Dream come through for Player of the Match Muireann Devaney
Describing it as a “dream come true”, Player of the match and joint captain Muireann Devaney said leading Glencar Manorhamilton to victory last Sunday was an absolute privilege, writes John Connolly.
“I can tell you from the bottom of my heart it is an absolute privilege to captain this team,” said Muireann after accepting the Cup with fellow captain Leah Fox, adding “Not to sound cringey or anything but I’ve dreamt of it for a very, very long time. I’m only 19 and to captain the team, I can’t thank the girls enough for giving me that opportunity.
“I’m absolutely delighted, I’m going to enjoy this one - there is more to life than sport, these are my best friends in life and I can’t wait to get back to Manorhamilton.”
Muireann, pictured inset with his sister Anna, was an easy choice for Player of the Match but Muireann wasn’t thinking about individual honours: “I don’t think about Players of the Match, it doesn’t bother me - if it went to any of the girls on the team, I wouldn’t mind in the slightest. Again, it is an absolute privilege to get it and it is something I’ll have now forever.”
Looking back on the match, Muireann revealed that the three-in-a-row winners had planned to play against the wind in the first half but their game plan went awry: “I was disappointed going in at halftime but these things happen and there is always another 30 minutes to play.
“I think we showed out there in the second half that it is never over until it is over. We discussed it last night and we said we would never panic and I don’t think we ever panicked. We were against a very strong breeze in the first half and we had planned to play against it.
“It didn’t go according to plan, we went in five down at halftime but we settled down at halftime, we thought about the losses we’ve had and I think we came out in the second half and showed that we’re eager to win another championship. I’m absolutely over the moon, any day you get a victory, on a very wet and windy Pairc Sean is absolutely brilliant.”
Once the celebrations die down, Glencar Manorhamilton are determined to show that reaching last year’s Connacht Senior Club Final was no fluke: “I think we play the Sligo champions in Connacht and that will be in the back of our mind from now. We will enjoy it, we have another job to do, we have to back up what we did last year to show it wasn’t just a once off.
“We need to work to put it up to Clonberne, they’re not the best team in Ireland for no reason. We’ll give it our best shot and see where it takes it.”