ciaran is a great lad and would be a big player for us. He's young yet but has all the ability in the world with a good attitude to match. We'd be hopeful that he would have a big future ahead of him with us."
It's all a long way from the victory over Slaughtneil on a blistering hot afternoon in Banagher back in July which saw the Lynch's claim their first county minor title since 2001. Back then, the Dungiven lads went on to claim the Ulster title, laying foundations for their dominance of the senior championship throughout the 2000's.
"We had lost three or four finals since 2001 so it was great to finally win one," admits O'Neill.
"That team back in 2001 featured lads like Liam Hinphey, Paul Gillen, who I think was only 15 at the time, Kevin Farren and Brian Mullan; Benny Mullan too. They went on to be the backbone of the senior side which enjoyed a lot of success. We'll be hoping to replicate that; get a good run in Ulster, and then bring the lads through to senior."
It's a poignant moment when O'Neill stumbles across the name of Paul Gillen in his recollection of twelve years previous. Tragically killed in a car crash on 2January 2006, nineteen year-old Gillen was a renowned underage hurler whose name is given to one of the trio of competitions O'Neill's young charges have won in 2013. League and championship winners, followed by the Paul Gillen Cup have given the Lynch's an appetite for success as they go into an Ulster semi-final against Armagh's Cuchulainns on Saturday.
A mirror image of the St Paul's tournament in football, the competition has grown from strength to strength from its inception in 1995, and now features teams from all of Ulster's nine counties.
That the Ballinascreen club are the hosts of the Ulster minor hurling tournament is no accident. Speaking earlier this year 'screen chairman, Francis McCloskey, explained the background to the competition, saying that its foundation "would be largely down to the vision and work of Seamus Doherty" who "applied to Croke Park to have the competition recognised and would still be heavily involved in running".
Played on a Shield and Cup basis, with the Shield winners coming through to the Cup semi-finals, the structure has given the Lynch's manager the opportunity to watch his next opponents first hand.
"Yeah, I've gotten down to most of their games so far at Screen. They're a strong team, as you would expect from any Armagh side. I would also know their manager Padraig O'Connor fairly well. We hosted them for a challenge game back during the summer which was very competitive, although we were missing five or six players from Saturday's probable line-up.
"They're a big team with a good midfield and a talented full forward line. We know we're going to have to perform. We're fully focussed on playing our game though which is attacking hurling. We'll be aiming to get a good start – get a foothold in the game – and see where that takes us."
With the final due to take place on December 1, O'Neill is determined to see the hard work through the dark nights pay off, and take his club through to hurl right into the final month of 2013.
Sat 16th Nov Cup S-Finals (at Ballinascreen)
At 12:30pm: Kevin Lynch’s (Derry) vs. Cuchulainns (Armagh) Referee: Owen Elliot (Antrim)
At 2:00pm Ruairi Og Cushendall (Antrim) vs. Portaferry (Down) Referee: Alan Nash (Derry)
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