‘It was a tough afternoon for us really’ – O’Reilly
ÉIRE Óg manager Harry O’Reilly was obviously disappointed after his side were well beaten by Templenoe in Ovens last Sunday, but the head tactician wasn’t all doom and gloom thanks to a season few in the area will forget in a while.
After winning the Cork county title in recent weeks O’Reilly brought his charges back to home turf expecting to put in a serious bid for a berth in the provincial final however on the day his side were totally out gunned by a Kerry side littered with inte-rcounty stars.
“It was a tough afternoon for us really. We came here with great expectations; we had a great build up since the County Final with a fierce intensity in training so we gave ourselves a fantastic chance coming here.”
O’Reilly covered all bases leading into this one adding a trip to the Kingdom as he prepared to work out a plan to stop a side that won junior glory just two years previous.
“I went down to Templenoe last weekend to watch them play and even after that we were still confident coming into the game today, but they [Templenoe] upped their game big time from what we saw last week.
“They [Templenoe] are a super team for this level (Intermediate) with a lot of outstanding players - with their four county seniors and five or six others that are really, really good as well.
“Perhaps we gave them a little bit too much respect really and we kind of stood off them at times and let them do what they wanted. I thought we would get stuck into them a little more, but that just didn’t kind of happen so all in all we can have no complaints. The better team won on the day.”
At this level the smallest of things can make a big difference and for O’Reilly that key turning point came even before the first ball was thrown in.
“The toss at the start was huge – especially considering the conditions – and we lost it. They had the wind in that first half and got up four or five points after 10 minutes and we found it very hard to try and claw that back against a team as good as the Kerry champions.
“They [Templenoe] know how to use the ball and make it hard for us to get it back and to use it when we had it.”
According to the manager his side weren’t that far off what was required but at this level it is the small things that count most.
“My fellows weren’t doing much wrong to be fair, they just couldn’t get their hands on the ball and we just didn’t get the break of the ball either – that is really about being alert as well and we weren’t when it mattered, but look overall, it really is disappointing as we thought we would be a lot closer than that.”
One game doesn’t define a year and for O’Reilly 2019 will still go down as one of the great years for all at Éire Óg.
“It is tough today, but it has been a fantastic season for us. We are delighted to have won the county championship after knocking on the door for quite a while – we really wanted to win that so overall we are delighted.
“We can now look forward to playing senior football next year which is huge. We have been a long time waiting to play senior and lost a few semi finals – we have a lot of good young players coming through so we need to be playing senior football for those lads.”
MAIN MAN
All contenders came from the victors with many contenders within their ranks. Adrian Spillane, Stephen O’Sullivan and Killian Spillane all in the running with plenty of contenders at the back too – however on this day the unsung hero of this team gave another masterful display in the middle – Seán Sheehan was everything you could want from a midfielder. Powerful, full of running and never afraid to take a forward step. A Brilliant display from a brilliant footballer.
KEY MOMENT
None. This one was always going the way of the Kerry me after they blitzed their opponents over and over again. Templenoe were magnificent when they needed to be and solid when required. Playing with the wind in the first half helped them dominate the board but in truth, even without that first half advantage it was hard to see past a Kerry victory.
TALKING POINT
For me just one. The value for Cork football in putting their 20th best side up against Kerry’s ninth best each year is well past questionable. Kerry sides come into this competition each year raging hot favourites – even without a competitive game in months – and in most cases dominate their neighbours – hardly Kerry’s fault I know.