GROWING UP IN Knocknagree, hard on the Cork-Kerry border, Daniel O’Mahony didn’t have to look far for sporting heroes.
His uncle Aidan was collecting All-Ireland wins in Kingdom colours, but while his nephew was admiring his defensive prowess, he was honing his own skills to set him on the Rebel pathway to currently manning the edge of the square for Cork.
“Aidan would have been a massive hero of mine growing up. This has been disputed but I always wore a Cork jersey! I have the photos to prove it.”
“You’d get it the odd time, ‘You’re a Kerryman’ or whatever. But no, my dad’s from Kerry and my mom’s from Cork so half the family would have supported Kerry, half would have supported Cork growing up.
“We would have had the (All-Ireland) homecomings in 2007, 2009 and I would have been down there with the only Cork jersey in Rathmore, at the train station.”
Moments in the spotlight have been rare in the younger O’Mahony’s inter-county career. Full-back on the Cork U20 team that contested a Munster final in March 2020, he made a swift graduation to the senior ranks thereafter, and since 2023 has nailed down a consistent championship starting spot.
Last Sunday was a joyous occasion for their group. Promotion secured with a hard-earned victory in Omagh, a return to top tier league football for Cork after being marked absent for a decade.
“It definitely weighed heavy on a lot of the panel,” reflects O’Mahony.
“Because you’ve got guys who’ve been 10, 11 years out of Division 1. I’ve only ever played in Division 2, so it probably didn’t weigh that heavy in that sense for me. But for, let’s say, Brian Hurley or Mags (Ian Maguire) or Mattie Taylor, those guys have been soldiering in Division 2 and Division 3 even for the last 10, 12 years.
“So the sense of relief there for those guys in particular. It’s more so the competing against the Division 1 teams week in, week out next year. I think that’ll pay massive dividends.”
Cork claimed six wins from seven as their consistency of performance underwent major improvement. Their continued adjustment to the higher pace and greater attacking potential on offer in Gaelic football was on show. At his end of the pitch, O’Mahony relishes the increased scope for individual defending.
“I’d like to see it go even more one-to-one. The only thing that I can see wrong with the new rules is make the goal worth four points.
“Make teams attack the goal, because at the moment we’re probably seeing a lot of teams really go after the two-pointers, which you’d be a fool not to with the scoring system. It kind of takes some one-v-ones out of it, because you’ve a lot of playing the ball around the arc and trying to get shooting opportunitie.
“There are definitely more opportunities for one-v-one defending. In the old rules, you could have been sat in the corner for four or five minutes and an attack doing nothing. So yeah, it’s been good as an inside defender. It’s been enjoyable to play.
“We all grew up watching this romanticised game of long balls being kicked in, one-v-one battles inside and stuff. I think as a defender, that’s what you want to be involved in. That’s why you’re playing. You’re not playing to skirt around the arc and do some bit of defending.”
O’Mahony savours the high-pressured situations that come when direct ball is pumped in quickly to attacking dangermen like David Clifford that he finds himself policing.
Kerry's David Clifford and Daniel O’Mahony of Cork in action in 2024. Bryan Keane / INPHO
Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
“I think that’s what’s enjoyable. If you’re playing and you’re a defender and you’ve spent 10 years training to be a defender, why not be in those situations where you want to be? I think it’s the most exciting way to play.
“Positioning is obviously one, but another massively overlooked thing is probably the pressure that’s put on the ball outside. If you’ve got a kicker who’s got three or four seconds to look in and wait for the forward’s second or third run, the chances of him winning that ball are way higher than if that kicker is under pressure and he looks up once and that’s his opportunity to kick it.
“There’s different size of guys and they’ve different strengths. Jordan Morris’s change of direction is phenomenal. Clifford’s change of direction is quite good too, but his power and his kicking are phenomenal. They’ve got different strengths so you probably want to approach those two players differently.”
Cork’s coaching range has expanded this year with the addition of Kevin Murray. The Cork 1999 All-Ireland hurling winner is highly-rated from his work with successful UCC Sigerson Cup and Cork camogie teams.
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Daniel O'Mahony in action for UCC in the Sigerson Cup in 2023. Evan Treacy / INPHO
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O’Mahony, who works in Deals Advisory in PwC, won a Sigerson medal with UCC in 2023, but Murray was not involved then and this is the first campaign where their paths have crossed.
“Kevin is phenomena, an expert in skills acquisition and you can really see that in his training sessions. He’s deliberate in terms of what he wants the team to improve on and he goes about that in a really expert way. He’s been invaluable as an addition to the set-up this year and he’s brought a new dynamic too.”
With the promotion box ticked, a Croke Park appearance tomorrow brings the opportunity to round off the league with silverware when they face Meath.
“Definitely promotion was the goal. I wouldn’t look at it as a bonus. I’d kind of look at it as part of the job and the job’s not finished. Any opportunity you have to go up and play a competitive game in Croke Park is big, and with a trophy at the end of it is even bigger.”
