‘Four in a row hasn’t been mentioned once’ – Rathgormack manager Kenny Hassett

“Four in a row hasn’t been mentioned once.” That is the message from Rathgormack manager Kenny Hassett as his side prepare to face familiar foes The Nire in Sunday’s Waterford Senior Football Championship Final, with a fourth successive Conway Cup firmly in their sights.

Rathgormack are appearing in their eighth consecutive county final and will meet The Nire in the decider for the fourth time in five years, but Hassett insists that making history is not occupying his players’ thoughts.

“We take everything, it’s your next training session, next gym session, next match and work from there and try and get better each time,” he told the Official Waterford GAA Podcast.

“You look too far ahead or you look ahead of yourself and you’re going to get a kick up the backside. The lads have been really, really good at that over the last number of years. They’ve managed to get the focus just on whatever’s next.

“It’s a huge, huge challenge that lies ahead. And we’ll be doing everything we can this week to try and get over that challenge.” The defending champions extended their remarkable winning sequence in Waterford to 20 games with a hard-fought 1-14 to 0-15 semi-final victory over Gaultier.

Hassett admitted that his side had been pushed all the way, but believes their experience of tight championship encounters proved invaluable.

“It was a huge battle last Sunday against Gaultier, nothing that we didn’t expect. They’re a well-coached, well-managed side with some fantastic footballers. We had a fair idea it was going to come down to the wire and it did and thankfully we came out the right side of it.” With Gaultier threatening late on, Peter Walsh produced a crucial catch before Rathgormack secured the insurance score.

“It’s something that we do, we train on as well, that when it gets to the last two minutes, whether we’re a point up, a point down, how do we react to the situation, what do we do? Maybe that came into play as well. I was starting to panic, almost panicking, but my heart rate was going on the line anyway!”.

Attention now turns to another chapter in Rathgormack’s fierce rivalry with The Nire, and Hassett anticipates another dramatic encounter.

“In the last four county finals that we’ve played, there’s only been one score in it. So you’d imagine it’s going to come down to the last couple of minutes again. Although we’re rivals, we do have a healthy respect for each other. We both know what each other is going to bring. Both teams are going to bring a serious intensity to the game on Sunday. I suppose it’s just a question of who’s going to hold their head as well as bring the intensity.” Hassett has also been impressed by the opposition’s physical conditioning and attacking approach.

“The Nire are very fit this year. They work with a high press. They were able to get up and down the field at pace themselves. They had a fantastic year in the hurling and they’ve started to take that on through the football as well.” Despite Rathgormack’s sustained dominance, Hassett hasn’t forgotten the disappointments that preceded their recent success, including three consecutive county final defeats.

“We’ve lost three of those. We lost three in a row. And again, that’s testament to the players’ character that they’ve come back from that. As well as the good days, we’ve seen some dark days also.” For now, though, the focus is firmly on Sunday and another enormous challenge.

“I would say to anyone going to Fraher Field on Sunday, enjoy it because it’s going to go down to the wire.”