Ice-cool Cusack pays tribute to captain fantastic
Man-of-the-Match
James Butler (Glen Emmets)
Ronan Grufferty’s second-half display edged him into contention, while Andrew Mooney,KeithBoylan and Ian Cusack were all superb for Emmets. Ciaran Sheridan, Niall Sharkey and Trevor O’Brien impressed for Glyde, but Butler (pictured below receiving the awardfrom Peter and Debbie Kierans) was ‘on it’from the start, setting on the tone for a passionate Emmets’display, and when they needed him most he was hand to kick the winner.
Stats
WIDES: Glen Emmets 6 (3 in first-half) Glyde Rangers 6 (2 in first-half)
FREES: Glen Emmets 16;Glyde 13
45: Glen Emmets 2; Glyde 0
YELLOW: D Conlon (30),DDevaney (44), I Cusack (33)
BLACK: None
RED: None
Talking point
21 Sundaywas Glyde’s first defeat of the campaignmpaignafterafter 20wins and one draw from ratio outings -butwere the Tallanstown men tested enough thisseason? Emmets’ win was much lower,buttheysurvived in Division 2. Nationally and locally, league status has never been more important,as Glyde will hope toexperience in 2018. GLEN Emmets goal hero Ian Cusack insisted that seeing their captain fantastic Tom Grimes departing for hospital gave them another reason to leave nothing on the field.
‘It probably spurred us on when we saw Tom going off. He’s the man we look to in tight games like this, so we wanted to do it for him and finish it out.’
Grimes marshals a reliable back six, but to a man they stood tall in the closing stages to repel Glyde rangers.
‘The backs did everything to put them off and close them out and we knew we had the level of fitness you need to see out games like this. In most games this year we’ve produced a strong second-half finish and it came good today for us again.
‘We’be learned our lessons over the years and in Division 2 you certainly get harsh lessons if you don’t perform, so that did stand to us in the end.
‘WE said before the semi-final that it’s about the performance and getting out the other end. It wasn’t too pretty in the end, we were hanging on, but we did the job.’
Recalling his all-important goal, it was a case of nothing ventured nothing gained for the number 11 and Lady Luck was on his side.
‘I just saw the gap opening up and went for it. It took a deflection alright but in finals it doesn’t matter how you get the result and lucky enough it went in.’
There was nothing lucky about James Butler’s winning point, however, and Cusack paid tribute to the man-of-the-match.
‘James is so cool under pressure. If he gets anywhere within 40 yards, it’s great to just know it’s going over the bar.’
After some agonising near misses Emmets seemed as relieved as they were overjoyed and Cusack knows from experience that it’s not easy to take the hard knocks and keep coming back.
‘It’s hard to do, but they say you have to lose one to win one. But to be honest, the defeats are only in the back of the mind because you want to focus on the here and now and what you can control in the moment. There’s no point looking back. But it does rankle with you and you want to put it right.’
Emmets were forced to ‘put it right’ without their Louth star Conor Grimes this summer, but Cusack said no-one was sitting around feeling sorry for themselves after the big full forward departed for Ne Zealand.
‘This is very much a team and there were lads who stepped up this year who were unfortunate not to be in the starting team last year. That’s what a squad is for and that’s testament to the whole squad and the lads who come in and do their bit when the moment comes.’
Ian admitted that they’ll revel in the glory for some time, but insisted it’s no more than their supporters deserve.
‘It’s great for the village and they can enjoy a better quality of football next year. They deserve it after following us all over the county.’