Today took a lot of bottle says St Joseph’s manager Enda Lyons after Connacht LGFA SFC B Final victory

St Joseph’s displayed all of their guts, spirit and resilience on Saturday in the Connacht LGFA Senior B Championship Final according to manager Enda Lyons as he lauded the character and talent of his team after they got the better of Sligo’s Drumcliffe Rosses Point at St Croan’s GAA club in Enfield.

Hitting four goals in the final 15 minutes of action, St Joseph’s claimed a first ever Connacht title for the Aughavas and Carrigallen based club as they prevailed 4-6 to 1-8 and their manager wasn’t surprised that his charges showed so much character under pressure in the closing stages!

“To be fair, we've been like that all year,” Enda told the Observer, “I have to give great credit to the girls, they keep turning up year after year. It's very hard to lose four county finals in a row and still be the second best team in Leitrim. But today took a lot of bottle.

“We've done a little bit of training but not much because it's very hard when you're just coming into the competition. The win against Claregalway gave us a massive lift because they're the second best in Galway for the last number of years and we went out and beat them comprehensively.

“We'll enjoy tonight, cups are all about enjoying but I also hope it helps the senior ladies in the county set-up as well. We've a lot of really good girls in Leitrim and it showed in the Club Championship and I hope it will help Leitrim to just keep building, to get out of Division 3, win the Intermediate again and drive on and keep the standard going high.

“The more teams we have playing at a higher standard, the better the club football will be. I'm sure the girls around the county are saying we can compete with everybody - we've shown that. Manor did really well for long periods against Kilkerrin Clonberne, we beat the second best team in Galway and I still think we probably beat a lot of the first teams in Connacht.”

Enda agreed that it took St Joseph’s time to get going: “Today, we couldn't seem to get going for some reason. I don't know what it was, but I think the introduction of Jessie and Kate and those people, that we haven't had all year because of injury, just gave us a bit of a spark when we needed it.

“When we run the ball, we're as good as anybody. I thought we did that and defensively we were exceptional all day. I didn't know what the Drumcliffe penalty was given for, I didn't see it, but apart from that we haven't conceded a goal in the last couple of games. So I'm very, very pleased all right.”

Sticking with the gameplan was important for the Leitrim team: “To be fair, we said that at halftime. I thought we missed a lot of chances, both first and second half, which is frustrating because you're working up the field, you're doing a lot of good stuff and then you're not getting the rewards at the end.

“But when we ran the ball in that last 15 minutes, I thought we were exceptional. We didn't let them out. The big players stood up. I thought Michelle Heslin turning over the ball four or five times was massive for us in our kick-outs when we were under pressure. And that's experience, you can't coach that.”

Enda also sees a bright future for the club: “Absolutely, we finished the game with three or four 16-year-olds and Jessie coming back, who was very ill all year and it's great to get back at all. Then Kate was injured obviously for the county finals so there's loads of talent in the club, we just have to harness it.

“We've got great experience. Deirdre Moran was outstanding in the middle of the field today. Carmel and Lorraine were just exceptional. Gráinne O'Malley, a real workhorse for us and got a really bad tackle. But listen, we got across the line. I'm just so pleased for the girls because they've worked so hard.

“We've put a lot of new things in place. We've put S&C in place that hasn't been there for the last few years. We've tried to coach the new rules to the best we can, but I'm just very pleased for the group. The manager gets the blame when you lose, the manager gets the credit when you but it is always about the girls and that's the way it has been all year.”

For all his delight, Enda can’t help but feel a tang of regret over the Leitrim Final, feeling his team underperformed on the day: “It's just frustration because we felt the issue we could have taken Manor. I know they're an exceptional team but we put a lot of work in and it just didn't happen for us on the day.”

But that is a matter for another day and all Enda feels now is delight: “It's great to be coming home with a cup. It's not the one we planned for the start of the year, but it's still nice to come home and be maybe the third or fourth best team in Connacht, which is no harm as well.”