Kildare manager Diane O'Hora reacts to her side's Division 3 league title win over Clare
Standing on the pitch on Parnell Park as her players celebrated and took photos with adoring fans, Diana O’Hora tried to process a final for the ages as her Kildare side came out on top against Clare to become Division 3 champions and get promoted.
“I’m absolutely delighted, it’s nearly hard to take in that game. I was just talking to Sean Finnegan who was the manager here last year and he said how did you win a game, lose it and come back to win it again and I said I just don’t know. We have a lot to work on in terms of discipline but I am absolutely over the moon proud of the girls,” O’Hora said.
The Kildare boss lauded the resilience shown by her team through some incredibly difficult patches in this final. As close to the end as half-time of extra-time it looked like this game was slipping away from them.
“We were lucky in the end to come away with it but I have to look but at the character of our they never stopped, they committed to the cause, they committed to the Kildare jersey, to being a Lilywhite and they never said die to themselves at any stage. I think that is a massive boost to me as manager for a team to not say die like that after being hit with every single thing,” O'Hora said.“They deserved that today, they deserved it all season. You have to give credit to Clare. They did not allow us to play our football today, they pressed up really high and knew the channels we were looking for and how we were trying to move the ball and transition it. They did really well defensively and it caused us problems so I am over the moon and relieved.”
Aside from the glory of the title win, Kildare have also achieved promotion and Division 2 status for the first time in seven years. The Kildare manager was adamant on the importance of the step up in quality that Kildare will face next year.
“It is so important to be playing Division 2 football, not just for this squad but for everyone else in Kildare. The minors coming through, the underrage teams, for the county in general, county board, for everyone. Because of the high quality of the clubs we have in Kildare we are so proud to be back in Division 2. That is also the only way you improve is by playing the bigger and better teams, it’s sink or swim. To get the opportunity to play all them is a great opportunity for us to improve ourselves against more physical county sides,” O'Hora explained.