Kerry native Moynihan looks at season’s positives
KERRY men everywhere in Mallow last weekend as An Ghaeltacht took on Mallow for a place in the Munster IFC Final with a Kerry native, Keith Moynihan, managing the Cork County champions.
Moynihan has put his heart and soul into Mallow in recent years however he was quite philosophical after his side lost out heavily to the Kerry champions on a near perfect day for football.
Moynihan’s side came up a long way short of what was required on the day in front of thousands of home as well as An Ghaeltacht fans at Mallow GAA Complex but the head tactician was looking to put the positives on it.
“Of course we are disappointed with the way things went today. I didn’t think we got going at all in the first half and unfortunately after five minutes of the second it looked like the writing was already on the wall. We can play better than that, we know we can and we have shown that we can but today it just didn’t happen.
“While disappointment is obviously what we are feeling first and foremost we must remember that this season we set out with the goal of winning the County title and that we did. We also retained our division one status which is another great plus but on this day it must be said that we came up against a better side.
“They had class all over the field and they showed that today. They were clinical, I believe they had just three wides, that is really impressive. We made some poor choices in the first half and had too many wides. I wouldn’t say we were happy at the break being down five points but it could have been worse. Kevin (Doyle) pulled off a great save and they hit the crossbar.
“I thought we had plenty in reserve for the second half but the early goal, knocked us back and the lads seemed to lose confidence after that.”
Questions about whether the Munster Intermediate championship favours Kerry sides were not on the Mallow manager’s radar as he felt they were issues for others to iron out.
“I don’t know if the Cork system of having so many senior teams is better or if the Kerry system of having less is better. These really are things that could be sorted out but that is not for me. That is for others to decide. We just play and on this day we didn’t have enough. I am so proud of all the people involved and we must not forget that in 2018 we will be playing senior football – and that is something that all of us in the club must look forward to. It will be a big year for us all”.
Mallow’s players will take a few weeks off for now however it won’t be long before an early pre-season kicks in and they prepare to face up to the likes of Nemo Rangers.