Fearlessness helped Mohill across the line says captain Shane Quinn

Thoughts that Mohill’s goose was cooked at halftime crossed Shane Quinn’s mind but a fearlessness and a refusal to take a step back paid off for the new County champions and their captain in last Sunday’s Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC Final against St Mary’s Kiltoghert.

Taken away from a constant stream of well-wishers and requests for photographs, Shane initially found it hard to find words to describe Mohill’s 2-10 to 0-14 victory, even admitting he feared the worst at halftime!

“What a day, I’d say it hasn’t sunk in yet,” said Shane, “You can see everyone pulling and dragging for photos. I thought at halftime that our goose was cooked, we weren’t playing well, Carrick had all the ball, they were playing the way we knew they were going to play.”

Mohill celebrate wildly as they regain the Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC title after epic battle with St Mary's Kiltoghert - GALLERY

Mohill celebrations were long and loud in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada as the four in a row Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC finalists got their hands back on the Fenagh Cup after an epic 2-10 to 0-14 victory over defending champions St Mary's Kiltoghert on Sunday. Observer photographer Willie Donnellan was a busy man with the camera chronicling the celebrations ..... see who you can spot here!

The Mohill captain credited the calm approach of Eamonn O’Hara to steadying the Mohill ship: “Eamonn sat us down, there was no big roaring and shouting at halftime - it was just start playing, start controlling the ball and get control of the game back. All it takes is one magic moment and we’re away with it - it took Domhnaill Flynn’s gamey right foot to drop short and Chick was there.”

It was that sort of game and Shane agreed that fortune shone on Mohill on Sunday: “Sometimes mistakes on your own side can benefit you, Carrick didn’t put a foot wrong the whole game, they were just unlucky with the way the goals fell. Eamonn said to us during the week ‘don’t be afraid to take the shot, don’t be counting on Keith to do it all, help Keith out’ - take the shot, if they go wide, at least they are in their own half, facing a kickout, we still have them where we want them. 

“Domhnaill Flynn took one with the right and I was thinking what are we doing, I had two Hail Marys - I’m not allowed normally go past midfield but I knew they’d start going over, it was just a matter of getting the scores. Last year, I think there were nine minutes left and we were going for goals. 

“This year, we were taking our shots, they weren’t going over but we were brave enough to take the shots, not panicking, sticking to the game plan and it would all start coming.”

Just as important as that fearlessness to keep going was the contribution of keeper Padraig Tighe, known universally in the club as Papa: “Padraig Tighe kept us in that game at halftime - it could have been three whatever to 1-4, they could have been out of sight. Papa, he came in for a lot of criticism after the Fenagh game, that maybe he is past it but he is still a good shot stopper. 

“It was great for him, he lost his father at the start of the year and I know from chatting to him, he can’t wait to bring the Fenagh Cup up to the grandfather’s grave. That’s massive for him, massive for us.”

Man of the Match Ronan Kennedy might be talking about heading for the golf course rather than the pitch but Shane sung his praises for his contribution to Mohill over the years: “He said to me up there that he is going to retire all year - he has a fair handicap in the golf now, I’d say it is fairly high! 

Check out Willie Donnellan's fans photos from Sunday's Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC Final - GALLERY

Fans were out in force in Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada for Sunday's Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC Final with Mohill regaining the title as they triumphed 2-10 to 0-14 against defending champions St Mary's Kiltoghert. Observer photographer Willie Donnellan captured a lot of fan shots from before and during the game .... see who you can spot!

“Chick is amazing, he probably felt he let himself down last year but he said it several times that he hasn’t left anything to chance this year, he has done everything. He has actually taken a step back, I’ve been trying to tell him for years that the gym isn’t all that - you win the game on the pitch, not in the gym.

“Now that he has taken up golf, he is a bit more relaxed  -he is doing unbelievable stuff at the tender old age of 44 or whatever he is,” joked Shane who also remembered Ronan’s mother, the late Mary Kennedy who helped lift the Cup with Danny Beck when Mohill won the title in 2017.

“Ronan said it up there at the presentation that the man of the match award is going to stay at his mother’s grave, Mary K was a big part of this club - she came through my mind more times this week. Our dressing room is the Mary K’s kitchen and that was all I was thinking about all week, for Chick to represent his mother and his whole family like that is amazing.”

For Shane, Sunday’s victory was a vindication of Eamonn O’Hara’s management with a torrent of criticism following last year’s final loss to St Mary’s, criticism that hit home with his father Mickey one of the team’s selectors so it made last Sunday’s win all the sweeter: “It is doubly sweet - I see the auld lad running around there, you’d swear he was born and bred in Mohill and him a diehard Cloone man!

“Eamonn came in for a lot of abuse after last year’s final and there was nothing more that he could have done in that final, he did everything right. We were five points up, game in the palm of our hands and we bottled it more than anything else and he came in for all the criticism. He was getting all the grief, the same as the auld lad - you should have done this, you should have done x, y or z.

“But everyone is an expert on the barstool, nobody sees the hard work going on behind closed doors up in the centre of excellence where we were for most of the year. Eamonn said at the start of the year that he’d take all the flak for us, no matter what happens, he’ll take the abuse but he wanted a buy in from us. A few times, there were a few rows but once we bought into what he wanted, he stood up for us something fierce.”

Mohill stop St Mary's two in a row bid to reclaim Fenagh Cup with superb second half display

MOHILL 2-10 ST MARY'S KILTOGHERT 0-14

Shane also paid tribute to selector Ronan Gallagher and S&C coach Cian Mulrooney for their role in Mohill’s victory: “ I’m delighted for them. Ronan was captain in 2013 and he texted me during the week that he still hasn’t forgotten losing that as captain so that spurred me on.

“Cian did some serious work on us with strength and conditioning and he said to me if we kept that intensity the whole way, we will get there in the end. It took us a long time to buy into but we got them in the end and I’m delighted for them.”

The Mohill captain also had generous words of praise for St Mary’s, highlighting the respect between the clubs: “They are great champions - I know they’ll be back next year and the year after that, you see their underage success, they’re a great club and I’ve said it before, themselves and Fenagh St Caillins will dominate for years and it was just up to us to try and curtail that for as long as possible.”