The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Back-to-back All-Ireland titles for Under-21 hurlers
Conor McKenna spoke to a delighted Kerry manager Ian Brick after Kerry retained their All-Ireland Under-21 ‘B’ hurling title
KERRY manager Ian Brick admitted his side were very worried going into the interval against Derry, with six points the margin and losing midfielder Fionan Mackessy just before half time.
“You would have been concerned of course. Going in at half time with a lead you always kind of suspect that the opposition have nearly more in their armoury than you would have yourself and especially when you’re down to 14 but you know what we felt that the sending off was very unfair on Fionan and the boys rallied around him and I suppose he means that much to them that everybody upped their game. Some fellas who were even at 100% I think they went to above and beyond the call of duty in fairness to them.”
Brick described his sides second half performance as outstanding, with Kerry’s defence especially strong throughout the match.
“An outstanding second half display. I think we got something like 2-16 or 2-17 from play. Mad stuff altogether. Our defence was so brilliant from start to finish. They only scored eleven points at the end.”
Brick stated how Kerry were confident they would have superior skill levels to Derry and praised his close knit side who really hurled for each other throughout.
“We almost expected that our stickwork, if we were able to get to the ball, was going to be good enough. It took us a long time to get used to that physicality. We were delighted to be honest going in at half time with that six points (lead). Very unlucky like I say with Fionan but like I say they’re a great bunch of lads, first and foremost their friends and I think that showed in the second half.”
Brick believes his side are more than able to compete in the top tier competition, as they have been exceptionally dominant at B level in recent years, but Brick realises that they would need to be training since before Christmas to compete at the top level.
“I suppose the only thing about this competition is it has to be brought forward because to be fair we have only been training for this for a few months. If you’re talking about going up to A level you’ll really
have to be at it since before Christmas last year so if that was in place I’ve no doubt that the boys would certainly go to work on that and this year we had ten or twelve on the senior panel anyway so they were working really, really hard. Then you see the quality of the rest of the panel then, the quality of the hurlers coming through so we’re very hopeful for the future.”
Brick also praised his panel of players who he believes would still be committed regardless of the competition and spoke of how rule changes which may come into place in 2019 will impact on the future of the competition.
“Next year’s Under-21 team is going to be different now. Will there even be an Under-21 competition who knows? These decisions are taken out of our hands but all I can say is whatever competition we’re in, whatever we ask of the boys, whatever we’ve asked them so far they’ve done It and done it with loads of enthusiasm and energy. I think it came out there in the second half display and it’s great I suppose when you know that the boys have a certain amount of ability. Last year they didn’t get the credit for it but I think that was a fantastic display from them today. “
Brick has done remarkable work for hurling in Kerry guiding them to yet another All-Ireland, with hurling very much developing throughout the county.
We almost expected that our stickwork, if we were able to get to the ball, was going to be good enough