Breen: I put the ball on the left leg, said a Hail Mary and found the target

A DRAINED Beaufort captain Nathan Breen basked in the glow of a job well done, understandably thrilled with the comeback to land silverware.

“That hour and 20 minutes was totally energy sapping, Dromtariffe came at us with a high intensity, plenty of hits, coming fair and clean. Going into the game, it was pretty straight forward but we learned a lesson from a defeat to Laune Rangers in the Mid Kerry championship that if the attitude isn’t 100%, it will impact, that reversal was a real benefit to us in this Munster Final,” he said.

It’s fair to say, midfielder Breen led by example, a dream start, a sweet move and perfect execution gave Beaufort a lead goal inside the first minute.

“Anywhere beyond the half way line is uncharted waters for myself, the space opened up, I took a return pass from Pádraig (Doona), put it on the left leg, saying a quick Hail Mary and found the target,” said a modest Breen.

Not for the first time, Beaufort reinvented themselves in marathon games, requiring extra time to dislodge both Churchill and Na Gaeil by the minimum of margins, repeating the exercise against Dromtariffe.

“We conceded a goal with the last kick of the first half to fall six points behind, that rattled morale but our guys have been in this position already this season. This is a young side with plenty of character and experience to deal with the mistakes that Dromtariffe punished us,” said Breen.

“Everybody going into the dressing room ahead of extra time knew individually and as a group on what was required and the management reinforced the plan. We had been there, done it in previous extra time wins over Churchill and Na Gaeil,” he said.

Dromtariffe brought plenty of enthusiasm to the proceedings, Breen took up the task of attempting to limit the influence of young dual player Conor O’Callaghan.

“A very good opponent, he was always comfortable on the ball, a real standard bearer for Dromtariffe on bringing the fight to us. But to win a Munster Final, it takes much more than one player, it took us 15 and the additional 4-5 substitutes introduced,” he said.

“We lost some important players enroute, Liam Carey’s injury was unexpected, the importance of our strength in depth showed. For myself, it feels great to stand up and receive the silverware and represent a fantastic group of players,” beamed a delighted Breen.