St Colmans in big final
who bagged an impressive 1-1, however, with only two other scorers there was always likely to be trouble ahead.
One can look to a host of different reasons why the Fermoy side lost but at this level you have to start well. You can’t let the opposition, particular opposition as clinical and skilful as Our Ladys get a march on you.
You just can’t start as slowly as St Colmans did on Saturday and expect to win. It may have been nerves, tension or fear, but St Colmans players just didn’t come out of the blocks in any meaningful way.
They were second to every ball in the first half as their opponents ran riot all over the pitch. Colmans deserve credit as they kept plugging away but the start was the telling factor here and no matter what they did in the second half it would have been hard to drag this one out of the fire.
Without blaming any individual, really there is no one to blame for this, St Colmans will look to their inability to score when the chances arise. One point from play from the front six is a stat that will point to major issues however being overrun in the middle and an inability to deal with Jerry Kelly and Stevie Nolan up the left will also bring back some painful memories.
One can’t really question the attitude of the Cork boys as they kept plugging away right to the finish here but it was hard not to be impressed by the victors who drove for all of 60 minutes.
The Our Ladys overall attitude was terrific. The Tipp school had their eyes on the prize right from the off. Losing last year’s final seems to have held the victors in good stead this time around and although they came into this one as firm favourites, they didn’t let that affect in any way.
From Brian McGrath to midfielder Stevie Nolan and from corner forward Lyndon Fairbrother to centre back Paddy Cadell, this was a side on a mission and nobody on this day was going to deny them.
Our Ladys triumph will be seen by many as just deserts for the effort put in by this particular crop of talented players in recent years and it would be hard to deny them the victory they so richly deserved, however, St Colmans may well have to face them later in the year if both sides progress to the showpiece. If that happens then St Colmans will need to have a more robust plan in place however to be fair that is a long way off just yet.
St Colmans will look to take inspiration from the achievement of the winners here and look to improve in the All Ireland quarter finals in two weeks’ time.