'It means absolutely everything to us'

Intermediate Football Championship final

Castlerahan’s focus turns to the Ulster Club IFC now after they came through the county championship unscathed to claim the Tommy Gilroy Cup.

Manager Brian Donohoe stated after the win over Ballyhaise that the Ballyjamesduff-based side intend to put their best foot forward for the provincial campaign; Cavan have not won the intermediate competition since Ballinagh in 2007.

“November 13th, we play the Fermanagh champions. I think they’re at the semi-final stage so we might get a look at them before we enter that battle. I think that’s a double-header with the senior champions which is great for Cavan.

“We have the Reserve Championship which is very important to give players football. We’re looking forward now to some festivities.

“Mission accomplished, job done. We set our goals out from early last winter and it’s just a brilliant feeling now and I’d like to pay huge compliments to the whole squad of players. They put in massive work and they got their rewards today. That was a tough battle now in very slippery, wet conditions but we’re delighted.”

Asked if he felt the weather conditions suited his side, Donohoe stated: “Dry, rain, hail, it doesn’t matter. I have many, many main men on that team and the experience and volume of high intensity games they have played, I knew that would stand to us today.

“The likes of Oisin Kiernan there, he controlled the game, and we got the job done, thank God.

“Fergal (Reilly) as people know has got bad news on a knee injury and he’s looking at a long period out and today is for him and for everybody in Castlerahan and BJD.

“You need that depth in your squad, it’s a 20-man game, we got a few lads in today and hopefully now we’ll drive on in the coming months.”

Castlerahan didn’t panic at the key moments, he said.

“There were nerves, there’s always nerves and that’s something we’ve worked on a lot, the next ball. That we have something positive to react, to get forward and get possession of the ball. David Wright, I thought, had a massive last quarter, he took to the skies, he took to the ground, and that’s what you want. When the ball is there to be won, you need men to just go and do the job – and they did it.”

The winners were four points up at the midway point and ended up winning by three.

“Plus four at half-time, we were happy enough after a tentative enough start and then we settled down into our play. Our conversion rate was at 59% and our conversion rates across the season have gone very high in second halves.

“We’ve finished strong and we’ve managed games very well. They got it back to one point but there were a couple of big plays at that stage and we just stretched it out again.”

The hero up front was top scorer Oisin O’Connell.

“The track record of Oisin in county finals is phenomenal. County finals plus Oisin O’Connell equals goals and he delivered today. The way it bounced up, he was away like a rocket and there was only one thing on his mind.

“Some of his points were fantastic, I’m delighted for him and I think he’s a worthy Player of the Match.”

O’Connell himself revealed that he had been sick in the lead-up to the game.

“I’m just delighted, I had a vomiting bug all week, I’m fairly wrecked now at the minute. The boys dug it out and look, we got the win, that’s the main thing.

“John Clarke, Brian Donohoe, Martin McKiernan, all of them, they’ve been unbelievable since the get-go, every one of them. They drove us all on and we’re just delighted.

“I said to myself at the end of last year when we got relegated that that was enough, I was finished, but then I missed all the lads and the training and once you got the first training back, you knew you wanted to get the team back up. Every single one of us felt like we let the club down when we got relegated. They installed into us that we are a good team and we needed to get back up. It showed I suppose today, we wanted to be back in senior.”

Winning captain Enda Flanagan, meanwhile, echoed his manager’s sentiments.

“Job done, tight conditions. A tight day for football but thank God we got over the line.

“We said before the game that goals were going to win the game and we said that Oisin O’Connell was the man to get goals, he always shows up on big days… thank God for Oisin O’Connell!”

What did it mean to get back to senior ranks?

“It means absolutely everything to us. We let people down last year with our performances but thank God we’re back at the top table. And now it’s time to develop new players as well because the boys are getting on. But we are going to enjoy these few days anyway.

“If we can keep this group together and add to it, we’ll be strong. We did it without the warrior Fergal Reilly today so to have him back next year hopefully as well will be a massive boost.”

This week, the focus turns to the SFC and Division 1 MFC finals which throw in this Sunday at 4pm and 1.45pm respectively.