Crucial goal a wonderful moment in the life of Brian

MATTOCK’S goal hero Brian Corcoran would strike you as being too young to remember the Collon club’s last Leinster final appearance, but he was there in Navan on that fateful day in 2002 and the contrast in emotions was stark last Sunday.

‘It’s incredible. I remember watching the last one - what was it 17 years ago - over on the hill in Navan and that was heart-breaking even at that age, so to get over the line today is unbelievable.’

After closing a five-point gap back to the minimum at half-time, Mattock wanted to hit the ground running after the break and a moment of opportunism by first Dan Bannon and then Corcoran, gave them the start they so badly needed.

‘It was a bit of a blur. The ball hit the bar and I just saw we might be able to turn it over, so I hung in around the goal and Daniel Bannon won it and popped one over - right place, right time. It was a bit of a tap-in, but I’ll take it.

‘We weren’t happy with our start.

‘We were slow off the mark and we usually come out strong, so it was a different challenge today, starting so slowly.

‘But like I said, we dug in and scraped a few points back before half-time, so we knew going in second half with the wind that we could play a bit more ball inside and it worked out.’

Like his captain Adrian Reid in his acceptance speech, Corcoran was wholesome in his praise of

Mullinavat, and perhaps more than most, he can empathise with the Kilkenny outfit.

‘Fair play to them. I was a hurler growing up and I know what it’s like playing a sport that comes second in the county and they’re a credit to themselves.

‘They put it up to us from minute one and went five up and we really had to dig deep to get back into it. We showed a lot of heart to get it back because there aren’t many times this year that we’ve been that far behind. In general we’ve been on top in games.’

Next up is a date with Magheracloone and Corcoran is expecting a big test in the All-Ireland semi-final.

‘They’re only up the road but I wouldn’t know anything about them. We’ll be giving them plenty of respect and obviously they’re a serious team to be winning Ulster. I think they were senior a few years back so they’ve only recently gone down. That will be a big ask.

‘To get to Croke Park with the club would be incredible.

‘Lads play there with the county, but to go there with lads you grew up with and train every week with would be extra special. We’ll give it everything to get there.

‘Your aim is to go as far as you can in the county and this was just a rollover after that.

‘You just take it one game at a time. We were shaky enough down in Offaly, but we’ve stepped it up every round until now and we’ll just keeping taking it one game at a time.’