Longford SFC Final: Daniel Mimnagh savours the amazing feeling of winning another title

“It is an amazing feeling but they are all very special. The first one in 2012 seems like a long time ago and there has been quite a change in the panel personnel since then, but every title is special.

“We had a lull over the last couple of years since our last success in 2020, but this year we really refocused and set targets. We had a system and we played to it and we really worked hard at it all year. 

“We had been backed by a lot of people to win the championship, and being favourites is a tough mantle to hold, but we just about got over the line today.

“It was not the prettiest of football to watch, which is strange for two sides who are capable of playing great football and you would have expected it to be a dog-eat-dog high scoring, high quality encounter, but it wasn’t.

“There were a lot of mistakes, but that’s what happens regularly in county finals. We have been in a lot of county finals and the last three of them have been tight with just one score separating the teams at the finish. 

“We don’t really get away from teams in finals, but it’s always nice to be on the winning side.’

Daniel said that the Leinster Championship is now the main focus for Killoe and that reaching a Leinster Club final is not beyond them.

‘We will just focus on the Leinster Club campaign and try and go on a run in that. We reached the provincial semi-finals in both 2012 and 2015 with that narrow loss to Portlaoise in 2012 the one that got away. 

“We saw what Mullinalaghta did in 2018 and would love to emulate their fairytale Leinster title success. 

“We face the Westmeath or Wexford champions in the quarter-finals, so we will put in the work over the next couple of weeks, and who knows what will happen.’

Clonguish have been putting in really strong second half displays, especially in the knock-out stages, and Daniel acknowledged that they spoke about that in the dressing room at half-time.

‘We agreed that we needed to start the second half strongly, but we didn't do that, and it was a worry because they have hung on in games. 

“We knew that the longer they stayed close to us, they would get stronger, and to be fair to them, they are going to be the team to beat over the next few  years. 

“We are just holding on for as long as we can until Clonguish take over, and their time will come. Today it was our experience that gave us the crucial edge, especially with drawing that winning free in injury time to get that easy score, and thankfully that got us over the line.”