'This will probably be the last one. I'm done and dusted'- Portarlington's Jason Moore
The 36-year old was immense in Sunday's County Final
Portarlington’s Jason Moore believes this year’s county title triumph stands above the club’s recent three-in-a-row success. "This one beats the three in a row," he said, reflecting on a challenging season that saw key players leave due to relocation and traveling abroad. Adding to the hardship, Portarlington were relegated to Division Two of the league, a setback Moore said "hurt us." Despite many writing them off, Moore and his teammates dug deep to defy the odds.
“For me, I think this one beats the three in a row, to be fair. The reason being is because of the transition of the club with the boys going to Australia, Dave going across to Rathangan, Adam, Stephen, Stewie, Scott, all the boys going off. A lot of people had us wrote off this year, especially after getting relegated out of the league to Division Two. That hurt us and put us back a small bit. Everyone had us wrote off, and look, here we are today. For me, I'd rather give up the three in a row to win this one, to be quite honest. Of course, I'll take the four medals, but of all them, this one is the sweetest for me definitely,” Moore said.
Portarlington manager Pat Roe focused on ensuring his side peaked for the championship, opting not to start training too early. Moore, one of the more seasoned players, understood the decision and helped explain it to teammates who had doubts.
“Normally, you come back in February, and you do your winter runs. Everyone dreads them and all that, but there was none of that. I'll be honest, a few boys were coming to me saying, ‘Jayo, is this right or not?’ and I said, ‘Look, if you really want to peak for championship, this is the right thing to do. We are winners; right off the league, I don't care about the league. We won the league last year, and no one remembers who won it.’ In fairness, we entrusted in Pat. After the first Graiguecullen game, for them not to beat us in normal time and for it to go to extra time, I said, ‘You know what boys, we have it here.’ We knew there was another 20% in us. Credit to Pat, he had us peaking at the right time, and we entrusted in Pat and the management team as a whole,” Moore added.
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Portarlington’s approach to each game emphasizes winning individual battles, and this mentality was evident in their county final performance. Moore praised the team’s unity and work ethic, which he believes was key to their success.
“Credit to Pat for trusting us, and even the team itself—we're firm believers that if you want to win a game, you have to win your individual battle. When we go out to play teams, we don’t go to stop them. We play our style of football: off-the-shoulder, hard running, quick ball in—just traditional football. People think we're a defensive team, but we’re not. If lads run forward, we’re going to track back and defend. This team, the work rate—I can’t credit the lads enough. It’s nice to win the championship, but it’s the bond between players—it’s some craic in the dressing room, and it’s shoulder to shoulder. It’s one in, all in. They’re a great bunch of lads,” Moore said.
Off the pitch, Moore has been involved with the minor team alongside Cathal Ryan and Noel Coss, helping to integrate younger players into the senior squad.
“Myself, Cathal, and Noel came together last year with a plan. We hadn’t had many minor teams coming through. It was a two-year project, and last year we won the league final, this year we got to a county final. We didn’t win, but the way Cathal and I see it, if we can get five players this year, five next year, and five after that, we’ll be in a good place. That’s what Portlaoise is doing now. Unlucky for them today, but their juvenile system is really up-and-coming. It’s something we’ll keep pushing for in the club,” Moore said.
Looking ahead, Portarlington will face the Wicklow champions in the Leinster campaign in three weeks. Despite some players traveling abroad, Moore is optimistic they’ll give it their all, and praised the commitment of players like Robbie Pigott, Paddy O’Sullivan, and Colm Murphy, who returned from abroad to contribute.
“We play the Wicklow champions, and I don’t care who’s in front of me. We have a mentality to play every game like it’s your last. We’ll give it a good run. We’ll try to throw a few quid together to keep Robbie, Paddy, Colm, and Jake here. Jake was supposed to go to Australia two weeks ago, but he stayed. Credit to the lads for coming home. It wasn’t the club flying them home. When we talked about it in the dressing room, the lads said, ‘How much do they need?’ We didn’t beg them. In fairness, the boys answered the call to the jersey,” Moore added.
Colm Murphy started the county final, meaning Sean Michael Corcoran was left out of the squad, while Pigott and O’Sullivan came off the bench in the second half. Moore said that despite outside speculation, there was no bitterness within the squad about players returning.
“People outside the club were saying it must be bitter for the lads who’ve been there all year when the boys went away. That was never the case. Even myself, I’d have said, ‘Here, Robbie, take my position,’ or ‘Paddy, I’m happy enough.’ I’m coming to the wrong side of my 30s. But no one questioned it. Everyone said, ‘100%, bring them back into training.’ It’s not the 15 that wins the championship, it’s the 1 to 30. Colin Slevin came on today, but he’s pushing us to hold our positions. For me, it’s the squad as a whole that’s given us four championships. It’s a team effort,” he said.
Moore has enjoyed an incredible career with Portarlington but hinted that this season could be his last due to injuries and other commitments.
“I’ll go as long as I can, but the body is telling me to stop. Niggles here and there, probably a few surgeries coming for my hips and Achilles. I struggled a lot this year and last year with injuries. I’d say this will probably be the last one due to work commitments and family reasons. If this is the last one, this is the sweetest for me. I’ll give the Leinster campaign a good shout, but after that, I’m done and dusted, happy out,” Moore concluded.