Trevor Fletcher - the Roscrea man, adopted son of Kilcormac, who is now managing Shinrone

TREVOR Fletcher will experience a full range of emotions in the coming days as he bids to guide Shinrone to a historic first Offaly Senior Hurling Championship title.

One of the top managers on the Offaly club scene in recent years, Fletcher is married to a Kilcormac woman, Gemma Feighery and lives in the town – Gemma's father, the late Tom was a long serving Fianna Fail councillor, a dedicated Kilcormac-Killoughey supporter.

A native of Roscrea, the nearest town to Shinrone, he played most of his club hurling with the Tipp club. He went to America in 2003, came back in 2007 and hurled with them until 2010 when he transferred to his new home, Kilcormac-Killoughey.

He became a very important part of the Kilcormac-Killoughey senior hurling team for years. An accurate scorer, he was part of the panel that won three Senior Hurling Championships in a row from 2012 to 2014, winning a Leinster club title in 2012 – he scored a goal as they went very close against St Thomas of Galway in the 2013 All-Ireland club final.

“It's strange in a way. I know Shane (Hand, the K-K manager) quite well. It is going to be different on the sideline. I am good friends with a lot of the boys. It is tough but you just have to get on with things.”

“I was discussing it with Gemma coming in the road there. It was probably the best time of our life in Kilcormac. The period from '`12 to '14, the three in a row. The period from October 2012 when we won our first county title to the All-Ireland club final next March was fantasy land really. It was win after win after win. It is huge. It's a great lift for the parish as you can probably see here in Shinrone. Hopefully it will bring the Shinrone parish together,” he smiled last week.

He finished playing in 2017 and was not on the K-K panel that won a Senior Hurling Championship title that year.

By then, his managerial ambitions had developed. He took over Silvermines in Tipperary in 2015 and learnt a lot there – they were in the senior hurling relegation play off that year but survived.

He then took over Belmont, having a four great years with them, though they just couldn't make the big breakthrough of reaching a final, suffering some agonising defeats in semi-finals.

“Yeah I heard Brian Carroll saying on the radio, I had got over my semi-final voodoo. And I was conscious of it. I won't lie. I was after losing five semi-finals in a row, four with Belmont and last year with Shinrone. On a personal note, it's great for myself but at the end of the day it's all about Shinrone.”

Shinrone are a team that have made gradual improvements over the last five or six years but they struggled to get over big games. What would you think has changed this year?

“ I think it's belief in themselves. We spoke about nine knockout games they lost in a row up to last year's semi-final. Then we played St Rynagh's and it was good. The way we won, they were three points up. I kept harping onto them that the hurling was there. It was to get the belief to get over that sort of a match.”

What about your path to the final?

“The Coolderry game was quite tight. There is huge local rivalry between Shinrone and Coolderry and for Shinrone to get a win over Coolderry – which doesn't happen too often – was a great morale boost for the lads. We way underperformed the first day against Belmont. Belmont were very good on all sides of the game. They worked hard and did very well. I knew after that there was more in the boys. We had a good chat after the Belmont game and trained hard and I was quite happy with the performance against St Rynagh's.”

How do you explain being so far behind in the Belmont group game?

“I still don't know to be honest. It was one of those games where we lacked intent. Our work rate was poor in general and I felt we were way off the pace. It was after coming off a win against Coolderry so how do you explain it. We prepared quite well. It was just one of those days where it didn't happen for us.”

Was it at the back of the lads minds that it wasn't a knock out game?

“No I don't think so.At the end of the day, the prize was a semi-final spot. We trained hard and prepared as well as we could going into the Belmont game but on the day it just didn't happen for us, we were flat on the day. You can say Belmont didn't let it happen for us either.”

You must have been worried in the Belmont game as ye were down seven in the second half of the semi-final?

“Absolutely. We went in six points down at half-time. There were no big roars at half time. We spoke during the week about how we would perform and we just didn't play the way we said we talked about. I just asked them to take the shackles off as we had nothing to loose. I think we were eight points down twice in the second half. I think the big turning point was when we got it back to seven and we scored three points in a row. It gave them some sort of belief. The goals went in. The first goal that went in gave them huge belief. They just stuck at it. Sometimes you need a bit of luck and we got a bit of luck on the day.

Does playing in O'Connor Park make much of a difference for Shinrone?

“No. I don't think it makes much of a difference. At the end of the day to me it doesn't make much of a difference. It's a field.”

How do you cope with the excitement in the area

“ Absolutely. I am just going on my own hurling career with Kilcormac and I just told the boys they need to stay in the hurling bubble and concentrate on it. We have a county final to try and win. Let everyone else outside of that circle look after the preparations in the village. In fairness to the boys, they are well focussed on preparing for the match.”

Is it an ambition of yours to manage Kilcormac/ Killoughey?

“It is probably too early in my career to be honest with you. I am still quite friendly with a lot of the boys on the team. It is something I personally wouldn't want to do yet anyway. They are very good friends and I soldiered with them. Other people can do it if they want but me personally, I wouldn't want that.”

It is something that might happen though?

“We will see. And it's if they want me!”

Does the fact that Shinrone is one of only two parishes in Offaly that have never won a final make a difference?

“At the end of the days it's another match for the boys and that's the way we're preparing for it. Outside of the hurling circle, people people are going to say we havn't won one before and ask how are we going to deal with the pressure. I am just trying to prepare the boys and please God it will be a 50:50 game and we have to try and perform on the day.”

Shinrone weren't quite good enough against Coolderry in the semi-final last year but weren't that far away. Did that give ye hope for this year?

“Absolutely. We gave them a nine point lead just after the second half and brought it back and lost by three. Even after we got it back, they pulled away from us. The boys know they didn't perform in the first half and we spoke about that at the start of this year. We spoke about getting back to see if we could rectify that. We got back to the semi-final and we got over the line this time.”

The fact that so many players on the team are related to each other does that help?

“It can be a help or a burden to be quite honest with you. They are brothers and cousins so they will probably put in an extra inch or two to help each other out. It's the same with K/K, there are plenty of brothers and cousins there too.”

In some of the games this year ye have used a tactic of Ciaran Carey being very effective as full forward. That is something K/K will be very aware of and will try to counter?

“Absolutely. Ciaran didn't start the first few games but he started to perform. He was just off form, that is all. In fairness to the fellow he asked me what he needed to do to get on the team. We had a chat about it and he is on the team now because he turned around and started to do what we asked him to do for the team. He is a huge target to have. Look it's very similar to Ger Healion for K/K,who was fantastic in the semi-final. It won't be all in on top of Ciaran and we will have to try and change our game a bit because K/K will be very aware of that. We will have to try and move the ball quicker.”

What would it mean to you personally to be first manager to win a senior championships with Shinrone?

“For me, it's about the team. Once a team performs, I will be happy. If they lose to a better team and perform well on the day, I would be happy. If they win it would be great for me but more importantly it would be better for the players and the parish.”

You have to feel Shinrone have a chance anyway, even though K-K are a proven team and are in form?

“They are the form team this year. They are still there. They have won five out of five. They know how to win finals. It's gonna be a huge task for us. I think the boys are up for it. We will give it a good go.”