'Unreal' - O'Shea savours long-awaited day for the Munchies
JFC final reaction
Damien Donohoe
Cian O’Shea was still trying to take it all in as the final whistle confirmed Munterconnaught’s 0-11 to 0-10 victory over Kill in Sunday’s Cavan Junior Championship final. The captain, who produced the turnover that sparked the decisive attack, admitted the scale of the achievement had yet to sink in.
“It’s unbelievable. Honestly, it hasn’t sunk in yet and probably won’t for a few weeks,” he said on the pitch afterwards.
“When you’re growing up playing football all you want to do is win a championship for your club. For us to finally do it for Munterconnaught after 31 long years is unreal.”
The raw emotion at the final whistle, tears and cheers on the field and in the stands, reflected more than a single season’s work. O’Shea explained that the breakthrough had been several years in the making.
“We’ve been building towards this for a few years now. Winning the Shield was a stepping stone and each year since we’ve gone into the championship believing we could win it. This year more than ever we said, ‘If not us, someone else will walk up those steps.’”
It was a fitting way for Munterconnaught to crown a season of resilience. Kill, who had pushed them close in previous meetings, opened a two-point lead as the game ticked into injury time. Then the fourth official signalled six additional minutes and the belief surged back.
“I wasn’t expecting six, but we were delighted when we heard it,” O’Shea smiled. “Whether it was two or six, though, we’d have backed ourselves. We’ve been in tight games before, I think back to a league match against Drung where we were down, John McCabe worked a short free and we kicked a two-pointer to draw it. Games like that built our resilience. We knew in a tight one we could pull it out of the fire.”
The winning score came from substitute Shane Hanly, a player whose season had been wrecked by a dislocated shoulder.
“Shane’s a brilliant footballer. He might have had a minute or two in earlier games but this was really his chance,” said O’Shea.
“He’s been through a lot so it was great for him to kick the winner. I’m delighted for him.”
There was personal poignancy for the captain too. O’Shea had lost his aunt during the week and carried that loss with him into the final.
“It probably gave me a bit of extra motivation. No doubt she was looking down on us. It’s been a tough week for my father and our family, we’re very close, so hopefully this brings them a bit of joy at the end of it.”
His own pivotal moment came deep in injury time when he pounced to turn defence into attack. “I love that sort of thing, turnovers, blocks, the physical side of the game. When I saw the ball there I just went for it,” he said.
On a day when Munterconnaught’s collective heart and hard work carried them over the line, their captain embodied both. “Unreal,” he repeated, glancing towards the celebrations. “Just unreal.”
Reilly’s hard work rewarded
Munterconnaught’s long climb to the summit of Cavan junior football was personified by Cejay Reilly on Sunday as he collected the player-of-the-match award after their nail-biting 0-11 to 0-10 victory over Kill at Kingspan Breffni.
Reilly, who has been part of the club’s journey through semi-final heartbreaks and quarter-final exits, said the breakthrough had been years in the making.
“We’ve worked so hard over the last three or four years,” he reflected.
“We’ve been building and building, lost semi-finals, been unlucky in quarter-finals. Last year Knockbride beat us. This team deserves it now.”
“We went a few points down and there were a few calls that could have gone either way, but I never panicked once. We’ve been in this position before, in the last game against Drung it came down to the last kick of the ball and we won it, so I had no fear today.”
Although delighted with his personal accolade, Reilly stressed the collective effort.
“It could have gone to anyone out there,” he said. “Every bit of it comes down to honesty and hard work. I’m just delighted.”