The appointment of Tom Ryan as the new boss of Newtownshandrum will have taken many by surprise but it has to be regarded as a major scoop for the 2,000 county champions.

Many will bemoan the end of Bernie O' Connor's reign at the helm. But it would be fair to say that the new Kerry coach has probably done as much as was humanly possible with the side.

And it has to be emphasised, without fear of contradiction, that his achievement in bringing a county senior and three under-21 county titles to this small but vibrant club was a fairytale story that time will not erode or memory erase.

The torch is now being passed to Ryan and to use the well worn cliché, the mounties have got their man.

Ryan is one of the most honest and passionate hurling men in this country who was desperately unlucky not to land an All-Ireland title with Limerick.

Twice he was within minutes of ending their long and impatient sojourn in the wilderness since their last triumph in 1973.

And the irony of it all was that it was one of those 1973 heroes, Eamonn Cregan who denied him with Offaly in 1994.

Many were aghast at his treatment by the limerick county board after the 1996 defeat by Wexford and his subsequent removal from the post met with a lot of opposition inside the county.

His outspoken views have kept him very much in the public eye since his departure from the inter-county scene and he has never been afraid to speak his mind.

Newtown can only benefit from the vast experience that he will bring with him and with the foundation stone firmly laid by O' Connor, Simon Morrissey and Jim Coughlan through their three under-21 wins it's difficult not to see Newtown up there challenging under the new man for more honours.

A new era dawns in a great Cork hurling home, it won't be for the want of trying that Ryan will fail. He'll give 110% to this challenging post.

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