‘It showed massive character. We’re very, very proud of the lads’

IT was a really gut-wrenching way for a team to lose a county final.

To come back from ten behind, to take the lead, to have a chance at goal from the penalty spot that could have delivered the title for them and, yet, leaving empty handed. Nobody ever said sport wasn’t cruel.

And yet there’s still loads for Glenflesk to be positive about. They took this championship by storm. They’re further ahead on their development curve than probably even they would have expected at the start of the year. Scant consolation now, but in time it might salve some wounds.

“The talent is there,” manager Denis Reen reasoned after the match.

“We’ll come again. I was lucky enough to win one in Cork two years ago and you can’t win them all. These boys here we’ll definitely win one the way they’re going.”

We’d agree, especially given the display of character Reen’s charges showed as they bounced back from a horror start to the game.

“The first ten minutes were crazy,” he continued.

“We were down ten points before we knew where we were. I’m just so proud of these boys, a young team to show unbelievable character to come back and I’m just so delighted with them. I can’t ask any more from them. It hurts right now and they’re very young, we’ll learn massively from this.

“It showed massive character. We’re very, very proud of the lads. Everything we asked them to do, they’ve done it with their heads held high. They are very, very young, they’ll learn massively and hopefully this time next year we’ll be back and things might be turned the other way.”

In the end Kilcummin’s experience probably did tell. Losing to a team like that, a team playing that well, carries no shame.

“They’ve twenty years experience of senior football,” Reen noted.

“They came down this year and I think they showed massive character the way they regrouped at the start of the year. The way they played today was exceptional football, open football.

“I suppose we had to chase the game and we were left open at times, but we went up a point at one stage, with fifteen minutes to go it was level and then things kind of went mad again, but look that’s life isn’t it? It’s just football and we’ll come back again and we’ll regroup and go again.”