HIGHFIELD coach Fergus Burke has been around long enough to know that AIL’s aren’t won in September but he’d also be the first to admit that momentum is important going into the season and Highfield certainly have that after their one-point win over Cashel at Spafield in the Charity Cup.
“It’s not an easy place to come and we knew we’d be up against it.
“Cashel haven’t been beaten many times in the last two years and especially at home so the win is pleasing from that aspect.”
Having a decent sized squad is one of the keys to a good run in the AIL and there are certainly a few of the fringe players putting their hand up for an AIL start.
“It’s still early in the season and we are still missing seven or eight guys but the great thing about today’s game is that the guys that did come in put their hands up and everybody wants to get on this team.
“We’re using these fixtures to look at guys to see who we’ve got and how we are doing and it’s all about building towards September 29th.”
While there are players who have come in from other clubs, Highfield’s are beginning to see the fruits of their labours at underage emerge.
“There’s been a couple of guys come in and it’s creating a good competition for places for us.
“Today we had the likes of Sean Quaid coming through, he played U18 last year and it was great to be able to introduce him in the second half and get him used to playing with us. It’s great to see the guys from the underage coming through because ultimately, that is what you’d like to see.”
The Cork club gave away eight penalties and two soft tries in the first half and it was something they talked about at the break says the coach.
“We had a good chat at half time. We had to address a couple of issues, we were missing a couple of first up tackles and allowing them get easy enough scores and we talked about it and to be fair to the lads they went out and pulled it together but what was the most encouraging was the last 10 minutes there where they threw the kitchen sink at us and our discipline was good.”
That last 10 minutes could decide the tone of Highfield’s season if they are able to tough it out in close games.
“I said it to the guys at the end, and we would have seen it a lot last year, that the margins are really tight between the teams and sometimes it can come down to the kick of a ball or a refereeing decision that decides a game and I told them I was happy with the way we kept our shape and our defence up at the end.
“There’s plenty to work on but it’s a good result and we’ll look forward to the final next week.”