Intensity was the motto

KILAVENEY captain Rory Stokes was a happy man after the final whistle on Sunday in Aughrim. Having driven his side to victory thanks to a tremendous display of defending and attacking play it was a really intense showing from the Tinahely native and one that his side had been producing all throught the championship.

‘Game of two halves, we sort of came out like lightning, that’s what we try to do at the start of every game. Intensity has been our motto from the start of the year, Johnny kept driving that into us, there was no other way with him.

‘That was what we went out to do every day. I suppose, sport is sport, we kept out foot on the throats of teams when we got them. That’s just it. That’s the way we were, and that’s the way we wanted it,’ he said.

This Kilaveney team have come in for some stinging criticism online over the weeks since the championship began and since permission for players from three outside clubs was granted by the County Board. Rory Stokes said the criticism didn’t bother him or his colleagues.

‘Ah, let people think what they think, it doesn’t really both me. I don’t know. They kept saying it and saying it and that just drove us on even further. They just didn’t want to see us go further.

‘To be honest, it didn’t really bother me at all. It didn’t bother us. We just kept ignoring it, let people think what they think.’ he said.

The captain’s unselfish display on Sunday was something to behold. He sat deep in his own defence but launched gut-busting attacking runs when the opportunities arose. Stokes says he loves the donkey work and will gladly let the attacking stars shine at the other end as long as he can toil in the trenches for his team.

‘It’s the team. I play for the team. I don’t mind doing the donkey work, I don’t mind, I’ll let Mattie (Matthew Ging), Eoin (Darcy), all the boys do the scoring, I don’t mind, that’s what I like doing and hopefully I’ll continue to do that for Tinahely,’ he said.