Longford SFC Final: Colmcille’s cool hand Reilly still delivering the goods at a high level

Quiet and unassuming, you would never believe he was one of Longford’s best footballers of the past 20 years.

Winner of a Leinster minor medal in 2002, Declan Reilly played for a decade for the county seniors. In an era where players seemed to get bigger and bigger, Reilly stood out.

A slight figure, his pace, skill and intelligence were his calling cards.

Well, he is still operating at a high level for his club Colmcille and last Sunday was no different.

He was glad to get over the line in the end. “It wasn’t looking good with 10 minutes left. We had a last throw of the dice in getting a long ball in around the square and we got a penalty off it,” he stated.

In a game where he says “both sides struggled for scores” he says that his side “struggled to hold on to the ball.”

Reilly emphasised the importance of good defending in the final.

 “In the quarter-final against Mostrim, we conceded three goals early on, we couldn’t let that happen today. We had to set up well defensively. In fact, both defences were set up well and both sides struggled to score,” he stated.

Reilly also emphasised the physicality that Mullinalaghta brought to the table.

“The tackles were coming in hard,” he commented.

Reilly, along with Noel Farrell, had also been on the 2008 winning team and he believes there was a steadying influence that came from that success.  (Padraig Murtagh was also on the ‘08 side).

“A lot of the young players hadn’t been to a senior final or even a semi-final so it helped to have a few lads around who had,” he stated.

“It is easy to get caught up in the atmosphere around the build up to a county final,” he added.

No danger of that with Declan Reilly. Always the coolest head on the field.