Wayne made the difference

2006 survivor Tomas Smyth paid tribute to manager Wayne McKeever for finally getting the Joe’s to tick in this season.

‘We’ve been 10 years waiting for that since ‘06 and it’s just unbelievable,’ said the midfielder after Sunday’s battling win over Mattock Rangers.

‘Wayne got the lads tuned in from the start and I hope he’s with us again next year. He’s top class.

‘The morale was down after all those semi-final defeats, but Wayne brought a whole new belief to us. No-one knew him and he just gave us something extra from the previous years. He got our respect from day one.’

Smyth conceded that going in as underdogs suits the Joe’s, stressing that they don’t do inferiority complexes.

‘We just stick to our own game plan. We watched Mattock but we didn’t focus on them too much and we always like to go in as underdogs because we always come out on top.’

Conall O’Hanlon’s goal just before half-time was a huge moment in the contest and full back Bernard Mulligan felt it was probably the difference.

‘Conall’s goal was probably the difference and that’ll probably be seen as the turning point when we look back in years to come. With the breeze we wanted to go in at half-time with a lead and it was looking like we’d be level and that wouldn’t have been good enough.

‘We had a bit of luck on our side especially with the second goal and it wasn’t really a game to enjoy, it was one to endure, but thankfully we were on the right side of it in the end.’

Mulligan had some nice words for man-of-the-match Stefan Potts, who lined out alongside him in a heroic Joe’s fullback line.

‘I’m delighted for Potts. He came in at the start of year and he hadn’t played any senior football with the Joe’s but he said would get his place and no-one would have said he’d be here in the last weekend of September winning man-ofthe-match, so fair play to him.’

It’s on to Leinster and then senior football for the Joe’s, and Mulligan said they will take inspiration from 2014 intermediate champs Sean O’Mahony’s.

‘The next step is to stay up senior and build from there. Two years ago it took O’Mahony’s three games to beat us and they went one way and we went the other. Look at them now in two county finals in a row, so there’s no reason we can’t do that too.’