Craven hails his heroic players after shock win

SEAN O’Mahony’s boss Alan Craven playershailed his after ‘courageous’the ae Louth champions caused a big upset in the Leinster Club Championship on Sunday.

The Point Road club were rank outsiders against Sarsfields, but at one stage opened a seven-point cushion and halted a brave comeback by the Kildare kingpins. ‘These and playersI don’t are just verycoumeanmean courageous, physically. They’re not afraid aid to win a game in the closing minutes and they’re not afraid of losing either.

‘We did a lot of homework on Sarsfields and we knew the threats they’d bring but we were confident if we brought our ‘A’ game we could cause an upset. We had to bring our best performance and that’s all down to the players,’ stressed the Marist schoolteacher.

But Craven admitted it wasn’t a perfect performance and that O’Mahony’s do have things to work on before hosting Offaly champions Rhode in the semi-final on Sunday week.

‘One thing we have to work on is that when we get into winning positions we really should push on and make it a bit more comfortable.

‘Sarsfields going down to 14-men after the goal seemed to unsettle us more than them and it gave them the momentum for a 15-minute period.

‘You take a goal at any stage, but it came early in the second-half and even though we stressed at half-time that we needed to keep taking the game to them, we didn’t. The sending off was a factor and we probably retreated into our shell a little bit too much.’

Craven admitted it got a bit hairy on the sideline as Sarsfields rattled off six points without reply to slash his side’s lead, but their mental toughness shone through.

‘You look at it and try to see where things are going wrong. They won a lot of breaking ball around the middle and they did the exact same to Moorefield in the Kildare final.

‘But they didn’t panic and Ben and Stephen had the courage to take their chances, they were scoreable chances, but they had the courage to take them on.’

O’Mahony’s may need to produce and even better display in Sunday week’s semi-final against Rhode who boast a number of Offaly county stars includin including Niall and Conor McNamee and Anton Sullivan. It mmay even be worth a call to St Patrick’s, who defeated ed Rhode in Tullamore in 20 2012 and then lost at the same venue two years la later.

Craven accepts his t team will be second fa favourites again, but O O’Mahony’s relish that role. ro‘

‘They’re seasoned players ers i in a sense. They respect every team they meet, but we know if we produce a performance mance we’re a match for most. I know against Rhode we’ll be underdogs again, but it’s another challenge and they’re not afraid of a challenge.

‘We don’t have too many players in the Louth set-up and it’s more of a team mentality. There’s no superstars, but everyone is prepared to work hard. We have some gems in the squad but it’s a real team effort.

‘We’re conscious we’re representing the county and we’re delighted to take this on a step further. We’re trying to emulate what teams like the Pat’s and Mattock have done over the last decade, so we’re honoured to get that chance.’

Craven will be hoping any injuries clear up in time for the semi-final clash with the McLaughlin brothers and Conor Crawley the main concerns.

‘Keith was struggling and Ben is feeling his groins a bit. We’re not sure about Conor, he’ll have to go to hospital and get the jaw checked out. Hopefully he’ll be back.’