Clare's loss of O'Connor is St Flannan's gain

Colleges GAA/All-Ireland hurling and football finals: When James O'Connor formally announced his retirement from intercounty hurling at the start of the year the whole of Clare lamented his decision - with the possible exception of the student's at St Flannan's, Ennis.

By ending his great playing career with Clare he could now focus on his coaching career at St Flannan's, his place of work for the past 11 years.

Just like his days as a player, O'Connor hasn't been long making his mark as a coach, with his St Flannan's team taking on St Kieran's of Kilkenny in Monday's All-Ireland Colleges senior hurling final, which has a 3.0 start at Semple Stadium in Thurles.

O'Connor shares the coaching duties with Con Woods, and while he has coached several other teams in St Flannan's over the years, this is the first time he has taken the ropes at senior level.

"We're lucky at St Flannan's that we have 11 or 12 people in the school who are willing to put the work in every year," explains O'Connor. "And the way it's worked is a system of rotation where a pair of us would take over the seniors for two years at a time.

"But before this year I just wasn't able to take on the senior team because of the commitment with Clare. So I've been lucky in a way that when my turn came along again it coincided with my retirement."

It also meant that O'Connor has in fact worked with most of the current seniors since their first year at St Flannan's. Last year he was with the under-16 team that won the Dean Ryan Cup in Munster, and by then realised he had a bunch of players with the skill and desire to contest the highest honours.

"I know because of the numbers in the school and the tradition we'll always produce competitive teams, but the players still have to put the work in. And from that point of view my job has been easy. And I've really enjoyed it. They're a fantastic bunch of players, always very willing to do whatever training you ask of them.

"We've been more or less building towards this since the first week in September. We had a our first round robin in the Dr Harty Cup at the end of September, and by the end of November had played three or four matches.

"Since then we had a very tough quarter-final against Midleton, again in the semi-final against Kilmallock, which was played in terrible conditions, and another tough final against Thurles CBS. So between minor and under-21 club hurling as well they've all played an awful lot of hurling already this year."

His involvement with the Clare minors has helped O'Connor keep a balance in the demands of training, but he clearly feels those demands are excessive. By now, however, all the hard work is done, and all that remains is for St Flannan's to go out and do their best against St Kieran's

"We played them earlier in the year in our annual challenge," explains O'Connor, "and we got a real trimming that day. We were missing two of our top players because of injury, and experimented with a few more positions to try out a few new players.

"But St Kieran's were very, very impressive that day. But in a way it's worked out quite well. It was a real eye-opener, and just the kick in the backside we needed."

O'Connor played on the St Flannan's teams of 1989 and 1990, which lost on both occasions to St Kierans - who in 1989 had a certain DJ Carey scoring 3-3 of their 3-5 total. "It would be great for the school to win it again, and certainly great for all the players involved. And I know that not winning the title during my time there was something I always regretted."