Liam Brosnan: ‘I think you probably have to lose a few hard ones and this is a hard one’

FOR what it’s worth that was one hell of a run. Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t a consolation to Brosna that they played their part in the two best games of this year’s championship or that the drawn game with Ballyduff – garlanded by their stunning come-back – was the best game we’ve seen in quite some time up north.

Brosna have adorned this year’s championship, even though they didn’t get the reward they fought so far for all winter long.

“It’s been a great boost for the parish the last six weeks there’s been a buzz around the place and I think they [the players] really enjoyed it,” Brosna boss Liam Brosnan says.

“I think they’ll look back in the next couple of weeks and the next few days and they’re hurting now, but I’d say over the Christmas when they get together for the few drinks they’ll have enjoyed it.

“At the end of the day Brosna has gone through a tragedy, but this was a game of football. We have to be realistic as well.

“I know it’s a medal and a game of football, but we’ll all go away tonight and have a night out and we’ll enjoy it and back to work again tomorrow.”

We’re sure that would have been Brosnan’s message all week long, it’s only a game of football, but in the first half the tangerine army played with a weight upon them, the occasion seemed to get the better of them.

“We didn’t hit the ground running and we probably had a good goal chance that [just didn’t go in],” he continues.

“Look our aim really was to come into the game and try and keep it tight until half-time, even though we weren’t playing well I was happy enough inside because we were only down four points. It could have been worse, but at the same time it could have been better.

“We came out in the second half and I knew there was a good burst in us and I think we had a goal or two opportunities that we didn’t take and look goals win matches. They got the goals and we didn’t.

“At the end of the day they’re a team that are young, they’re up and coming, they have potentially two Kerry seniors, they are probably the best team in North Kerry at the moment. They’ve proved it in the last five years this is fourth final I think in six years or something like that, so you’ve got to give them great credit for that.

“Look I’m delighted with our boys. I know it’s hard for them at the moment, but hopefully there’s a lot of em young fellas even though we’ve a few old fellas as well, but I hope they’ll come back from this.”

A couple of things counted against Brosna, things they could have done without, starting with the early enforced-through-injury departure of Dave Curtin.

“It didn’t help us because he’s actually a main figure for us,” Brosnan confirms.

“He’s a big body for us. You’ve options midfield or going forward with him and there in the second half you probably missed him, we could have put him into there [to full-forward] and you could have lamped a few balls into him, but something popped in his leg very year and it must have been something bad because Dave would not come off the field very easily.”

His replacement, Tom McGoldrick, was hugely impressive, however, helping to turn the tide in the second half.

“We knew that,” Brosnan says. “He’s coming back from an injury he picked up in the semi-final, but we knew there was a very good thirty minutes in Tom. Tom McGoldrick he’s got pedigree down through the years, he’s a great footballer, but look I hope that Brosna now there’s a lot of young fellas coming through that they’ll step into the places of the Dave Curtins and the Tom McGoldricks and these fellas.

“I think you probably have to lose a few hard ones and this is a hard one but at the same time we’ll have to figure out how Brosna can win a North Kerry championship.”