Club ethos central to success for O’Kelly

By Shane Brophy

“It’s unbelievable, stuff of dreams really to be honest,” admitted Jake O’Kelly following Sunday’s Munster Senior Challenge Cup final victory for Nenagh Ormond.

“We came here a couple of years ago to play Young Munster and thought that was our one and only shot of ever winning the Senior Cup.

“But we have fought over the last few years. The lads have built an unbelievable squad and we are lucky to be back here today.”

So, what does the versatile second row/back row put the rise and level of consistency over the last three years down to?

“We have this mantra we live by of, One Club,” he stresses.

“Anyone that comes in from other clubs they buy into it, it’s like a family.”

It was almost a bittersweet occasion for O’Kelly who limped off the field after just eleven minutes with an ankle injury that wasn’t as serious as first feared and he return on the quarter hour to try and turn the tide of a game that was going against Nenagh, before being called ashore with fifteen minutes to go.

“We were slow to get into the game. It has been our Achilles heel this season,” O’Kelly added.

“We came into it in the second half, but it took us longer than we hoped to get into the game and thankfully we did when the bench came on and they were unbelievable.

“It was nice looking on, there on the sideline and realising how much work has gone into it over the last few years. You are looking at young lads coming through, the likes of Joe Coffey, Fionn O’Meara, and you are saying to yourself that this is a bright future for the club ahead.

“You could name ten to fifteen lads that didn’t even get to tog today that could have been easily in the squad and that comes back to the One-Club motto. We train on Tuesday and Thursday and lads are fighting to hold onto their spot and get into the team and that is what drives us on every week we go out and play.”