The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
This is down to the players
“THIS is down to the players pure and simple,” said John Galvin in explaining how Kenmare District were able to pull off a huge win last Sunday despite the fact two of their clubs are set to face each other in an important club decider in three weeks time.
“When you are involved in football at this level you want to win. You can’t be carte blanche about what you want out of it but the players have been very committed all year about what we are trying to do and after being so close to winning the semi-final last year, they know they are capable of competing at this level.
“The clubs deserve credit for the work they have put in to players up along although we know we’ve still a bit to go yet if we want to go further,” the district boss said.
Galvin hailed the team’s composure in the second-half in seeing off Austin Stacks.
“They really put us under pressure in the second-half. We were struggling to get a hold of a ball, but when we did we managed to get enough momentum to put us back in front.
“Stacks hit us with everything and never gave up which you would expect from a team that defeated the Crokes here only a few weeks ago However we managed to hold firm which is something I’m very proud of.
“We’re only in the semi-final as I said but we’re happy the turnaround is short and we can look forward to playing Rathmore straight away,” he said.
Austin Stacks manager Stephen Stack felt that their opponents worked that bit harder for their victory last Sunday.
“After their players winning in the Intermediate matches last week we knew as a club side we had to show a bit more intensity from the start. However, they were the ones that showed that and overall I felt they showed a lot more composure in taking their chances when they came around,” he said.
Stacks find themselves in the position of having to cheer for the team who beat them last Sunday if they want to go into the Munster Senior Club Championship, but Stack agreed that the team is in a bit of limbo at the moment.
“I’m very disappointed for the lads, we’ll take this week off and see what happens next weekend when we’ll know more about whether the year could be a bit longer for us or not.
“We’ve a League Final with Crokes to prepare for as well but this weekend in the County Championship showed me that the competition is there for any team once they work hard enough for it.”