Captain Wren hoping All-Ireland win earns players ‘a week off homework’

WHEN captain Shaun Wren stood over a ’45’ in the third minute of second half injury-time, Tarbert Comprehensive’s chances of becoming All-Ireland champions rested on his young shoulders. Trailing by the bare minimum, after losing an eleven-point lead, it was make-or-break time.

Good job then, maybe, that the North Kerry school’s skipper thought that St Malachy’s Castlewellan were two points to the good at the time. With consummate authority, Wren sent the ball over the bar, ensuring extra-time, and an opportunity to win this enthralling decider for a second time.

What followed in the 20 minutes was Tarbert forward John Coolahan turning out to be the ultimate difference between two evenly-matched outfits, who produced an absolute classic. The in-form attacker’s 76th minute strike propelled the winners, eventually, past the finish line.

“It really hasn’t kicked in yet, but that feeling after the final whistle went, after such a game. Playing with the fellas that you grew up with in school, every day you’re battling it out with them, it’s an amazing feeling. I can’t believe it,” said Wren.

“It probably was [the craziest game], the most intense match anyway, especially to see the crowd that was there driving us on, and even the crowd for the other team, they were great, for both teams. “We knew going in at halftime that we would have the breeze behind our backs in the second half, so we said we would take our chances as they would come. Thankfully, we took them. “I don’t know [about the collapse], maybe it was just a lack of concentration, some of us maybe thought that the game was over, but obviously it wasn’t. Luckily, we came out the right side of it.”

On finding himself in the pressure-cooker cauldron of needing to nail that last kick to save his side from defeat, Wren was modest, instead heaping the plaudits onto his club-mate Coolahan. Between them (0-8 for Wren, 2-3 for the latter), they accounted for 2-11 of the Tarbert tally.

“To be honest, I thought we were two points down when I was taking it, and it went over. I thought it was going to the right and wide anyway. Luckily, it came in for me,” added the captain.

“That fella [John], what I said before about him, when he wants to be, he’s one of the best players in the county at his age. It’s unbelievable what that man can do with a football.

“Facing into extra-time, we said that we have another 20 minutes as a group, and it could be our last 20 minutes. Thankfully, that last 20 minutes was a high, and finished on a high.

“It’s a massive thing, they’re all small towns and villages involved, for the players to get to an All-Ireland final, it’s massive. All the teachers are here, and you can see them, and they’re happy. We might get a week off homework maybe!”