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Killarney rider Richard Maes excels at World Cyclocross Championships

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6 months ago

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Maes recently finished fourth at the World Cyclocross Championships.

Experienced All Human Velorevolution rider Richard Maes is still going strong. Adam Moynihan chats to the accomplished Killarney cyclist to find out more about his latest showing at the World Championships.

Richard, congratulations on your recent success. Can you tell me a bit about the competition you were taking part in?

Thanks Adam. Yeah, it was the World Championships for Cyclocross in Ipswich. I came fourth in the masters section. It was there last year as well and I came fifth, so I knew the course and I was able to train more specifically for it.

So, was the goal heading into this year’s competition to finish higher than fifth?

Yeah, I was hoping for that, but last year there were Covid implications as well. A couple of the big fellas from Belgium and Holland didn’t show up. They did show up this year so I wasn’t quite sure how it would go. But it went well on the day, thankfully.

Can you explain how the sport works?

It’s a cross between mountain biking and road; the bike looks like a road bike with mountain bike wheels. It’s done off-road and there’s a lot of running involved and lot of man-made obstacles like stairs that you have to run up and down. They bring in a couple of hundred tonnes of sand for the course and make you go through it. Skilful riders can ride through it, others can’t and they just have sand in their shoes for the rest of the day. Some courses are hilly, some are flat.

As for the event, it a one-hour race that consists of a three-kilometre track. If a lap takes 10 minutes, they say you have six laps to do. They try to get it as close to the hour as possible.

It sounds pretty physical?

Yeah, it’s the hardest event you can do in terms of cycling. It’s the most demanding. My heartrate would be about 185 average for the hour. It’s the same pain as a 5k running race if you’re trying do that as fast as you can for 20 minutes, except this lasts an hour. It’s the same intensity. There’s a lot of high intensity gym training and weight training.

Tell me about this recent event. Did everything go to plan?

Everything went smoothly enough. Conditions were cold but it was bone dry. Normally we’d have a load of muck to deal with! It ended up being the fastest race of the year.

There were six of us together for the whole race, really, and then it split into three and three with two laps to go. It stayed that way until the end. There was only 13 seconds between first and fifth. It was tight racing all day.

What’s next on the agenda?

The National Championships are on in Dundalk the second weekend of January and we’re finished then. It’d be nice to get a medal there. I was fourth last year so it would be good to go one better this time. After that we’ll be back into road training in March. I’ll be looking to do the Rás and all that craic again. No rest for the wicked!

How is the body holding up overall? Is training getting that bit harder with age?

Not yet! The recovery hasn’t slowed down that much thankfully but I’d say if I did stop for a while and tried to get back going, I’d feel it. I’m training 50 weeks of the year. I’ll try and not get fat for another while!

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Kingdom hoping to lay some old ghosts to rest at Páirc Uí Chaoimh

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4 days ago

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2 June 2023

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by Adam Moynihan

All-Ireland SFC Group 1

Cork v Kerry

Saturday at 3pm

Páirc Uí Chaoimh

I was one of the unlucky few to have been present at the last Cork-Kerry clash in Páirc Uí Chaoimh in November of 2020. It was a truly awful night.

The match was played behind closed doors which made for an eerie, unsettling atmosphere, and the rain came down harder than I ever remember seeing first-hand.

Unfortunately, Kerry came down hard too. Mark Keane’s last-ditch goal clinched an unexpected victory for the hosts and, just like that, Kerry’s year was over.

It always hurts when your team loses but that one completely floored us all. It was such a horrible way to lose a game and I felt so bad for the players as they trudged off the field, soaked to the bone and shaken to the core.

They got some form of payback the following year when they won by 21 in the Munster final, and again last year when they ran out 11-point winners in the semi-final. But something tells me that it would mean a lot more to return to Páirc Uí Chaoimh and do the business there.

It won’t be easy. The final scorelines in the last two games suggest that it was all one-way traffic but that simply wasn’t the case. In 2021, Cork led by 1-5 to 0-4 at the water break (remember those?) and they pushed Kerry hard 12 months ago too. There was nothing in that match right up until the 50th minute, at which point Kerry brought on David Moran and Paul Geaney and ultimately pulled away.

You can never really read too much into the McGrath Cup but Cork demolished Kerry in January. Their form since has been spotty but they did well to see off Louth last week, with the returning Brian Hurley (shoulder) kicking eight points in a two-point win. Hurley has proved to be a handful for Kerry full back Jason Foley in the past.

Significantly, John Cleary’s side are strong in a key area where Kerry struggled against Mayo: midfield. Ian Maguire and Colm O’Callaghan scored 0-2 each in Navan (and the latter scored 2-4 in that aforementioned McGrath Cup game at the start of the year).

