Kiskeam looking to put challenging few years behind them

SINCE the Cork County Championships were revamped, Kiskeam have yet to make an impression, so will that change in 2024?

Now heading into the fifth season under the group format, the Duhallow club who are in the senior A football championship, have yet to qualify for the knockout stages. There have been a couple of hard luck stories but there have also been mitigating circumstances too.

Last season, Kiskeam were relegated from the top-tier of the league and then finished bottom of their championship group but had amassed two points so avoided a relegation play-off. Injuries didn’t help last year with the obvious one being Cork footballer Seán Meehan who missed Kiskeam's championship campaign.

But a new year brings new hope regardless of what happened in the campaign before, but it's a case of judging Kiskeam come championship time. You could say that about a lot of clubs but they are a different animal with Meehan in their ranks. The McCarthy Insurance Group Division 2 football league hasn’t gone well for the Duhallow side, losing all six games and with three matches remaining, relegation looks on the cards.

Manager John Sheahan is not overly pleased with the season to date but he’s remaining hopeful with the start of the championship just over two months away.

“It’s a challenging time at the moment no doubt about it, but there’s a great bunch of lads there,” he says.

“I certainly can’t fault their effort or endeavour. They are working very hard in training and at the end of the day, it’s all about championship. The lads have been very unlucky in recent seasons. Last year I think Kiskeam were down five starters for the championship.

“I came in at the start of this campaign and we as a management team haven’t changed an awful lot to be honest. They are just a fantastic bunch of players. One thing I have made sure of is that if we are training at 7.30pm, everyone is on the pitch for 7.25pm. Just small things like that. Timekeeping is very important.

“The league results don’t look great but the performances have been there, but we have yet to play for the full hour and that’s obviously something we are working on. You won’t play well for the whole match, but when you're on the backfoot, you have to make sure you stay in the contest and that’s something that has been our downfall to date.” 

Sheahan has brought in with him Ivor Flynn from Spa in Kerry as well as John Angland, who was a selector when Kiskeam famously won the PIFC title in 2016. It’s a new management team with a new way of playing.

“Ivor Flynn has been a breath of fresh air and given time, I think he will be brilliant for us,” Sheahan said.

“We have tweaked the way the team had been playing previously and we knew at the start of the year that it was going to take a period of time. Ivor is big on the high press and work rate all over the pitch. We want to play attacking football. We don’t want to be one of these overdefensive teams. It’s all about getting the balance right.

“Ivor is getting his messages across and you can see that over the last few weeks. We are slowly moving in the right direction. Ivor is a very good talker, very passionate about the club. He really has taken to Kiskeam straightaway.” 

The McCarthy Insurance Group senior A football championship group stage draw couldn’t have been any tougher for Sheahan and his Kiskeam troops. Their aim of finishing in the top two will be very difficult as they will come up against Carrigaline, relegated from the top-tier last year, 2023 PIFC winners Cill na Martra and Béal Átha’n Ghaorthaidh who are always tricky customers.

“It’s an extremely tough group, let's not beat around the bush. Carrigaline are favourites for the championship in my eyes. Cill na Martra are on a high after last year and ourselves and Béal Átha’n Ghaorthaidh have played each other many times over the last 20 years and there’s never much between us. But look, the aim is to finish in the top two. Kiskeam haven't done that yet and it’s a huge motivation for us.” Sheahan concluded.