Captain Nicholas points to McGrail halftime talk as key to St Mary's second half surge

Five points down and a formidable Mohill seemingly in control but according to Nicholas McWeeney, the words of veteran James McGrail at halftime were key in inspiring St Mary’s Kiltoghert to their sixth Connacht Gold Leitrim SFC title last Sunday.

Asked just how St Mary’s had managed to overhaul the chasm of a five point gap that looked like a match winning lead for Mohill midway through the second half, Nicholas said “I think even the first score when we brought it back to four points, we were like ‘ok, we’ve got the first score of the second half, now push on’. 

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“That’s what McGrail said in the dressing room, I want the first score, that’s going to be it - we got it and we pushed on from there. We knew that Mohill weren’t just going to let us win it and they didn’t, they pushed on to the very end and could have snuck a draw, they had a few chances there at the end but thankfully we had the luck at the end of the day.”

Looking back on the game, Nicholas admits the first half didn’t go their way but St Mary’s belief in their fitness was a key factor: “First half is a bit of a blur, small decisions that went against us, our shooting weren’t the right ones and we were dropping a few short into the goalie, Paul missed a few frees and it can happen on any day, especially a final.

“But fair play to the lads, they dug deep, got their confidence back in the second half, pressed them high for their kickouts, got some lucky balls and got the ball over the bar. We knew if we could keep it to a point or two in with five or ten minutes to go, we knew we had the fitness. 

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“That was something Alan, Brian and Damon had worked on over the last year, getting that fitness, sticking with teams until the last five or ten minutes so that if we were close to them, we’d be able to push on and get them at the end.”

The impact of newly announced Offaly coach Alan Flynn and his management team was pronounced: “Management has been unreal, everything that they’ve done has been 100%, their professionalism is up there at County standard and that’s nearly what club has come to at this stage. 

“Everything was set up for us, anything we wanted they did and they set out that mind-frame that we’re going to be winning, we’re going to be in the County Final, we’re going to be going into Connacht and see what we can do now.”

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But for now, even with a Connacht Club campaign on the horizon, the emphasis is on enjoying the moment for Nicholas: “It is mental - 2013 is a long time since we last won and then the disappointment of 2020 and again last year, it didn’t go our way. It is unreal but again it is the lads in there who are singing, it is all on them.

“We have a trip to London but we’re going to enjoy these next couple of nights and worry about London in a couple of days.”