Character was key for Broderick

ONE word in particular kept cropping up when Tinahely manager Mick Broderick offered his thoughts on Saturday’s Senior county final: character.

‘In the first half we dominated but we failed to put away our scores, which left us three or four points up at half-time. We should have been further ahead to be fair. We just didn’t put our chances away.

‘We reset at half-time, then at the start of the second half we got the first score and then St Pat’s went down and scored and for a spell of about 15 minutes – we had a sinbin obviously – Pat’s dominated the game and went five or six points up and we had to make a few changes, and thankfully they worked, and, to be fair, the girls dug deep and did dig it out, and to go and win a match like that it takes character. It took real character. To be fair to those girls, you don’t do four in a row – and I can tell you, we never discussed four in a row for as long as I’ve came to Tinahely to help out. It was never mentioned in the whole year. It is just what has happened today – but you don’t win four in a row without real character, grit, determination.

‘It is was ever in evidence (the character) it was there today. Look, commiserations to Pat’s, that game was so hard on them. It was one that was won and taken back and any game like that is a killer. They’re a great bunch of girls, they won the Intermediate here today, so they are a team and a club that are going places. We’re lucky, we got out of jail, but it came with effort and real character.

‘You have to have luck, but I would say it was more character and hard work and sticking to our plan.

‘That’s probably what got us there and fitness maybe in the end. We finished strong in the game. And we got the scores when it mattered. At the end of the day, the scoreboard tells a story, and we got the scores when they mattered,’ he said.

A key part of the game on Saturday was the high pressing on the Pat’s kickouts late in the second half. Broderick says their attack is their first line of defence, and always has been.

‘It’s part of our gameplan. We absolutely practice that, it’s our gameplan that we do attack, our forwards are our first line of defence, and we practice that.

‘We shut teams down, we stop them playing, we stop them getting away crisp, clean passes and that allows us attack on 50-50 balls which we do,’ he said

Losing Rachel Byrne to the sinbin was a blow for the Tinahely team and the classy player herself. But once she re-entered the fray that bond that exists within the Tinahely club was there for all to see.

‘Rachel (Byrne), that showed real character. Obviously, she was very disappointed to get sinbinned, a couple of scores had gone against her, her head could have dropped, but, to be fair, she nailed a couple of great scores when it mattered.

‘I’m really pleased with the whole performance, from one to the subs that came on and from one to 30, as a panel those players absolutely deserve it.

‘I’m delighted with them. You couldn’t ask for a better bunch of girls. It takes real bond and team spirit to eke out a result like that. It doesn’t just happen,’ he added.

There was a special mention for Sinead Byrne in the speech after the game. What is it about Sinead that stands her apart from the crowd.

‘Sinead is an incredible woman. Whether it’s Knockananna or Tinahely or wherever we train, at whatever hour of the night it is, she’s always there. She’s there for the girls, she’s there for all of us as a management team.

‘Management can be fairly lazy, but Sinead keeps us all in shape.

‘She is pivotal to everything that happens in the club and, actually, she nearly embodies the spirit of the Tinahely club for me.

‘And in the dressing room she commands huge respect.

‘The girls love her, and we love her as a management team and I’m sure the whole club do as well,’ said Mick.