Shinrone skipper highlights ‘massive’ hunger for second title

By Kevin Egan

When Shinrone were coming closer to their second ever county final in 2022, a contest that would ultimately see them crowned as Offaly senior champions for the first and only time in their history, there was no shortage of talk about history.

Whether it was the story of their 1960 campaign, their previous venture to a county senior final, or the club’s recent history, the shadows from which they emerged were never far away.

Now, three years later, it’s less about history and more about the people. Sunday’s final could be the difference between Shinrone being remembered as a contender for team of the decade, and one-hit wonders. For Killian Sampson, team captain and a player who was very early in his career for that final three years ago, that is what matters this Sunday against Kilcormac-Killoughey.

“It would be massive to add that second title and it's not even about statistics or history or anything like that,” he told the Offaly Independent.

“We're just hungry. We have the group, we have the players now, we know how difficult it is to get to these county finals.

“I don't know how many stories I heard from the older lads of county quarter-finals that they've lost and how hard it is to get there. So we're eager to get to next Sunday and get going.

“We know we have all the work done, we have the players, we have the dressing room, we have the management. If we can just show up on the day and put in that performance, then we'll get close enough,” he continued.

Killian lined out at wing forward in that final three years ago, with his brother Jason on the opposite wing. Mark Morkan was also part of the panel, and when the management job opened up this winter, the club felt that it was the right time to look internally and to harness the experience and knowledge of Morkan, with Conor Cleary as coach and a largely-local backroom team.

“We all were extremely excited when Mark and Conor and the lads got involved,” said Sampson.

“We knew Conor had the coaching, he coached the minors to a county title and we knew how good he was. And then with Mark, I suppose it's his personality as an individual first and foremost that probably put him in that position to become manager.

“The lads probably have so much faith in us, they trust us on the pitch as well. It's player-led but we really backed him and we're starting to see it paying off now.

“Lads are enjoying training, you have that craic because they're all Shinrone men. We have lads coming from Cork, Dublin, you have Niall Cleary down as well from the top of Donegal every single week for training, and that’s because they just love their club, they love Shinrone.

“This club is building all the time. Obviously, you need to take your opportunities, you don't get to county finals every single year and maybe took it a small bit for granted after 2022. But now we have the players, we have the age profile too. You have those lads at 23, 24, 25, the perfect age to push on the club.

“We won a minor title there two years ago and it's all about bringing them through now, bringing through U-16s, get them up to senior and just progressing over the years.

“We have the leadership as well, you can see it there even with Seán (Cleary) coming on the other day. You have Michael (Cleary) in the full backline, Jason (Sampson, his brother), Duck (Donal Morkan), it's massive. They've shown us a lot and they're probably hungrier than ever, which is great,” Killian added.