BURREN joint-manager Stephen O’Hare hopes their sideline freshness can help lift any “baggage” off their players ahead of a third final in four years against Kilcoo.
Since the Magpies’ run of 11 titles in the last 12 years began, they’ve ended Burren’s season eight times, five of them in finals.
2018 was the last time the result was reversed and Burren’s only other wins since 2013 came in early round games. Both times, in 2015 and ‘16, Kilcoo later knocked them out.
Last year’s final was one of the most psychologically difficult, dominated by pre-match events that left everyone unsure if there would be a game at all until close to throw-in.
In the shape of a new management team of O’Hare, Dan McCartan and Brendan Hackett, along with fresh introductions to the team like Aaron Cole and Niall Toner, they will see ways in which to relieve the minds of all that hardship.
“[We’ll] just do what we normally do, work on our own gameplan, work on our transition play and cut out mistakes if we can. We’re working on it all year since we started training in February, we’re not gonna change now.
“Kilcoo knew what was going on last year. We turned up last year and 40 minutes before the match, we didn’t know [who] the ref is.
“There’s other players in there have never played Kilcoo in the championship, they’ll be fresh with no baggage. We’ve no baggage.”
O’Hare watched Kilcoo’s semi-final win over rank underdogs Glenn on Down GAA TV on Saturday evening. It told them very little they didn’t already know.
“I saw it on TV. Kilcoo looked very impressive as they always do. Glenn scored their 10 points, Kilcoo got 17.
“They’re the benchmark, we know we’re gonna have to take our A game in two weeks’ time.”