‘Too many naysayers’
IT might have looked like a fairly simple run to the title for Kilaveney, but joint managers Podge Murphy and John Blake say that this squad of talented players have worked very hard behind the scenes to make this dream a reality.
‘It’s been a great championship so far, the lads love playing this, they love this level of football, they’re really, really enjoying themselves, and I know people are saying we had an easy run, but we’ve worked very hard behind the scenes,’ said Podge Murphy after the game in Aughrim. ‘We’ve had some very tough practice games and that has stood to us. Last week (against Shamrocks) was a tough, tough game and we knew we were ready for today.
‘We knew they were going to have their purple patches, and they did, to be fair, Éire Óg are a good, good side, they have lot s of great footballers but I think the lads had that in their tank, they knew what to expect, they knew what was going to happen today, and they knew that if we worked hard enough that we would get through it in the end,’ he added.
For John Blake the secret of this success is the natural born leaders that populate the team.
‘As Podge says we have put an awful lot of work in behind the scenes,’ said John Blake. ‘We started in September when the Senior and Intermediate championships were coming to an end. We got a couple of very, very strong practice matches. We were over in Carlow IT, we were in Éire Óg in Carlow as well, and, obviously, we’ve tried to keep the training sessions as competitive as we can. Lads are driving it themselves. We’ve got unbelievable leaders on the field. We’ve got Rory (Stokes) there as captain and he’s an unbelievable man, Cillian McDonald was captain of the Minor team this year, Matthew Ging as well, from one to 26 really, they drive us along.
‘Our job is very easy really, just put them out on the field. The boys actually believe it themselves. In fairness to them, I said it to them before the match, they’re an incredible bunch of lads as well as an incredible bunch of footballers, leaders from one to 26,’ he added.
‘They hold themselves to very high standards as well,’ said Podge. ‘In training sessions they’re really, really driving it. There’s no messing around. It’s all positive, there’s nobody getting on to one another, nagging one another. It’s ‘we need to do this’.
‘You couldn’t ask to work with better lads, so we’re delighted to just be involved with them,’ he added.
The online reaction from certain quarters in the county didn’t wash with Murphy or Blake.
‘We’ve had a lot of backlash online, but it’s probably from people who haven’t even been to see the games. I’m not going to stand here and say that that’s just Tinahely. Obviously, we’ve had games where 15 out of the 15 who started were from Tinahely but it’s not about the 15 for us, it’s about 26. And the lads who came on, whether they were starters, or they came on, or whether they didn’t get a run today, they’re all important because they drove the standard. It was a higher standard. If you’re playing number 10 and there’s someone breathing down your neck, you’re going to have to up your game.
‘Obviously, most of the panel are from Tinahely, we’ve five lads from outside the club, and 13 of the team who started today are from Tinahely, but this was Kilaveney who won today, and those lads are important to us,’ he said.
‘And it’s forgotten as well,’ added John Blake, ‘those lads actually played most of their underage football with us. Gearóid (Murphy) has won championships playing with us, Pauric Murray and Ruairi Tompkins and the two lads, Diarmuid and Caoimhin, from Shillelagh/Coolboy, won a Minor Shield this year. The two of those were adding to our Minor team. They’ve played all the way up along.
‘And in fairness as well, we were missing two starters of the Tinahely Senior team, Kevin Mulhall and Eoghan Byrne, so we needed that panel.’ he added.
Podge Murphy said that there are too many naysayers in Wicklow and that people need to come and watch the games and see the high standard of football on display.
‘Anyone who has come to see the games are talking about the standard of the football, how positive it is, and I think that’s where we need to focus in Wicklow.
‘There are too many naysayers, people saying ‘this shouldn’t happen, that shouldn’t happen’, go watch the game.
‘That was a high standard of football. Éire Óg are disappointed today but they are a great side and that will stand to them. They’ll get to another final and they will remember this experience and they won’t want to feel like this again.
‘To be honest, I think it’s been a fantastic championship and I want to thank the County Board because the players really, really loved this championship,’ he said.