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All-Ireland winning uncle, Cork's promotion prize, relishing one-on-one defending
GROWING UP IN Knocknagree, hard on the Cork-Kerry border, Daniel O’Mahony didn’t have to look far for sporting heroes.
His uncle Aidan was collecting All-Ireland wins in Kingdom colours, but while his nephew was admiring his defensive prowess, he was honing his own skills to set him on the Rebel pathway to currently manning the edge of the square for Cork.
“Aidan would have been a massive hero of mine growing up. This has been disputed but I always wore a Cork jersey! I have the photos to prove it.”
“You’d get it the odd time, ‘You’re a Kerryman’ or whatever. But no, my dad’s from Kerry and my mom’s from Cork so half the family would have supported Kerry, half would have supported Cork growing up.
“We would have had the (All-Ireland) homecomings in 2007, 2009 and I would have been down there with the only Cork jersey in Rathmore, at the train station.”
Moments in the spotlight have been rare in the younger O’Mahony’s inter-county career. Full-back on the Cork U20 team that contested a Munster final in March 2020, he made a swift graduation to the senior ranks thereafter, and since 2023 has nailed down a consistent championship starting spot.
Last Sunday was a joyous occasion for their group. Promotion secured with a hard-earned victory in Omagh, a return to top tier league football for Cork after being marked absent for a decade.
“It definitely weighed heavy on a lot of the panel,” reflects O’Mahony.
“Because you’ve got guys who’ve been 10, 11 years out of Division 1. I’ve only ever played in Division 2, so it probably didn’t weigh that heavy in that sense for me. But for, let’s say, Brian Hurley or Mags (Ian Maguire) or Mattie Taylor, those guys have been soldiering in Division 2 and Division 3 even for the last 10, 12 years.
“So the sense of relief there for those guys in particular. It’s more so the competing against the Division 1 teams week in, week out next year. I think that’ll pay massive dividends.”
Cork claimed six wins from seven as their consistency of performance underwent major improvement. Their continued adjustment to the higher pace and greater attacking potential on offer in Gaelic football was on show. At his end of the pitch, O’Mahony relishes the increased scope for individual defending.
“I’d like to see it go even more one-to-one. The only thing that I can see wrong with the new rules is make the goal worth four points.
“Make teams attack the goal, because at the moment we’re probably seeing a lot of teams really go after the two-pointers, which you’d be a fool not to with the scoring system. It kind of takes some one-v-ones out of it, because you’ve a lot of playing the ball around the arc and trying to get shooting opportunitie.
“There are definitely more opportunities for one-v-one defending. In the old rules, you could have been sat in the corner for four or five minutes and an attack doing nothing. So yeah, it’s been good as an inside defender. It’s been enjoyable to play.
“We all grew up watching this romanticised game of long balls being kicked in, one-v-one battles inside and stuff. I think as a defender, that’s what you want to be involved in. That’s why you’re playing. You’re not playing to skirt around the arc and do some bit of defending.”
O’Mahony savours the high-pressured situations that come when direct ball is pumped in quickly to attacking dangermen like David Clifford that he finds himself policing.
“I think that’s what’s enjoyable. If you’re playing and you’re a defender and you’ve spent 10 years training to be a defender, why not be in those situations where you want to be? I think it’s the most exciting way to play.
“Positioning is obviously one, but another massively overlooked thing is probably the pressure that’s put on the ball outside. If you’ve got a kicker who’s got three or four seconds to look in and wait for the forward’s second or third run, the chances of him winning that ball are way higher than if that kicker is under pressure and he looks up once and that’s his opportunity to kick it.
“There’s different size of guys and they’ve different strengths. Jordan Morris’s change of direction is phenomenal. Clifford’s change of direction is quite good too, but his power and his kicking are phenomenal. They’ve got different strengths so you probably want to approach those two players differently.”
Cork’s coaching range has expanded this year with the addition of Kevin Murray. The Cork 1999 All-Ireland hurling winner is highly-rated from his work with successful UCC Sigerson Cup and Cork camogie teams.
O’Mahony, who works in Deals Advisory in PwC, won a Sigerson medal with UCC in 2023, but Murray was not involved then and this is the first campaign where their paths have crossed.
“Kevin is phenomena, an expert in skills acquisition and you can really see that in his training sessions. He’s deliberate in terms of what he wants the team to improve on and he goes about that in a really expert way. He’s been invaluable as an addition to the set-up this year and he’s brought a new dynamic too.”
With the promotion box ticked, a Croke Park appearance tomorrow brings the opportunity to round off the league with silverware when they face Meath.
“Definitely promotion was the goal. I wouldn’t look at it as a bonus. I’d kind of look at it as part of the job and the job’s not finished. Any opportunity you have to go up and play a competitive game in Croke Park is big, and with a trophy at the end of it is even bigger.”
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