Jack O’Connor named his team last night with Adrian Spillane replacing Tony Brosnan and Paul Murphy coming in for Dylan Casey. Spillane will add some extra brawn and energy around the middle third. Going by the last outing, Kerry need it.

It is also worth noting that David Clifford has never really shot the lights out against Cork. He has been well minded by Maurice Shanley, Seán Meehan and Kevin Flahive in the past three championship meetings, with the retreating Seán Powter also getting stuck in when needed.

Flahive suffered a cruciate injury late in last year’s game but he could potentially be in line for a comeback tomorrow; he has been added to Cork’s 26 for the first time in over 12 months.

Meehan has been ruled out with a hamstring injury so Shanley may be asked to track the Footballer of the Year this time around.

Clifford was one of the few bright sparks against Mayo and he would love to bring that form to the Páirc on Saturday. With vital points on the line, there would be no better time to lay some ghosts to rest.

From a Kerry perspective, you would hope – and perhaps expect – that Clifford and his teammates can do exactly that and get the show back on the road.

KERRY TEAM

1. Shane Ryan

2. Graham O’Sullivan

3. Jason Foley

4. Tom O’Sullivan

5. Paul Murphy

6. Tadhg Morley

7. Gavin White

8. Diarmuid O’Connor

9. Jack Barry

10. Dara Moynihan

11. Seánie O’Shea

12. Adrian Spillane

13. Paudie Clifford

14. David Clifford

15. Paul Geaney

Subs: S Murphy, T Brosnan, D Casey, BD O’Sullivan, R Murphy, M Burns, M Breen, S O’Brien, D O’Sullivan, C O’Donoghue, S O’Brien.

CORK TEAM

1. Micheál Aodh Martin

2. Maurice Shanley

3. Rory Maguire

4. Kevin O’Donovan

5. Luke Fahy

6. Daniel O’Mahony

7. Matty Taylor

8. Colm O’Callaghan

9. Ian Maguire

10. Brian O’Driscoll

11. Ruairí Deane

12. Killian O’Hanlon

13. Seán Powter

14. Brian Hurley

15. Chris Óg Jones

Subs: P Doyle, C Kiely, T Clancy, K Flahive, P Walsh, E McSweeney, B Murphy, J O’Rourke , M Cronin, S Sherlock, F Herlihy.

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Is Killarney green or blue? Celtic and Athletic to face off in tonight’s league final

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4 days ago

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2 June 2023

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Kerry Premier A League Final

Killarney Celtic v Killarney Athletic

Tonight at 7.45pm

Mounthawk Park, Tralee

Killarney Celtic will be gunning for their fifth league title in a row tonight (Friday) when they take on crosstown rivals Killarney Athletic in Tralee.

Celtic have been the dominant force in Kerry soccer in recent times with Athletic playing second fiddle. This will be the third Premier A final in a row to be contested by the Killarney clubs; Celtic won the 2020 decider 4-0 and last year’s final ended in a 3-0 victory for the club from Derreen. (The 2020/21 season was scrapped due to the pandemic.)

Prior to that, Celtic defeated Castleisland in 2019 and Dingle Bay Rovers in 2018, both on a scoreline of 1-0.

Celtic and Athletic also met in the 2017 final. The Blues prevailed in that particular encounter to capture their first ever Premier A title.

As for this season, Neilus Hayes’ Hoops qualified for the final by virtue of their first-place finish in the Premier A. Despite losing key players – including attackers Ryan Kelliher, Stephen McCarthy and Trpimir Vrljicak – to the Kerry FC project, the Celts won 12 of their 14 matches and ended up with an imposing goal difference of +34.

Athletic were not far behind, however; Stuart Templeman’s team only lost one league game all season en route to 35 points – one behind Celtic and 11 clear of Castleisland in third.

Interestingly, both of Celtic’s losses came at the hands of Athletic. The Woodlawn outfit impressively beat the old enemy 3-2 and 0-1 over the course of the regular season.

Goals by Roko Rujevcan, Pedja Glumcevic and a 90th-minute winner by Brendan Moloney clinched that dramatic 3-2 win in October of last year. It was a result that signalled Athletic’s intentions for the rest of the season.

Rujevcan was also on the scoresheet when Athletic snatched a rare away win at Celtic Park on April 30.

Celtic’s imposing record in finals probably makes them slight favourites and in the likes of John McDonagh, Brendan Falvey, Wayne Sparling, Kevin O’Sullivan and Witness Odirile they have a potent mix of steel and skill.

But Athletic will take heart from their recent results in this fixture and they will be hoping that two of the stars from the 2017 team – Shane Doolan and Shane Lynch – can lead the current crop of players to glory.

Meanwhile, the Division 2B final between Killarney Athletic B and Atletico Ardfert that was also due to take place tonight has been cancelled. Athletic have received a walkover.

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