Stubbornness sees Annaduff coming back year after year believes Conor

Stubbornness isn’t often regarded as an attractive quality but for Conor Reynolds, it is that very same quality that sees Annaduff back in their third Smith Monumentals IFC Final in four seasons next Sunday when they take on Melvin Gaels in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada.

“Absolutely delighted to get back, that was the goal at the start of the year,” said Conor when asked for his reaction after last Saturday’s semi-final win over Allen Gaels, “The young lads coming in gave us a bit more bite and really helped us so thrilled to be back in the final and Darren (Cox) was probably the difference on the day.”

So what is it about Annaduff that keeps them coming back for more? “It is probably a bit of stubbornness! We still have the likes of Ray there, he really drives it on. I don’t know how he keeps going, I’d hope to be half the man he is when I’m his age. But we have young lads coming in and that’s a big plus. 

Annaduff back in final as Cox inspires victory over Allen Gaels in epic shootout

ANNADUFF 4-10 ALLEN GAELS 0-18

“If you have lads dropping off and you’ve nobody to fill their shoes, it is a big problem but we have Darren, Eoghan Ridge, Daniel Bosquette, all these boys coming in the last few years. We have a really good Minor team, probably three or four lads coming up next year so if we have older boys dropping off, they’re going to come in and that’s down to all the coaching that is going on in Annaduff on Saturday mornings.”

But reaching finals is one thing, Conor stresses the main aim next Sunday is victory, even if he is fully aware of the scale of the task. “To win it, I know it is a simple answer but just to get over the line,” is Conor’s response when asked what Annaduff are looking for.

“We’ve been in enough finals and semi-finals since we’ve came down to this grade and to be honest, we haven’t shown up in any of the finals when we got there and that’s something we’re going to have to work on, showing up, getting a good start to the game because that is where we fell off last year. 

“We’ve really tough opposition in Melvin Gaels, they gave us a good trouncing in the group stage in Annaduff. It is not going to be easy but we’ll be up for it anyway.”

Facing Melvin Gaels and their disciplined defensive unit is no easy task: “It will be a lot different - Allen Gaels are probably the opposite of Melvin Gaels who like to get lads back and crowd you out of it. Today was a really open game which probably suits us in a way - we struggled against Ballinaglera who would be similar to Melvin Gaels in getting lads back and very structured.”

With a wedding in the parish after Saturday's semi-final win, Annaduff don’t have a lot of time to get ready but that may not be a bad thing either: “We don’t have a lot of time to work on it but we’ll look at it during the week. Getting the bodies right is going to be the main thing. We won’t get a whole lot done in terms of work, it will be just getting hands on ball, doing a recovery session, a light session on Tuesday and going over things on Friday.”

As Annaduff’s only County representative, how does Conor view the split season? “To be honest, it is tough on the body - I can find it  this time of the year, we’ve been going since last October. We only really got two weeks off, I’ve picked up some niggles and that is definitely because you get no break. 

“Then the ground this time of year doesn’t help but if it helps the club lads, so be it. If we don’t get a break, so be it - as long as we’re playing football, everyone is happy enough.”

Late goal seals Melvin Gaels place in Final

MELVIN GAELS 1-6 KILTUBRID 0-6

Right now, performing in Sunday’s Final is the main concern for Conor: “We’ll give it our all and I suppose we’re quietly confident. We’re going in as underdogs and sometimes I think that suits us. Last year, everyone was expecting us to beat Aughnasheelin because we saw off Allen Gaels in the semi-final and we were going in really confident. 

“People are obviously going to have Melvin Gaels as favourites because they gave us such a beating in the group stages and I think that will suit us to be honest.”