Dr Crokes man O’Shea takes Listry to his heart

LISTRY manager Seanie O’Shea is no stranger to success having captained Dr Crokes to the All Ireland club title in 1992 but he was equally as ecstatic about his sides hard fought victory over Castlegregory.

“I’m delighted. Listry is a small rural club and it’s only when you go outside the Crokes and places that you realise what is happening out there, it’s a struggle like, it’s hard. The first time that we had a full panel this year was against Lispole. We had players in dribs and drabs. The county league was hard, we were in Division 2 and up against the likes of Kenmare and Ardfert, very strong sides and we struggled. Thankfully we kept at it though and we pulled it off today”.

Listry were down by 9 points at half time and O’Shea admitted that things were looking bleak for his side.

”We were dead and buried at half time like. But our goal just after half time gave us the chance to pull ourselves together a small bit. We still had plenty time. It gave us a bit of hope that the gap was after closing a bit. Their legs went, and I suppose the few extra bodies that we brought on made an awful difference. The lads were very fit, they worked hard at training and you could see that in the second half. We threw the kitchen sink at them in the second half, we had nothing to lose. It was an unbelievable comeback and full credit to them for the way they stuck at it.”

Seanie O’Shea gave credit to Castlegregory for the brand of football that they played and felt that they are a team on an upward curve.

”They put us to the sword in the first half and played a lovely brand of football. Alan Fitzgerald, who’s a magnificent footballer, ran out of steam. They are a serious team, they are very young like. Ronan Buckley was outstanding for us though, and Aaron McCarthy came on in the second half and made an awful difference in legs, he’s a good player.

He gave us a lot of options. We will have a few pints tonight and enjoy the victory!”

Listry goalkeeper Colm Counihan was playing in his sixth county final, and with just one medal to show prior to this years game he was beaming at the final whistle.

“Finals are not easy to win, that’s for sure! It’s unbelievable to win it the way we did. It’s one to treasure, that’s for sure. We got a bit of a roasting at half time – I wouldn’t like to divulge what was said but needless to say we all knew what we had to do when we came out. Thankfully it worked out for us and I couldn’t be happier.”

Listry captain Jimmy O’Leary also alluded to the harsh words that were administered at half time and felt that they got a much better grip on the bouncing ball in the second period.

“We were second to every ball in the first half. They were a step ahead of us and seemed to want it a bit more. We decided to throw caution to the wind in the second half and we managed to get a few scores and breaks that we didn’t get in the first half.

“We made a point at half time that we had to take our goal chances if we got them, we knew that we couldn’t just rely on scoring points and thankfully we got the early goal to settle us then. Sometimes it’s easier to play against the wind than with it, the natural instinct for Castlegregory was probably to sit back and defend their lead, we spoke about that, so it was up to us to try and push on and get the scores. The breaks definitely went our way in the second half. We got the rub of the green”.

O’Leary said that they were disappointed to be relegated from Division 2.

“We pride ourselves to stay in Division 2 and do the best that we can so it was a blow to go down. Things just didn’t go our way, we were missing players at crucial stages. When we went down we made a fierce effort to try and claw something out of the year. We like to think of ourselves as a team that are good enough to compete in the Premier Junior and the only way to do so was to win this competition so hopefully we can do ourselves justice again next year.”

Castlegregory chairman Tom Rohan was disappointed with the defeat but was full of optimism for what the future holds for their young side.

“Ah look, great credit to the lads, they played great football, we are a very young team, our average age is 20 so as far as I’m concerned it’s onwards and upwards for us. Well done to Listry for winning but we have nothing to be embarrassed about, we did well. Maybe it was a lack of experience that cost us in the finish but credit to Listry for pulling it out”.

Rohan admitted that he thought Alan Fitzgerald’s effort might have been a point.

“It looked like a point alright, but that’s the way it goes. That’s football. The last time Castlegregory were in a county final was in 2009, and we thought that we would be in many more finals but emigration killed us like many rural clubs. We are back now, we have a lot of young lads coming through, Jimmy O’Grady is only doing his Leaving Cert as is Michael Scanlon in The Green in Tralee, two fine promising players, and there’s many more like them. We will be back and, like I say, there’s a great future for Castlegregory football.”