Shinrone manager delighted team performed on the biggest stage

SHINRONE manager Trevor Fletcher was delighted his team produced a performance like they did on the biggest day of all and said they got their just rewards for all the work they had put in all year.

The Roscrea native, who won county titles himself with Kilcormac/Killoughey, said his team stuck to the game plan, even after a somewhat shaky start, and felt the confidence they had picked up from their wins over St Rynagh's and Belmont in the county quarter final and semi-final respectively stood to them on the day.

“Hard to believe, I'm just delighted for the players to be honest with you,” was his initial reaction to the result. “They have been knocked and knocked and knocked but I knew there was huge talent in them, they just had to believe in themselves and this year they believed. I was so happy they put in a performance like they did today and they got their just rewards.”

Kilcormac/Killoughey started well and went three points up twice early on and he admitted there was some concern at that time.

“Oh absolutely, they could have gone more up on us, they were very unlucky with those goal chances. I know our boys put in a good bit of hooking and blocking as well, the composure was there. We have this belief in ourselves all year, just stick to the process, stick to the game plan and in fairness to the guys today, they didn't panic. I asked them before the game, I looked for soldiers and leaders, and in fairness they stood up in the second half as well.”

He agreed it was a huge thing for Shinrone to win their first title.

“Anyone will tell it is so hard to get that first win, so hard. We are lucky this bunch of players are after getting over it on the first go. I know myself other teams have tried so hard and just lost on the final day or semi-final.”

Asked if the confidence gained from their quarter final and semi-finals wins was seen on Sunday he replied: “Yeah, I think so. I think they started to believe in themselves after getting that quarter final win. When you win tight matches, the same in the semi-final, they just kept believing, sticking to the process, believing in the game plan and when you do that it brings huge belief when you go out on the biggest day and the boys put a big performance in today.”

Even when K/K had the early chances, Shinrone didn't panic and kept picking off their scores.

“Yeah, they did, they kept on moving the ball. We spoke about taking on K/K and they did and when we took on K/K we got traction and got a few scores from it. ”

Shinrone got the last two points of the first half to go in leading by two points at half time. “The two scores then to go up at half time was huge for us. It was a huge psychological boost going in, but we just had to compose ourselves at half time. We just had to make sure that we stayed going and stayed going,” Trevor said.

Things really clicked for Shinrone in the second half as they began to pull away.

“The key for me was when we conceded the goal we scored two points straight after the first goal and we got the next point after the second goal, the boys didn't panic. They have never been in this territory before coming down the stretch where you are winning by five, six or seven points, so for them to believe in that and stick to it, I am delighted for them.”

Asked if he was you worried that they might have gone too far ahead at the stage and the players might have seen the endline before the game was over, he replied “yeah, that's a huge worry. I think I wasn't worried in a way, I trusted the players and I knew well that they would stick to the process.”

Shinrone had a great spread of scorers on the day. “The biggest thing with Shinrone was using the ball and we always speak about the best man in the best position scores, we don't care who scores as long as it is a Shinrone man,” Trevor said.

“I think there were big performances all around. I can't really pinpoint who played well, for me everybody played well, they stood up and we spoke before the game and at half time and we were looking for leaders and leaders stood up all around the pitch today.”

It was a somewhat bitter sweet occasion for Trevor as he hurled and won titles with Kilcormac/Killoughey. “I am so passionate towards K/K. I hurled with them, I won county medals with them, I know all the boys from K/K. Look I'm sure they won't begrudge us this one,” he said.

Shinrone now have a Leinster Club Championship to look forward to when they take on Kildare champions Naas on the second weekend of November.

“Naas won the All-Ireland Intermediate last year so they will be a huge opposition. I'm sure they were here looking the match today and will know what we are about, and we have to go and have a look to see what they are about. To be honest I never even thought about the Leinster Championship, it was this game I was focussed on,” Trevor added.