SHC Final Preview: Fitzgerald hungry for more success

It is not by pure luck or chance that Nick Fitzgerald is a successful man.

A hugely successful businessman off the field the Waterford man has enjoyed more than his fair share of glory on it too, both as a player and a manager.

After losing five county finals Fitzgerald finally tasted success when Kildalkey won the 2009 Jubilee Cup where he scored 1-1 in the 3-19 to 1-17 win over St Peter's. He had lost three finals with Kildalkey and one final in London.

Ironically in that year Kildalkey also beat Ratoath in the JHC final - might that be an omen for the village?

Once his playing days ended Fitzgerald went into managed where he guided Meath to All-Ireland MHC B glory before taking over the county senior side and helping them to win the Christy Ring Cup in 2019.

A well respected referee Fitzgerald also threw his hat in the ring at Co Board level, but the lure of the sidelines was always there and he returned to the bainisteoir role this year after Pat O'Halloran and Daire Laharte stood down as Kildalkey managers.

Fitzgerald is quick to deflect any praise that might come his way. instead he lauds those who went before him and praises the work being done at underage level and in the schools for Kildalkey's success.

"There is a huge buzz around the village. Even when I was leaving the place this evening they were starting to put up the bunting and the flags," said Fitzgerald.

"Having won the Junior was a major start, but the run of success really started on the Saturday of last week when the minors won the MHC B. Then we kicked on to the intermediates in the afternoon and then the juniors won Sunday morning and the seniors won Sunday afternoon, it was a remarkable couple of days.

"There is a huge buzz. The village is hurling mad, when you drive through it now every kid, boy and girl, is walking around carrying hurls and it is great to see it.

"This all started after we were beaten in a replay in 2008. A few people got their heads together and we started to get the nursery together.

"Ever since then there is a consistency in the nursery every year and that is the case right through all the juvenile grades every year. There is a hell of a lot of coaching going on.

"There's so many people involved now compared to what there was 10 years ago.

"The school link is vital too. I can't talk highly enough about Nodlag O'Neill-Forde (Kildalkey NS principal). He is a Mayo man and he is doing so much work in that school for hurling and football, it's massive."

When taking over from O'Halloran and Laharte Fitzgerald was well aware of the expectations that are demanded in Kildalkey, but he rose to the challenge and while the senior hurling championship is a flawed system he is happy that his side have reached the final and he believes there is more to come.

"We are thrilled to be there. The aim was to get out of the group first. If we could qualify straight into a semi-final that would be great, but the quarter-final was always the option too," said Fitzgerald.

"This is the third year out of five that we have reached the final, but there is still a huge task ahead of us in terms of the challenge we will face against Ratoath.

"Undoubtedly there's a tough challenge coming in the final. Ratoath just did enough this year to qualify, which was maybe the right way to go.

"Their panel got stronger as the year went on and Mickey Cole probably had his first full panel for the semi-final and in fairness to him he masterminded all the match ups and got the result.

"The championship is tough, it's intense. You see us against Trim, against Kiltale, against Ratoath, against Killyon, you can never take any of those teams for granted.

"We probably haven't played our best hurling up to this weekend. It is probably getting better as we go on, so we are hoping to find that peak in the final.

"You would have to question the competition at times where you have a group of six teams and four qualify for the knockout stages.

"I'm not quite sure what the solution is. There is no easy fix, but I think the Senior B teams are at a disadvantage when they come out of the group because they have played at a slightly slower pace. It is tough for those teams, maybe there needs to be a look at a case where those Senior B teams have a realistic chance of winning a trophy.

"To go back training in January or February with limited chances of winning the Jubilee it has to be tough for the players, but you have to admire those players who take on that challenge every year and go for it.

"We have improved game on game since we played Trim. Have we hit the peak yet? Who knows, it is hard to know what that peak really looks like.

"We definitely have a greater understanding of our positions of our 16 or 17 players. We have used 20 players to date and in every game we emptied the bench. As soon as we see tired legs we make changes."

Even though Kildalkey have been no strangers to the big day, they were champions in 2019 and 2021 and finalists in 2015 and 2017, Fitzgerald believes that Sunday's final is still a massive occasion for the club and the young players coming through the ranks.

"It would be unbelievable. Everybody associates our success with the likes of Podger (Geoghegan), Mairtin (Doran) and those type of huge players, and those guys are still serving a huge purpose with the second team and there were times during the year when they might have stepped up. They haven't so far.

"To get to where we are without the influence of those boys on the first team is a huge achievement. We can see that new leaders are beginning to come within the group, but to win it would be absolutely massive," concluded the manager.