Palpable sense of relief for Lios Póil

RELIEF rather than ecstasy was the overriding feeling amongst the Lios Póil contingent in the immediate aftermath of last Saturday’s triumph in Austin Stack Park. And their manager Damien O’Sullivan had a palpable sense of it in his post-match comments.

“You have no idea (of the relief at winning) and I think you still see it out there in everyone that it still hasn’t really sunk in,” O’Sullivan said of a hard fought success.

“I didn’t think we could get a six-point deficit back especially against a strong defensive side like Beale and every though we had changes in mind coming towards the break, Garrett’s goal changed everything thankfully,” the Lios Póil boss said.

He agreed the second half introduction of Kieran O’Sullivan was important as well as gaining a better hold of possession after Beale’s dominance.

“When we managed to get our hands on the ball that bit more it settled us and we knew they would have the character to pull through based on that,” O’Sullivan said.

While there isn’t a Munster Championship to move forward to like the others, the Lispole boss feels that reaching Premier Junior level is a prize in itself.

“We’re not bothered by there being no Munster, we had it two years ago with Knockaderry for the Novice. Making up for the hurt of the years of defeat is the main prize out of this. We want to stay in Division Three after celebrating this but getting three games at Premier Junior level is something we are looking forward to.”

A LUMP in the throat probably the best description of the Lios Póil captain Cathal O’Sullivan thoughts after getting a redemption the West Kerry club fought hard for this decade going back to 2012 when they suffered the first of three Club Final defeats.

“After being so close and yet so far for many years today was the day we put it right. It was a hard game, Beale brought it to us and we offer them our commiserations. They will have their day in the future I am sure,” he said.

Lios Póil might have come out of their group as expected but O’Sullivan said it was far from routine road to another Final.

“Cordal was a very difficult game away for us the first day with the conditions and it was one we really had to battle to win a physical match. The semi-final with Castlegregory was strange after the poor start we had in conceding the first seven points but I must praise Damien our manager because he instilled the character in us to not worry about the setbacks and keep fighting and that is what has brought us to here today,” the team captain said.

What did he make of teammate Garret Noonan’s goal before half-time alongside Declan O’Sullivan’s contribution?

“It cleared our heads and got us back thinking about our gameplan in general and not having to possibly worry about changing things when they had a six point lead. Declan has been through it all with these Finals and he is getting younger with age. His trusty left boot has never left us down and he puts in a phenomenal effort every time. We are proud to stand alongside him,” he said of the Man-of-the-Match.

In term of achieving a victory without the Brian Rayle and Mike Jim Fitzgerald, the team captain said it was a credit to the panel as well as their manager.

“That’s the one thing Damien has drilled into us when we lost a player- ‘who is the next man to come in and do the job’ and we have all responded to it so well. We’re looking forward to going back at it in Division Three now and pushing on a bit more hopefully.”

UNDERSTANDABLE disappointment but a sense there could be better days to come was the mood amongst the Beale camp as their manager Ian Blake agreed about the significance of Lios Póil’s goal right before the break.

“You are talking to a much different dressing room at six points up than you are at three points but overall I felt we had enough chances to win it despite their goal. I won’t fault our players for their efforts this evening however,” he said as he reflected on his side’s three point loss.

While those on the outside didn’t feel they had much chance in advance, Blake said there was a quiet confidence Beale could do it amongst themselves. He felt there was one key error his side made though as well as feeling they didn’t get the rub of the green on refereeing decisions.

“Maybe we went for the jugular too early with the goal chances we went for when points might have settled us more. I agree Darragh (Buckley) had a fine game but in my opinion, and this isn’t sour grapes, he got no protection from the referee out there,” Blake said about the robust nature of the exchanges at times.

Blake didn’t feel his side’s wides were a major part of the game, pointing to Lispole’s difficulties with the breeze as well but he wants his team North to take the positives.

“We want to push on and today will hopefully tell the lads they are capable of that. We gave a Division Three team a massive fright out there and it came down to the wire. I won’t begrudge Lios Póil their win though after some of the defeats they have had in recent years and we need to draw on how they came back from their own hurt if we want to have our own success in the future.”