Breaks didn't fall for us but St Mary's will learn from Connacht disappointment says Flynn
Hard to avoid talking about a missed opportunity for St Mary’s Kiltoghert last Saturday in the AIB Connacht Club Senior Semi-Final and the last person that needed to be told that was manager Alan Flynn who was left wondering what might have been.
Tourlestrane ground out a 0-8 to 0-6 victory as St Mary’s failed to score during the second half in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada and their manager agreed that the Sligo team’s pressure told in the end.
“A few breaks just didn’t fall for us,” reflected Alan in the last of a long line of interviews after the game, “You can just imagine the way it would have panned out in the last 10 or 15 minutes if that goal chance midway through the second half would have hit the net - I think it would have driven us mad.”
A failure to score in the second half, albeit against a very strong wind, cost St Mary’s dearly as Alan acknowledged: “It just builds the pressure, they're building momentum and the gap is closing. It was always going to be hard but we knew that and in fairness to Tourlestrane, they had to face that in the first half.
“The conditions weren’t easy to get the ball into our forwards and you can’t really be too critical because you had to get the ball into the 14 yard line, maximum 20 yards out, to get a decent shot away that would have had a chance of being scored.”
The Leitrim champions had put together a wonderful first half display and looked every inch potential Connacht Finalists: “I thought the way we worked the ball in the first half was really, really good, exceptional at getting the width, creating those gaps between the lines and then the runner coming.”
Analysing the game as it transpired, Alan found it hard to be overly critical after the immense effort his team put in: “Again, you don’t want to be dissecting it too much because ultimately, it has been guys giving a huge effort to it and trying to build that belief as well to be honest with you.
“Definitely the physicality came into play in the second half and I suppose their age profile counted for a little bit as well there. In fairness, Tourlestrane as you saw last year against Knockmore, they had them, they are a decent outfit, a strong team and they had momentum behind them in the second half.”
Alan felt that St Mary’s had weathered the storm but Tourlestrane’s experience shone at the end: “I did think that maybe with nine, ten minutes to go that maybe we had got over that hurdle, even though you quite rightly said we hadn’t got that score. It looked as if their pressure was going down a bit and we were working the ball into good positions and if we had even got one or two scores at that stage, we might have gotten over the line.
“Tourlestrane have gone through this process too and that is their first win within the five Connacht teams so maybe they deserve their spin at it and please God we will get a chance at it again in the next year or two if we are good enough to win the Leitrim championship.”
The St Mary's Kiltoghert team who were defeated by Tourlestrane Picture: Willie Donnellan
“Coming in from the outside, I feel that ultimately that there is a feeling that they should be kind of standing back from some of these teams, particularly from outside the county, where do we stand in this whole bigger picture. And while you can’t be putting yourself up there without doing the work, these guys have done a huge amount of work and they are still only starting. I think there is huge, huge capacity here for improvement.
“In saying that, you look at how tight our game against Mohill was, how tight the game against Fenagh was - the standard is as good as you want it to be and it is certainly there for improvement. I’ve no doubt there are a lot of teams in Leitrim saying we want to have a cut at this next year and they’ll have every chance to do so.
“It will be back to the drawing board again at the start of the year and we’ll see if we can build on what we achieved this year.”
You sense that the new Offaly Senior team coach feels there is way more to come from St Mary’s, particularly in relation to where they have come from: “It has been a really good year and I suppose where they were coming from last year.
“I don’t think that game was a reflection of their abilities but against Ballinamore, it just didn’t work out for them that day. I suppose when a game finishes and there is a big scoreline, it can deflate you. They were coming off the back of that and they probably felt that, to my benefit, that there was definitely scope for improvement.
“They’ve improved an awful lot, they’ve learned an awful lot - they are coachable lads. You can have the best group in the world but if they’re not willing to listen, take things on board or look at new ideas, I’d be wasting my time. They’re great guys, a great club and great people involved.
“I’m under no illusions that it will be just as tough next year or maybe even tougher. It is a lot easier if you have a bit of quality in the group and numbers and they have plenty of that so time will tell to see if they are willing to go again. They will have a target on their back, there is no doubt about that.
“The way I would always look at that is that the county championship was for 2022 and it goes back to the start again, the Cup goes back to the County Board and lets go at it and see who the best team is.”