Mick Meaney still enjoying Carrigaline journey
St Mary's manager Maurice Fitzgerald and Carrigaline manager Mick Meaney after 2015 AIB Munster Club IFC Final. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
By Cian O’Connell
Mick Meaney and Carrigaline football. It just works. In his third stint as Carrigaline manager, Meaney is still going strong.
During the past couple of decades, significant progress has been made. When the setbacks and defeats occurred, though, Meaney and Carrigaline summoned responses. That’s what sport is about.
Having reached the top tier, relegation in 2023 hurt, but Carrigaline remained defiant. In the intervening years, they’ve re-established themselves, and are now preparing for a Cork SFC Semi-Final against 23 times winners Nemo Rangers at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday evening. “Funnily enough, the year we got relegated it was one of our best years performance wise at that level,” Meaney reflects.
“As things panned out, the results didn't go. We weren't too far off with the results; there was only two or three points in every game. We went to a replay with Mallow.
"After that, it was disappointing, but over the last four or five years, after every year, we go away, we will meet after three weeks to see where we want to go.
“There was a determination from the management and players after being relegated, that we were going to put the shoulder to the wheel for 2024. The aim was to simply get back up as fast as we could with hard work.
“Thankfully, things went our way, and we got there. We've continued that on since then, in the last two years up in premier senior football.”
High profile matches against the likes of Nemo is precisely where Carrigaline want to be. “It's something we've built towards over the last couple of years, to get where we are now,” Meaney says.
“We went through a lot of stuff to get there. At the end of the day, we learned from last year. We learned an awful lot from the quarter-final against Newcestown, we lost on penalties.
“I think we brought momentum from that coming into this year, fellas just wanted to improve ourselves, and to learn from last year. Thankfully, so far, so good, and things have gone our way again.”
Meaney highlights the value and importance of developing a team and standards. While the Newcestown loss was harrowing, it illustrated that Carrigaline could compete in the latter stages of a competitive championship. “Absolutely, people look at us, and it hasn't happened overnight,” Meaney replies instantly.
Cork's Brian O'Driscoll of Cork wears a Carrigaline GAA armband in memory of his late club teammate Darragh King. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
“It's about hard work over four or five years with the management and players, the coach Kevin O'Sullivan.
“Also, we've Aidan O'Connell in with us for the S&C, all of the management outside of the training field and the players, it's a combination of both management and players driving forward together, singing off the same hymn sheet.”
The connection forged with Carrigaline players through the decades is critical for Meaney. “Everyone that's around you, and you surround yourself with the people that you want around you, they've the same enthusiasm,” he says.
“It makes it all worthwhile. With this group we have at the moment, over the last four or five years, there isn't a training session or a match that you wouldn't want to go to with these fellas.
“They're very self-motivated, they're very resilient in what they're looking for. They've taken the knocks, in 2023 the relegation, and came back straight up. There is a drive, that then drives the management on to see what's in front of us. It works both ways.”
At underage level, Carrigaline remain eager to develop competent players for the future with Meaney acknowledging those who are carrying out diligent work. “It's a big thing really in any club, the chairman, John Dineen at underage level, the structure they've in place at underage, it is absolutely fantastic,” Meaney says.
“The volume of teams that are involved at underage is magnificent. The fruits of it are shown with our minors winning a county a couple of weeks ago against Douglas. It's in a good place because a lot of hard work is being done outside of the training, in the club itself, to maintain that, and to push forward, to compete against the likes of the Nemos, the Barrs, and Castlehavens.
“It's a pathway for any young lad looking up, to see where we're at, just to give a pathway for them to see that we can compete at the top level at this stage now.”
Meaney is still relishing the sporting journey with Carrigaline. “We first started out at this level in 2007 until 2010,” he says about his steps into management.
“Then, we came back in again in 2014 to 2016, took a break, and got the call in 2021. So, from 2021 until the present. In between that, we got involved in the U21 team in 2011 and 2012. We've been tipping away, keeping motivated to get involved.
“The only thing is the aim is if we can contribute and improve people as a person, the whole lot, and help them along the way. I just enjoy it. That's the bottom line.”
