A 'RELENTLESS' determination to remain ahead of the chasing pack is driving Kilcoo to new heights, according to joint manager Richard Thornton.
The all-conquering Magpies will contest an 11th consecutive Down final against Warrenpoint on Sunday, and they are aiming to clinch a 10th title since a decade of domination began in 2012.
As a player with the emerging Tyrone team of the Noughties before injury curtailed his inter-county career, and then as a coach with the likes of Donegal under Rory Gallagher, Thornton has a clear insight into what makes the top players tick.
The Coalisland man was in his first year as part of Mickey Moran’s management team when Kilcoo were crowned All-Ireland champions in February, and any fears their hunger could drop off after reaching the Holy Grail have been answered emphatically.
So, as another Down decider looms, what’s the secret? Something, Thornton insists, that cannot be coached.
“It’s a strange one because there’s so many different characters within that squad, and they all bring their own piece to the jigsaw,” he said.
“You have that mixture of youth, guys in the middle and then that real good experience from the boys at the end there. Within the whole group it’s a constant ‘what can we do better? You’ve got to be doing this better’.
“That’s the main thing keeping the lads driving on… what can we do next? There doesn’t seem to be a let off. And the big thing is their pride in Kilcoo – we have to be better than everybody else.
“It bears out on the pitch, it bears out in those situations where other teams would wilt away under the pressure. They’re relentless. Every year it’s just ‘right, we have to be the best again’.
“That’s the way they do everything.”
That was evident several times in their last campaign, not least in those All-Ireland semi-final and final victories over St Finbarr’s and Kilmacud Croke’s respectively, and again this year too.
Against Clonduff almost three weeks ago, Kilcoo were staring down the barrel of an early championship exit but, after the game went to extra-time, the Magpies eventually held their nerve to progress on penalties.
It has happened so often, that calmness under pressure and refusal to panic is now engrained, says Thornton.
“Last year was my first year and the experience I had with them boys – the extra-times, looking like you were possibly going to get chinned but then boys just keeping their composure, sticking to the plan.
“If you think of it, they’ve been doing that for years now. For so long people have been trying to knock them off their perch, and within that comes so much experience and match smarts.
“They always believe they’ll get another chance, and there’s a calmness within the group. They are controlled, they regulate themselves on the pitch - they do it in training too and you see it even with the younger boys breaking in now.
“Macdarragh Hynes, Tiernan Fettes, Callum Rogers, them boys know you have to be at the top of your game if you want to squeeze some of these boys out. That helps pushing them on. When we’re at training, there’s high expectations every week and that’s helping build the squad.
“These boys have been building for quite a long time, there’s nobody leaves really, the same squad pretty much sticks together. Still the age profile of the squad is good, so you try and add to the group and add to the team to keep the whole thing going in the one direction.
“It’s a very hard culture to build in any other team, but it’s just the way it is here.”
